Dragon squats, lunges and horse stance are great exercises to help improve lower body strength and efficiency.
I went on a pretty solid run of posting lower body drills (dragon squats, curtsy airborne lunge, horse stance, etc) on my Instagram page, so I thought I’d repurpose those posts into a blog.
You can find and follow me at instagram here.
All of these posts depicted bodyweight leg exercises.
I find myself posting more and more bodyweight-based lower body exercises, using no equipment, just progressively challenging body positions/mechanics/timing.
2 years ago, I couldn’t fathom performing a full dragon squat.
I couldn’t even comprehend how my body was going to allow me to drop down to the floor with the hovering leg positioned behind my working leg.
Making progressive gains in mobility and literally feeling your body adapt to positions, stress and range of motion is a crazy experience, but it takes consistency, discipline and reflection.
One day you might feel a million miles from being able to perform an exercise. Fast forward 2 weeks, and you own it.
Quoting Mat Fraser, “Hard work pays off”.
4x Speed Lunge Variations
Lunge training, using ONLY bodyweight and added weight, has become a staple in my workouts over the last 6 months.
Almost daily, I noticed myself using some variation of a lunge pattern to perform basic tasks or play with my kids, and decided to commit to training lunges more regularly.
People sound off about how great the squat is for daily activity, and I’m not saying it isn’t, but the lunge is a workhorse for me.
After becoming a Dad, my reasons for training shifted a bit. Preserving my ability to get up and down from the floor with EASE became a priority.
I started thinking about when I have grandchildren. My life would be fullest if I’m able to maneuver up and down from the floor (where kids dwell in there younger years) without any issues.
The lunge pattern is an excellent way to make a transition from standing to the floor (and vice versa).
I used to dodge like the plague.
In reflection, this avoidance was two-fold:
- Discomfort, not being as good at lunges as other exercises.
- Perception that single leg squat practice was enough.
The number of times we avoid exercises because we either suck at them or the discomfort is overwhelming is humbling.
Notice in the video above, the number of variations I’m playing around with.
Extended stance, feet close together, knees way out over the toes, lateral lunge, reverse lunge, static hold/pause, rotational lunge, etc.
Lunges don’t have to be a dull experience.
Practice and acclimate to all lunge variations using simple variations first and progressive loading.
Expand.
Curtsy Airborne Lunge
I had no clue that this exercise was called the “Curtsy Airborne Lunge”, until I started performing it and felt the need to assign it a name.
The curtsy airborne lunge is a phenomenal exercise regression that can help lead a person into a dragon squat.
Why?
Curtsy Airborne Lunges use similar mechanics. Lowering down, touching the knee cap to the floor on the outside of the working foot looks a lot like the initial lower phase of a dragon squat.
What makes this exercise a regression, is not having to deal with hovering the trailing.
Keeping the trailing leg off the floor during a full Dragon Squat is hard.
You’ll see what I’m referring to in the next video.
Dragon Squats, Ice Cold in Street Clothes
In my opinion, cold performance is the only thing that matters beyond competitive athletics.
Pretty bold statement, but whatever athletic qualities I can express at the snap of a finger, ice cold (no fancy 15 minute warm up, activation, core temp elevation, mobility, etc) with whatever clothes and footwear I’m wearing is my performance capacity.
Right?
I like to test cold performance periodically.
Cold performance efforts are, of course, at my own risk.
I accept this risk.
Horse Stance and Cossack Squats
Horse stance and Cossack Squats are two exercises show up in my daily workouts.
Sometimes I use them during the warm up, other times I’ll add weight to build strength, or I’ll slip them into a flow sequence.
It’s amazing how often I use a dead stop Cossack Squat to stand up from the floor with my kids in my arms.
Quick Deadstop Cossack Squat
From any seated position, bring either leg in, foot close to the butt cheek, slight transfer of weight forward to steady myself and load the foot, push and stand.
Simple as that.
I added a 53lb kettlebell to the video above as a defense mechanism for the hecklers out there.
If you have ownership over a movement or range of motion, you’ll use it.
If you don’t, you’ll avoid it.
In the case of performing a Cossack Squat from the bottom position, I own it, so I use it A LOT.
The value of pursuing efficiency with a robust number of movement patterns and ranges is that it gets hardwired in your system. Practice these movements until you can hardly stomach another repetition, then transfer it to real life. The gym is a controlled environment where we can build our bodies to perform out in the real world.
It’s difficult to explain to people how liberating being able to move confidently however, whenever, wherever really is.
Zero aches. Zero pains. Zero restrictions. No second thoughts of “Can I do this?”.
When you own it, you just do it without hesitation.
Being able to access a wide array of movements and having control over a robust range of motion will seriously change your life. Lowering your susceptibility to injury is an often overlooked MAJOR benefit of building a body that can move well.
Regarding long holds in the horse stance, allow me to set the expectation for you. It’s a slow death. No way around that.
Turn gaze out into space with a blank stare and feel your soul drip out of your body, through your hips. Bonus points if you don’t moan softly or wince.
You develop a tolerance for the discomfort, and quite frankly, plowing through the discomfort is something you’ll have to acquire a taste for if you desire fitness.
This reality is left out of many fitness books.
The carryover from horse stance conditioning into Cossack Squat work has been profound.
M(eaux)tion Fitness 