Want legs and glutes that are compliment-magnet? Add the lunge to your arsenal of exercises. Since the lunge is a unilateral movement, it stretches the anterior and posterior muscles at the same time, thus encouraging their activation as well as preserving functional range of motion (joint health). Try several variations of it to ensure progressive and constant results.

The barbell walking lunge is the best choice if you are looking for fat burning, since it recruits the glutes to a further extent and, moving the body through space, stimulates the metabolism; however, it’s probably better to learn the exercise with no weight first. Unfortunately, very few people perform lunges correctly and go way too fast when performing the exercise. Here’s how it should be done:

Starting position: If using a barbell, the bar is held below the seventh cervical vertebrae (the pointy one at the base of the neck), the chest is open, and the head is held straight. If using no weight, simply place the hands above the hips.

Execution: Take a very large step forward while putting the emphasis on maintaining the weight on the heel of the front foot. Bend at the knee with the other leg as much as possible and slowly descend in a straight line to the low position without letting that knee touch the ground. Pause for a second at the low position before pushing straight back up over the front foot in one movement while still pushing with the heel. Take note that the back leg isn’t helping to push, only balance!

Pointers: Make sure you don’t push the knee and/or bend too far forward when doing the exercise. If you want to work your glutes efficiently, you need to emphasize the eccentric part of the exercise and keep the tension on the muscles (allowing your body to incline will put more tension on your lower back). A big mistake I see all the time is letting the abdominals stick out and having too much curve in the lower back. The abdominal girdle should remain tight and the back should be held straight at all times while performing the exercise.