Mobility and stretches
Lizard lunge
- Kit
- No kit
- Works
- hip flexors · groin · glutes
- Also
- hamstrings · calves · lower back
- Sides
- Left and right
The lizard lunge is a deep low lunge with the front foot placed wide and both hands on the floor inside it. It opens the hips, groin and hip flexors while asking the front ankle to bend under load, which makes it useful before squatting or running and calming afterwards. Done slowly, it suits anyone who sits for long stretches and feels tight at the front of the hips.
Form
How to do lizard lunge
- 1Start in a push-up position with hands under your shoulders. Step your left foot forward and plant it outside your left hand, wider than hip width.
- 2Lower your hips toward the floor until you feel a stretch through the front of the right hip and the inside of the left thigh. Keep the back leg straight with the knee off the ground, or drop the knee down if that is too much.
- 3Let your chest stay tall over your hands and breathe out slowly as you sink, easing a little deeper on each exhale rather than forcing it.
- 4Hold and keep breathing. If you want more, lower onto your forearms and let the front knee drift gently outward.
- 5Press back through your hands, step the front foot back to a push-up position, and swap to the other side. Do both sides.
Watch for
Common mistakes
Bouncing in and out of the stretch to get deeper.
Fix: Hold still and let the depth come from slow exhales, not momentum.
Rounding the back and collapsing the chest toward the floor.
Fix: Lift through the sternum and keep a long line from the back heel to the crown of your head.
The back knee and hip sag so the hip flexor never stretches.
Fix: Press the back heel away behind you and tuck the tailbone slightly so the front of the hip lengthens.
Variations
Easier and harder
Sessions
Put it in a workout
None of the fixed workouts uses it. Pick a workout for your kit, or start today's session on /gym.