“Lunges are one of the hardest single-leg strengthening exercises out there,” says Erica Suter , a Baltimore-based power and conditioning coach. But problem apart, she says, they’re paramount for endurance athletes, from runners and hikers to cyclists and climbers. That’s as a result of lunges enhance unilateral (or single-side) leg power, which Suter says is essential for navigating trails, maximizing agility, and stopping muscular imbalances. Those imbalances usually result in overuse harm in endurance athletes, explains Nick Tumminello , proprietor of Performance University in Fort Lauderdale, so performing unilateral workouts to handle any underlying unevenness is essential. In addition, lunges improve recruitment of the physique’s stabilizer muscle tissues, from these within the toes and legs all the way in which as much as the core. One study discovered that standing unilateral workouts can activate the exterior indirect muscle tissues roughly 4 instances as a lot because the v...