by Dan Hupke, Head Coach, Krave Gym Waukee
On this week’s episode of Coaches Breakdown, we will be breaking down the Overhead Lunge. This is one of our more complex exercises this season, and requires some preparation and focus to execute successfully.
First and foremost, you want to hold the bar with a wider-than-shoulder grip. In my experience, the wider the better, as this will more easily allow you to get the bar behind your head and above your shoulders, and most importantly, directly above your center of gravity. This will keep the bar solid and unwavering as you go through the movement. Once the bar is overhead and you have a wide grip, you will want to pinch your shoulder blades together and engage all of the muscles of your shoulders and arms and lock your elbows. This will also help tremendously with keeping the bar solid and unwavering as you go through the movement.
Secondly, CORE. For those of you that have been coached by me during a session with overhead lunges, you will know that I say that an overhead lunge requires just as much use of your abs as it does legs. So, once we have our wide grip with the bar overhead, shoulder blades pinched, shoulders/arms engaged and elbows locked, we will engage our core before stepping forward into the lunge. Keeping the core tight as you step forward into the lunge will work in conjunction with your solid upper body grip on the bar to ensure that you have maximum control and balance throughout the entire exercise.
Lastly, as we step forward into the lunge, we want to maintain our posture (this is where the abs really work) and plant on the heel, and then coming up out of the lunge, we want to push through the heel as well. Combined with your now excellent posture and engaged core, planting and pushing through the heel will ensure maximum engagement of the intended lower body muscle groups (quads, upper hamstrings, glutes/hips) and minimize tension on the knee joints. All in all, the overhead lunge is an awesome true total body exercise, as proper execution requires the use of all of our muscle groups. Use these tips to maximize safety and efficacy the next time you do it!!