Even if I could perform lunges, I wouldn't, because I dislike them and would rather not do them.Yes. Congrats. As I've repeated. Consistency matters more. If you don't like lunges. Don't do them. Even if able. Do you need it? That depends. What is your goal?Your goal from this outlook is being an avid goer. Great.
That's why I think that website you listed is pretty silly because it says, and I quote:
The truth is, you do not *need* lunges. You do not *need* swings. You do not *need* carries. You do not *need* swings. Hell, you do not even *need* squats! (It's hard to argue that you don't need pushing or pulling since he specified a strength routine, and it's hard to have strength without pushing or pulling anything). Plenty of people have gotten big and strong without those things. There are plenty of folks who have gone to the gym just to do one exercise (Olympic Weightlifters do this - it's not uncommon to see them go into a gym and do a single exercise in a workout, and they're certainly strong as fuck).
It seems like that guy at that website was running out of ideas and just threw together some shit because he was trying to write a post to get some clicks, which is pretty common in the world of fitness. In truth, everything in the area of fitness has been pretty much done to death - we already know how to get strong and healthy, it's basically common sense, you go to the gym, pick some exercises you like, and you keep doing them while making them slightly more challenging every day/week/month/etc.
In fact the older I get the more I think the goal is to get more bang for your buck. Who the fuck has time to do six exercises? Nowadays my goal is to do 3 exercises in the gym before leaving and it's made training a lot more fun - I've cut down on the junk volume and I have more time for other things
Do you need it? That dependsIt absolutely does not. You don't ever "need" to do lunges.
weighted dumbbell lunges has tons of bang for your buck tho.
on top of the primary glute/quad worked you also get
-balance/coordination
-unilateral leg focus
-cardio
-heavy DB in each hand for that farmer's walk feel
i do them walking because standing in place is too boring for me.
Yes. Congrats. As I've repeated. Consistency matters more. If you don't like lunges. Don't do them. Even if able. Do you need it? That depends. What is your goal?Your goal from this outlook is being an avid goer. Great.
The physical science is clear on how to exercise. I could provide medical journals on the science of muscle activation with resistance training but that's not the purpose of the ask. It's more the need to know vs do. You need to know how beneficial activating your quads are but you don't need to activate them if that's not your goal. Needing to know is basically saying you need to know what to do in the gym without self injury. The actual workout you do depends on the goal.
I do the same with my workouts. The time is independent to the intensity of the workout. A 30 min workout will be equally as intensive as the 90 mins. I only need the 30 mins.
It absolutely does not. You don't ever "need" to do lunges.
20 years ago on GameFAQs, we all thought you need to do the powerlifting big 3. Turns out you don't. That language is not helpful for people starting out and looking for advice.
Not sorry, dispelling bad information matters. There's already lots of great info on the first page.Bad information = sematic use of the word need. Grand. Keep cherry picking and misunderstanding.
Which is fine. But that doesn't make them something you *need* - every exercise has some benefit, after all. The question is how much time you want to spend, and for me, I dislike doing lunges, and thus, I do not do them, because I would rather do other things. Or just, you know, nothing. I've got limited time in the gym, and I like squats. So I can either train the squats with less intensity or volume and fit in lunges, or I can do what I currently do. I'm gonna stick with what I do.And you purposely misunderstand me. I can't really backtrack when you simply don't have any understanding of what I'm saying. Have you never heard of phrase "on a need to know basis"? The intelligence here is astounding.
And that's the thing - exercise is about enjoyment and sustainability, not following some internet coach's idea of what a good program "needs".
In other words, you're backtracking on the whole "a good strength program needs lunges" thing? That's just one of those clickbait articles that's not borne in any semblance of reality, because nobody "needs" anything - there are so many different ways to achieve a goal that no exercise is ever actually "needed" - there's a substitute for damn near everything unless your goal is to get really good at said exercise (i.e. olympic weightlifters need to clean because their goal is literally to clean more weight).
Yeah, I don't really do barbell squats or deadlifts.
I do bench press now but that's only because I maxed out the dumbbells at my gym. So I was forced to switch my dumbbell bench into barbell bench.
For squats though, my gym does have a hack squat machine, I do that instead of a regular squat.
Lunges... call me a wimp but I hate them.Just thought I'd add that in general it's sometimes worth making yourself do what you hate or are bad/weak at for prime growth. I've recently been making myself do that with incline bench.
Yeah, I don't really do barbell squats or deadlifts.
I do bench press now but that's only because I maxed out the dumbbells at my gym. So I was forced to switch my dumbbell bench into barbell bench.
For squats though, my gym does have a hack squat machine, I do that instead of a regular squat.
And you purposely misunderstand me. I can't really backtrack when you simply don't have any understanding of what I'm saying. Have you never heard of phrase "on a need to know basis"? The intelligence here is astounding.
And yeah SSJ4, agree especially about deadlifts lacking for physique development while the standard barbell bench and squat are very good for hypertrophy. I still do the standard big 3 because I compete in powerlifting and I think they're overall great exercises, but far from mandatory and I have no qualms rotating them out if my shoulders need a break from flat benching and low-bar squatting. They're a prime example of being careful about rhetoric like "need" when prescribing movements to people looking for advice.
Just thought I'd add that in general it's sometimes worth making yourself do what you hate or are bad/weak at for prime growth. I've recently been making myself do that with incline bench.
https://mythicalstrength.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-theory-do-what-you-are-bad-at-to-get.html
Definitely agree that the squat gives you more bang for your buck, though.
I've found a similar idea with machines by simply modifying - I've had shoulder issues with the overhead barbell press in the past, so I did machine presses (at a planet fitness nonetheless) instead and my shoulder development really improved - instead of simply neglecting something I did not like, I found a way to modify it, and I think it really helped.Right on. Zadrunas Savickas in one of his Instagram posts credited heavy machine incline presses for getting his overhead press so monstrous. Pain is definitely a good reason not to do something, but if the problem is just that you're weak at it, that's a good reason to do it more.
Right on. Zadrunas Savickas in one of his Instagram posts credited heavy machine incline presses for getting his overhead press so monstrous. Pain is definitely a good reason not to do something, but if the problem is just that you're weak at it, that's a good reason to do it more.