Lunges have been around for a long time, but what if I told you there’s a better way to lunge as a runner? The old form of dropping your knee to the ground and returning serves some well, but not us–not runners.

In a sport where injuries are all too frequent, some research indicating upwards of 80%, runners are continuously seeking help through online searches. If anything is well documented in the running literature, it’s the role of our hips in running. Strong hips, primarily butt muscles, are crucial to preventing injury. It’s not even specific to where the injury is located. As of now, the best jumping off point for foot, knee, and hip injuries (both prevention and rehab) is to strengthen the hips.

Here’s the kicker… traditional lunges suck for runners. It goes something like this:

This old “drop your knee” lunge overloads the knee and does little to activate your hip muscles. (see image at the start of post)

Instead, let’s spice up your lunges, tweaking them ever so slightly to cue in your butt muscles.

Take a look at the video below as I show you a few ways I change the traditional lunge for my patients and runners. The small tweak helps them (and you) to build stronger hips — which is a great way to beat all sorts of injury while even getting faster.