Beyond the squat.
Beyond the squat.We’ve touched a lot on how leg day is perhaps the most dreaded day in a bodybuilder’s workout schedule. It’s rough, it’s tough, and it can be draining if you’re training correctly. It’s a day that’s meant to separate the men from the boys and can be a truly taxing day on the body. But a bodybuilder doesn’t look at the hard days as something to avoid. Instead, a bodybuilder seeks out the tougher times and uses them as the key to making further improvements to their bodies.
The rule of thumb for leg day is that squats are the key exercise to getting your legs as powerful as possible. It’s a notion that rings true, that’s why everyone is adamant about including the king of exercises into a leg program. But if you want to make the kind of improvements you need to build superior size and definition in your legs, then squats can’t and won’t be the only exercise that’s integrated into your routine.
The Clean-Reverse Lunge is great exercise that can be extremely beneficial to giving you some great leg development. Besides adding variety to your exercise, this exercise can offer the user a number of great improvements to their physique, technique, and form.
So why should you start doing the clean-reverse lunge? Well here are four reasons that could convince you to add this exercise to your workout.
Fixes Imbalances
As a bodybuilder, symmetry is a very important aspect of creating an aesthetic physique. When performing certain exercises like the squat or barbell bench press, compound movements, imbalances can occur if one side is doing more work than the other. The clean-reverse lunge is great because it can fix those imbalances not only in the legs, but the ab core and upper back as well.
Strengthens Upper Back
Speaking of which, this exercise is also great for strengthening the upper quadrants of the back. By holding the bar in the clean or front squat position you engage your upper body tremendously with this movement. When performing the actual lunge, the time in which your body is under tension ultimately will require you to have good posture which improves overall upper body strength – including your lats and traps. The improved posture will also translate to improving your deadlifts as well.
Strengthens Core
The exercise can also be great for improving your core strength as well. While holding the barbell in the clean or front squat position, your abs will be getting a phenomenal workout. For the same reasons that make the squat such an awesome exercise, the clean-reverse lunge is an exercise that targets multiple muscle groups, not only improving your legs, but the entire body as well.
Knee Friendly
For many people who resent leg day the biggest complaint is that the workouts that they’re performing are killing their knee joints. It’s hard to get through a rough exercise if your knees are racked with pain. The movement of the clean-reverse lunge allows for the shins to remain vertical which takes a great deal of stress off of the knees. It’s an exercise that promotes quad development, but not at the costs of destroying your knees.
Are you a fan of the clean-reverse lunge? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
