Stop Doing This: Walking Lunges
Take a good look at the photo above.
Can you notice what I’m referring to with the arrow?
If not, don’t worry, I’ll explain it. And to make things easier, I’ve added a video to give you a great visual of what I’m talking about.
I’m sure plenty of you like doing walking lunges because either your coach told you they’re good for your skating muscles or you feel it’s important to work on your single leg strength because hockey is a sport (like many) that require us to be strong on one leg at a time. Both of these are great reasons, BUT this exercise is only effective if you can actually perform the walking lunges correctly.
I’ve seen way too many hockey players in the gym doing walking lunges poorly. Although their intent is in the right place, their execution is far below average.
If you think about when you were first learning to ride a bike, you didn’t just start riding the 2-wheeler right away. I’m almost 100% positive that you started with the tricycle, then a bicycle with training wheels, and finally progressed to the 2-wheeler. If you had started with the 2 wheeler it would’ve been too dangerous and the chances of you injuring yourself would’ve been high. Now apply the same idea to exercising. You have to start with the most basic exercises first and then progress to the more challenging ones.
As far as the walking lunge goes, here is the progression you need to take:
(Only move onto the next exercise once you’ve mastered the technique)
The first exercise is the Goblet Squat.
Then you’ll move onto the Dumbbell Split Squat.
Finally, you can start performing Walking Lunges.
Watch the video below so you can have a better understanding of what I’m talking about.
Incorporating single leg exercises like the Walking Lunge into your workout is a great way to develop the strength needed to have a powerful stride on the ice. But if you’re not doing them correctly you’ll actually end up delaying your strength and worse, increase your chance of injury.
So make sure to start with the most basic exercises first and then progress to the more challenging ones. This will give you the greatest opportunity for improvement.