This exercise provided courtesy of Devin Wicks, Director of Fitness Operations at the University of California, Berkeley and specialty strength coach for some of the university's elite sports teams.

Benefits
Lunges are the gold-standard of leg exercises. Because you have to stabilize your body's movement as you perform the strength component of the exercise, lunges work all the smaller muscles of the legs even as they target the biggest muscles - quads, glutes, and hamstrings.

Muscles Worked
Legs - all.

Starting Position
Stand upright with feet hip width apart and a dumbbell held in each hand, with arms hanging at your sides.

Exercise

1. From the starting position, step forward with one foot, then drop your back knee down toward the floor. Keep your upper body vertical and your arms hanging straight down. Bring your rear knee as close to the floor as you can control, without allowing your front knee to come ahead of your front toe at any point.
2. From the bottom of your lunge, press back to the starting position. The dumbbells should not swing around during this exercise; they are being used as dead-weight, to increase the intensity.
3. Now, step forward with the opposite leg and repeat the lunge on the other side. Continue to alternate through the set (so, a set of 10 repetitions will involve 20 actual lunges).

About Devin Wicks: Devin Wicks (ACSM-HFI, USAW Club Coach) is the Director of Fitness Operations for UC Berkeley where he develops health and fitness programs for the campus community. He also works as a conditioning specialist for Cal Athletics where he has developed targeted training programs for several Olympic Gold Medal athletes. Devin has presented and toured nationally, providing cutting-edge education for fitness industry professionals and enthusiasts alike.