CAN YOU SHOW ME A VIDEO OF A WALKING LUNGE?"

"CAN YOU SHOW ME A VIDEO OF A WALKING LUNGE?"

.

That's the most-asked question I get from readers of Maximum Overload.

It's a logical question. We only show still photography in the book, and even the most hard-bitten gym rat rarely does a walking lunge. Why? It involves movement, and people in the gym like to hunker down in one spot, as if they made a down payment on a house. Well, scope out a clear path on the gym floor, a hallway or even the sidewalk on your street (you'll get to know your neighbors!) and get ready to move 30 or 40 feet.. 

The goal of Maximum Overload is to stop you from slowing down, to keep on truckin' on the second half of the ride or the last hills when everyone else is pooping out.  Technically, that means you have SUSTAINABLE POWER.  What is  the one exercise that best builds the most sustainable power, i.e. MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE POWER (MSP)?  You guessed it.....

The WALKING LUNGE is dynamic and bi-pedal (meaning you execute it in motion with one leg at a time, like humans walk, run and ride, which is unlike deadlifts, thrusters, squats and most gym exercises you do with two legs planted on the floor), so in a neuromuscular sense it translates directly to athletics and real life. Not complicated, do-able anywhere with or without weights, it's PRACTICAL — the ultimate go-to, lifelong exercise for everyone, every age and fitness level. 

FOR CYCLISTS, the walking lunge is HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL. It blasts your entire leg (especially the oft-ignored glutes and upper hamstrings, which now can assist the quads ) and quickly can builds monster power (power = strength x speed) that translates directly to bike. It is well suited to  OVERLOADING you effectively, a key to improvment. Explanation:  For an exercise to keep you strong or make you stronger, it has to OVERLOAD you beyond normal life activities and sports. WEIGHTS can overload you and your muscles far better than cycling itself. The WALKING LUNGE is an effective and even fun way (if you're a masochist, that is) to MAXIMIZE YOUR OVERLOAD (hence, the name of the book, MAXIMUM OVERLOAD)

About 2 years ago, after Jacques successfully raised the power of pro cycling star Dave Zabriskie on a FANCY $20,000 AIR-RESISTANCE MACHINE, he settled on the simple, universally-accessible WALKING LUNGE as a better —ultimately, the best! — POWER EXERCISE. Experimenting with every known exercise, we have found that nothing else can touch it for effectiveness..

NOTE:  IF YOU ARE A READER OF "BIKE FOR LIFE" (second edition, pubished in March 2015), you may have noticed that there is NO MENTION OF THE WALKING LUNGE in the story about Maximum Overload on pgs. 57-60. That's because the program was in its baby-step phase then. DeVore added the walking lunge when the program was taken mainstream. 

.

OVERVIEW -- HOW TO DO IT:
As you get fitter, do the WALKING LUNGE with heavier and heavier weights, as long as it does not slow you down. When you reach a point where the heaviness does slow you down, go back to the previous 

Here's Maximum Overload's standard 3-rep (six-step) Weighted Walking Lunge Mini-set. Wait 10 seconds to rest once done, then do it again,  for 2 minutes. Bump the weight up and eventually go to 4 minutes. Keep the speed up throughout.

NOTE :  If this video does not play (it is not working for me), please go to our MAXIMUM OVERLOAD FOR CYCLISTS Facebook page or my Amazon author's page:
https://www.amazon.com/Roy-M.-Wallack/e/B001JP4HFY/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

weight and begin to extend the time of the workout, from 2 to 4 m inutes. After all, the whole point of Maximum Overload is to maintain your speed over a longer period of time. That's sustainable power.

STEP 1: FIND YOUR 6-REP STARTER WEIGHT.
Find a weight that you can do 6 reps of (that's 12 right-left steps) before gassing out and losing speed and form. That's known as reaching the point of "failure."

STEP 2: MINI-SETS
Using that 6-rep "failure" weight, do 3 reps (6 steps), as seen in the video. Then stop and rest for 10-15 seconds, until your herat rate comes down and you feel ready. Then do it again. And again. Do it for one minute, total, and if you feel ok, begin raising that to a full 2 minute "set,"
Resting 2 or 3 minutes between sets to bring your heart rate down, DO THREE 2-MINUTE SETS.

STEP 3. INCREASE THE WEIGHT
Every week, re-test your 6-reps-to-failure weight. For the first month, you will make tremendous gains in your ability to carry more weight. If you started with 10-pound dumbells, raise it to 12.5, 15, 20 ... and so on. Key: Make sure you can maintain full speed for two minutes. 

STEP 4. STOP INCREASING THE WEIGHT WHEN YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR SPEED
Denise Mueller, the 147-mph woman, topped out at 35 pounds. I do 40. Remember Maximum Overload is all about NOT SLOWING DOWN. Remember the phrase that pays: SUB-MAXIMAL WORKOUTS YIELD SUB-MAXIMAL RESULTS. 

STEP 5. LENGTHEN THE TIME
Whether you top out at 25 pounds or 50, now push past 2 minutes. Go to 2:30, 3, even as high as 4. After all, you are hunting for the big idea of the book: MAXIUMUM SUSTAINABLE POWER. See how long you can sustain it.

WHAT ABOUT THE DEADLIFT?
While it is true that the key pure "strength" exercise of Maximum Overload is the DEADLIFT, and that the deadlift alone, like all leg-weight exercises according to the research, is beneficial to cyclists and other athletes, the WALKING LUNGE is the big dog because it develops power, the goal of the program -- -- and does it in a bi-pedal manner (one leg at a time) like no other exercise. 

Yes, the deadlift is a key part of Maximum Overload, as it'll give you extra strength that can help raise your power. But it supports the lunge and does not replace it.

BOTTOM LINE: 
The LUNGE and the DEADLIFT are the 1-2 PUNCH that makes MAXIMUM OVERLOAD go. Sequentially, you do the deadlift before you do the lunge. But you do not do the deadlift in place of the lunge. The Lunge has its own special session-ending workout and is the big dog of Maximum Overload.

MILK CARTONS:
You can do the walking lunge with weights, milk cartons, Encyclopedia Britannicas or whatever you have available. Ideally, use something that has defined weight numbers you can count. Make sure to record your WEIGHT, REPS AND GRAND TOTAL OF WEIGHT CARRIED in YOUR THREE SETS-- i.e your MAXIMUM OVERLOAD (that name again)— in your planner. You will find the Walking Lunge MSP (Maximum Sustainable Power) workout highly motivating, on its own as a weekly or twice-weekly challenge and as your increasing walking lunge power translates directly to the bike.