During a Warm Up The following lunge varieties will help to elevate your heart rate and warm up your legs without being too challenging. Basic Bodyweight Lunge This exercise is a great warm up for runners. To begin this exercise, start with your feet together, shoulders back and core braced. Place your hands on your hips for balance. Take a big step forward with your right foot. Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Make sure your left knee doesn’t touch the ground. Push through your right heel to return to the starting position. Reverse Lunge With Kick Start with your feet together and your hands on your hips. Pull your shoulders back and brace your core. Take a big step back with your left foot and lower your body without moving your torso and chest. Stop when both legs form 90-degree angles. Don’t allow your left knee to touch the floor. Push through your front foot to rise into a standing position and kick your back leg into the air. Extend the opposite arm in front of you and try to touch your toes to your fingers. Then return to a standing position and repeat on the opposite side. As Part of a HIIT Routine You can incorporate any lunges that involve continuous movement into a high-intensity interval training routine. Try performing the following moves for 30 seconds to a minute, then resting for 30 seconds. Side Lunge With Touch Down Start with your feet double shoulder-width apart. Pushing through your left heel, lower your body to the right, bending your right knee until your right thigh is nearly parallel to the ground. (Your left leg should be extended at a diagonal.) At the same time, reach your left hand to your right foot. Then, without picking up your feet, push through your right heel to reverse the direction of the lunge, reaching your right hand to your left foot. Continue alternating. Lunge Mountain Climber Begin in pushup position with your arms fully extended beneath your shoulders, legs extended behind you. To perform the exercise, bend your right knee and pull your leg forward until your can place your right foot out the outside of your right hand. Immediately push this leg back, simultaneously bringing your left foot to the outside of your left hand. Repeat in a continuous motion. Split Lunge Jump Start by taking a giant step forward with your left foot and bending at the knee to lower your body towards the ground. Keep your core braced and your chest lifted. Stop before your back knee touches the ground. From this position, push through both feet and explode upward so that both feet come together in the air. Land in a lunge position again. As Part of a Lower Body / Leg Workout Dumbbell Lunge Holding a dumbbell in each hand, start with your feet together, arms at your sides. Take a big step forward with your right foot. Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Make sure your left knee doesn’t touch the ground. Keep your arms at your sides throughout the exercise. Push through your right heel to return to the starting position. Walking Lunge Start with your feet together, shoulders back and core braced, with your hands on your hips for balance. Take a giant step forward with your right foot and lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Don’t allow your left knee to touch the ground. Pushing through your right heel, bring your feet back together in a standing position, then immediately step forward with your left foot and lower your body again. Continue “walking” forward by alternating legs.