Elena Steffen Fitness

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Doing my thang

🌟Movement shout out: Lateral lunge 🌟
Two reasons to start training this movement:
1. To develop jaw dropping glutes.
2. To build strength and resilience, minimizing the risk of injury in your day to day activities. There is a reason that athletes spend a lot of their training shifting into different directions, because a lot of injuries come during lateral shifts, twists, or collisions (this doesn’t mean you have to be an athlete, however, to benefit from lateral training). So, strengthening the muscles and joint structures that are involved in these movements would be wise.

“We all know that folks don't tend to do well in terms of health, movement quality, or performance when they spend their entire lives in the sagittal plane. They aren't as well prepared for life's surprises (e.g., slipping on the ice) or life's challenges (beer league softball fly balls to the gap). They often lack adductor length and have poor hip rotation, and compensate with injurious movement compensation strategies at the knee and lower back. This knowledge gave rise to a central tenet of the functional training era: multi-planar training.” (article linked below)
Here’s a great read that highlights a few different progressions/ways to load your lateral lunges.

https://ericcressey.com/7-ways-to-get-strong-outside-of-the-sagittal-plane

Ask me what other lateral movements you can begin practicing!