Michael McCastle completed over 4,700 lunges across four miles.
Lunges are an extremely valuable exercise to throw into your leg day, but can be very taxing. For Michael McCastle, he took this movement to the next level. The Navy veteran McCastle completed a record-breaking challenge, lunging over four miles across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
McCastle completed 4,769 lunges in 20 hours and 39 minutes. The entire process spanned across 4.06 miles. In the end, McCastle set two new world records. One was for the most lunges walked in an hour at 3,362 and longest distanced traveled by walking lunches in an hour at 2.22 miles.
McCastle spoke on his achievement and the motivation behind the challenge.
“I perform these seemingly impossible physical feats of strength and endurance to raise awareness for charitable causes like Parkinson’s disease research, veterans’ mental health issues, and cancer. These were things my late father suffered from and I have an intimate connection to.”
Lunges are a great lower body exercise with plenty of benefits that we should absolutely include in our workouts. Athletes of all sports rely on lunges to enhance their goals and work to power their training so that desired leg growth, as well as added balance and support, are there to advance every goal we seek to fulfill.
Michael McCastle completes these challenges to raise awareness for great causes. He believes that they are a “vehicle for delivering a message behind the causes.” While lunges were incredible enough, McCastle completed the grueling challenge with knees that required surgery in the past. During his Navy SEAL training, McCastle suffered torn ligaments in both knees. This ended his military goals but sparked the beginning of the Twelve Labors Project. This is what McCastle calls his series of endurance challenges.
Benefits Of Lunges
Muscle Growth For Strength & Size
Working your lower body leg muscles in an effective way, you will start to see that desired growth really become reality (1). Not only will this promote strength and size but will also lower your risk of injury, both in your legs and in your back. Since this relies on your core for that added support, especially on one leg, you start to see great gains in your core for the desired six-pack aesthetic.
Weight Loss For A Desired Physique
Lunges can work to raise your heart rate to really get your metabolism going which allows for increase calorie burn and a reduction in body fat. Of course, a well balanced diet and all-around solid workout plan is needed, but lunges provide that extra boost to help you lose weight and see that desired physique (2).
Balance & Stability For Added Support
As a unilateral exercise, lunges will enhance overall balance and stability which will come in handy for those big lifts as you seek to put up monster weight (3). By working one leg only, you become less stable, but over time this will change especially as more muscle is packed on.
Simple & Convenient To Do Anywhere
Able to do as a bodyweight exercise, lunges are simple and convenient and can be done anywhere at anytime for that optimal output you desire most. Easy to learn and adapt to with variations, you will start to love what a lunge can do for you.
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