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When it comes to testing leg strength, lunges are a top contender.
If lunges are part of your workout routine, you’re likely familiar with the challenge they present. This exercise demands a great deal of coordination, balance, and strength, as one leg is tasked with supporting your entire body weight. Many fitness enthusiasts actually find lunges more difficult than squats due to the focus on small muscle groups and the single-leg nature of the movement. Unlike squats, lunges isolate the workout to one leg at a time.
We have an intriguing challenge for all lunge aficionados. According to Joshua King, the Personal Training Leader at Life Time in Gainesville, Virginia, if you’re able to perform a certain number of lunges past the age of 55, you possess leg strength that surpasses 90% of your peers.
Well, we’re calling all lunge fans for a strength test. According to Joshua King, Personal Training Leader at Life Time Gainesville (Virginia), if you can do this many lunges after 55, your leg strength is stronger than 90% of your peers.
This Benchmark Signals Top-Tier Leg Strength
For those 55 and up, King says that if you’re able to perform 50 total reps (one full set or broken up into multiple sets) with solid depth, balance, and posture, you’re stronger than most of your peers.
“The key is quality over quantity. For quality, the knee must stay controlled, full range of motion movement, balance control and keeping the torso upright,” King tells us.
Why Lunges Are an Effective Test of Lower-Body Strength
According to King, lunges are one of the most productive movements for assessing lower-body strength.
“They force the body to control strength one leg at a time, which exposes imbalances immediately. Lunges tell us far more than simple machine-based leg work. Primary muscles used in the lunge: glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and core,” King explains.
How Lunges Compare to Squats When Measuring Functional Strength
Lunges challenge your body in a manner squats simply do not. Every rep requires each leg to produce force independently while stabilizing the trunk, hips, and pelvis.
“With squats, both feet stay planted and the body can distribute force evenly, which allows stronger sides to compensate for weaker ones. Lunges remove that advantage and immediately expose weaknesses in balance, coordination, and control,” King tells us. “In relation to functionality, lunges require the body to manage forward and downward movement through space, which is much closer to real-life demands like walking uphill, stepping onto curbs, climbing stairs, or changing direction.”
What This Indicates About Your Stability and Mobility
If you’re able to complete high-quality lunges in a repeated fashion, it says you have solid hip mobility, core control, balance, coordination, and stable knee joints on each side.
“It also suggests [you’re] maintaining the type of lower-body function that protects [you] long-term,” King says. “If someone over 55 performs lunges with control, proper depth, and endurance, I’m usually looking at someone who has trained well, moves well, and has a much higher functional capacity than their age suggests.”