by RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body,which was voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
Strengthen the stability of your core and your hips as you give your legs a workout. Using a weight plate and body twist adds an intense edge to the classic lunge.

Muscles Worked
Full body

Starting Position
Stand upright holding a weight plate with both hands close to the front of your chest (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. Step back with your left foot and perform a lunge, dropping down through the back knee while keeping your upper body vertical. Be sure to keep the weight more in your right heel and do not push forward with your right knee (see Photos 2 and 3).
2. At the bottom of your lunge, press the weight plate directly in front of you at chest level and rotate through your upper body to the right. Your hips should stay facing forward even as your shoulders turn to face the right side (see Photo 4).
3. Return your shoulders to center, bring the weight plate back in toward your chest, and step back up to the starting position. Repeat the exercise with the right leg back, rotating left with your upper body this time, and continue to alternate for a set of 20 (10 reps in each direction).

About Billy Polson: Billy Polson is the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body, which was voted the best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. A competitive swimmer and triathlete in his own right, Polson has over 15 years of experience working as a coach and trainer, and was recently named by Men's Journal Magazine (December 2005) as one of the Top 100 Trainers in America.