A movement review is an excellent touch point to see exactly what DARI can collect and to better understand its importance in your motion health!
The lateral lunge is a great movement for a base functional analysis for all ages, here’s why:
1- It is not a sagittal plane movement (movement moving forward). This is one of the few base movements that gets you moving in a transverse plane (movement to the side). This gives us great information outside our standard ideas regarding functional status.
2- It is a single leg exercise but also allows you to have both feet on the ground. This gives you an opportunity to progress from bilateral movements (both legs) like a squat to unilateral movements (one leg) squats.
3- Most people know we are reviewing the leg that is considered the “lunging leg”, but we are also able to review the stance leg and back for function without the subject knowing. This gives us a great opportunity to test function without over-coaching a subject to success. It become more of an unbiased natural movement review.
Lateral lunge is a movement we should all include in our movement screening!
