Barbell Rotating Reverse Lunges For Quads and Core

The Reverse Lunge is one of the most knee-friendly and effective versions of the lunge movement pattern.

This variation brings in the deep core muscles by turning barbell 90 degrees as you step back. Your deep core muscles must fire in order to stabilize the spine as you rotate the load.

This is a fantastic way to tighten up the waist while at the same time strengthening the connection of the lower body to the upper body via the deep core muscles.

Without a strong connection like this, your body is less effective at transferring power from the lower body through to the upper body, which is critical in almost every sport (and many other weight training exercises).

I've got 95 lbs on the bar (bumper plates). You don't need a heavy weight for this, especially when you start out. You need to be able to control the rotation of the bar with your core so that it doesn't swing around too fast or too much.

Start with your hands just outside of shoulder width on the bar, with an overhand grip. Make sure you have plenty of room around you.

Now step back with your right leg and rotate the bar around to that side until it's pointing forward. Do this in a very controlled fashion, especially as you move up in weight. The deep core needs a chance to engage and control the rotation.

Now stand back up.

Now do the same to the other side.

And stand up.

Repeat, going side to side, until you feel that your core is fatiguing and your control of the rotation is getting compromised...this will likely happen before your lower body fatigues.

This is not a heavy exercise and isn't really targeted as a muscle-building exercise for the lower body. This is more of a finisher, used as a way to tie in the core to the lower body in a very functional manner.

You CAN do this one with heavier weight and lower reps as you get stronger with it and as long as you feel your core can control the rotation of the load.

The Pass Under Walking Lunge is another excellent exercise that brings in the lower body and the core in a dymnamic movement.

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