Today we are going to explore a proprioceptively challenging exercise — a lunge with a medicine ball rotation. For this particular workout you will need a weighted medicine ball. We will be combining two relatively simple exercises but when put together, the contrasting movements create instability — the key to core training.

You are going to start by standing upright with your feet a few inches apart, holding the medicine ball just out in front of your belly button. From here you will step forward with one foot and bend both knees to 90 degrees (the back knee will be bending down toward the ground but stopping just before you hit the ground). As you are completing your lunge it is very important for you to think about keeping the weight in the heel of your front foot. By doing this, you will help to keep yourself from leaning too far forward in your lunge and letting your knee cross forward past your toes, which we never want to allow to happen. By letting the knee too far forward you put a significant amount of unneeded stress on your knees. To protect your knees, it is extremely important to pay attention to this detail and ensure that your knee is directly over your ankle and no farther.

Once down in the lunge position, you will keep your torso upright and maintain this low position as you rotate the medicine ball around your body to the side of the knee that is forward. Return to the center and step back to your starting position. From here you will alternate to the other leg, lunge forward and rotate toward the knee that is forward. When you rotate, you want to be sure that only your torso is rotating and that you are keeping your hips and knees straight ahead. They will want to shift to the side when you rotate so you will need to actively work to maintain your square position. Again, you will return the ball to the center and then step back to your starting position. You will continue to alternate legs for the duration of the repetitions.

Enjoy!