NYC Personal Trainer
This week’s NYC personal trainer exercise of the week is the “Overhead Reverse Lunge”. I’m a big fan of uni-lateral movements for balance, stability, and it’s just easier on the back. Sometimes the basic reverse lunge, step ups, bulgarian splits squat –aka rear foot elevated split squat– can get a little old.
*be warned- if you don’t have the requisite stability and mobility to do so, you should build up to this movement first. If you’re not sure, I’d consult a qualified personal trainer or performance coach to assess this.
How To:
If you’re familiar with the power snatch, I’d suggest to power snatch it up. If not you can take it from the rack in a snatch grip–wide grip–and push press it up– like the below pic.
Once you have the bar in place overhead, take in a DEEP breathe and step back into a reverse lunge. The only difference is that you should focus on pushing UP into the bar and not letting it just sit there. Typically most people start to have an elbow break = bad. So make sure that you’re constantly pushing UP into the bar and activating your upper back, shoulders, and triceps.
Benefits:
The “Overhead Reverse Lunge” is a favorite of many personal trainers in NYC because it trains the:
- Shoulders
- Triceps
- Upper Back
- “Core” — abs/back
- Legs — hips, glutes, quads, hamstrings
As you can see the one exercise can hit MANY muscle groups and is very challenging too. If you have the requisite mobility/stability than you should give this uni-lateral exercise a shot.
Programming:
I typically add these in after the main exercise, but you can add it in as a circuit or as the main exercise itself.
Example 1:
- 1A: Clean Pull 5×3
- 2B: Overhead Reverse Lunge 3×12
- 3A: Back extension 3×15
- 3B: Leg lifts 3×15
- 4A: RDL’s 3×8
- ESD
Example 2:
- 1A: Overhead Press 3x20sec
- 1B: Overhead Reverse Lunge 3×10
- 1C: Bent over row 3x20sec
- 1D: Back Squat 3×20 reps
- 1E: Pike Sit ups 3x20sec
Stay strong,