Most people perform them like shown below while a few do them with an action like they are stepping over a small hurdle. Is there any real difference in these two versions? A slight shift in muscles worked perhaps?
One “proffesor” at our faculty made us do a lunge when you actually fall on leg with flexed knee (ste p over a 'hurdle" and land)… I can only say that “step over a hurdle” impose greater eccentric stress (a form of decceleration training)…
when i perform a lunge the rear leg is just as important as the front. ill describe. with the front leg knee at a 90 degree angle pulling into the ground with the hamstring. force is direct through the ball of the foot and directly perpendicular to the working surface. with the rear leg “extend” with the hip flexor, force is exserted directly into the floor. a perfect model of a balistic muscle action.
I notice the guy in the attached pic “goes over his knee” on his support leg. Is this bad technique?
The knee goes where it has to go …
no the knee goes where it should go. i would not reccomend the knee going past 90 degrees but it all depends on your training goal.