Author, fitness model, and trainer Kirk Charles, NASM-CPT CES, knows that as you get older, life can get more complicated. But that shouldn’t prevent you from being on top of your game. He’ll help to answer the tough training questions that come with age so you too can be Fit Beyond 40.
When I was in my twenties and thirties, I remember jumping right onto the basketball or tennis court, with no warmup. But, as I’m closing in on 60, I must prepare myself for workouts differently, especially for those types of sports that require side-to-side movements.
During the day, most of our movements are forward and backward, in activities like running and walking. However, for guys who wants to be more athletic—particularly older guys—movement in all planes of motion is necessary to prevent injury and build strength. That is especially true if you’re sitting down all day on Zoom calls to earn a living.
Years ago I developed hip pointers when I played a lot of tennis, a sport that demands explosive lateral movements. That’s when I started doing more side-to-side exercises, including lateral lunges. These movements are in the frontal plane, and work your hip stabilizers in a different way than forward and backward movements, which are in the sagittal plane.
To set up for the lateral lunge, stand up straight and tall. Take a large sidestep to the right. As your right foot lands, keep it pointing straight ahead, not flared out at an angle—your torso shouldn’t turn at all, either. Keep your left leg straight. Bend your right knee and push your butt back, just like doing a squat with one leg. Go down slowly and as far as you can comfortably, while maintaining your balance. Lastly, explode back up and bring your legs together to original standing position.
You will notice that this exercise stretches your adductor muscles (groin) of the extended leg (the left leg when lunging to the right). To make sure you don’t push too far, too fast, start slowly with the lateral lunge if you have been sedentary and you have not activated those muscles in a while. Also, as you lunge and go down by bending your knee, you might find yourself leaning forward. That might feel natural, but you must not let your back slump. Maintaining good posture is critical for this exercise.
If you want more of a challenge with the lateral lunge, you can hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in the goblet position close to your chest (start out without weight first, especially if it’s been awhile since you’ve made a point to move in different planes). To start, try 6 to 8 reps of three sets on each side of your body.
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