Strengthen Your Lawn Bowls Game with Lunges
Lunges are a fantastic exercise to improve strength, balance, and stability — all critical elements for enhancing your lawn bowls performance. By targeting the muscles in your legs and core, lunges help stabilise your lower body, providing you with better control and precision on the green. But what if knee pain or osteoarthritis (OA) is making lunges difficult? In this blog, we'll explore how lunges can boost your lawn bowls game and offer advice on modifying the exercise if you suffer from knee osteoarthritis.
In the coming newsletters, we'll cover different modifications and tips to help you gradually build up your lunge ability. Lunges are a powerful exercise for building strength, balance, and stability in lawn bowlers, but if knee pain or osteoarthritis makes them challenging, modifications can help you safely enjoy their benefits—please reach out if you'd like to discuss the best approach for you. We'll cover different modifications and tips to help you gradually build up your lunge ability.
Why Lunges Matter for Lawn Bowlers
Lunges are one of the best functional exercises for lawn bowlers. They strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves—muscles you rely on for balance and power in your stance and delivery. When your lower body is strong, you’re better able to maintain stability throughout your bowling motion, leading to improved accuracy and less fatigue over long games. Not only do lunges enhance muscle strength, but they also promote better neuromuscular control and balance. This can translate into more consistent performance during a game.
What if You Have Knee Osteoarthritis?
If you’re dealing with knee osteoarthritis, you may worry about lunges causing discomfort or worsening your symptoms. OA can make it challenging to bend the knee fully and may lead to pain or stiffness when performing certain movements. However, research shows that strengthening the muscles around the knee is beneficial in managing OA, as stronger muscles help reduce the load on the joint and provide better support. That said, modifications are important. For those with knee OA, as a physiotherapist I often recommend initially adjusting the depth of your lunge to avoid putting too much pressure on the knee joint. You can also use a chair or wall for support to keep the movement controlled and reduce discomfort. Additionally, focusing on smooth, steady movements can minimise strain.
Tip 1:
If lunges feel too challenging at first, you can break them down into simpler exercises and steps to build up the necessary strength, balance, and flexibility to eventually perform a full lunge. Here’s how you can progress gradually:
Wall or Chair-Assisted Lunges (Using Support)
Use a stick, dowel, or sturdy chair for balance.
Stand with the support in one hand and step forward with the opposite leg.
Focus on taking slow, controlled step into a split stance
Align Hips and Feet: Keep your hips facing forward, and both feet pointing straight ahead, as if on parallel tracks.
Bend your knees slightly, keeping your back foot elevated on the ball. Lower your body by ¼ of the way down at first.
Progress Gradually: As you build confidence and strength, increase the depth to ½ or ¾ of the way down over time.
Use the support until you can balance more easily.
Ready to learn more about lawn bowls or connect with a local club?
Click the button below to visit the Donvale Bowls Club website.
Feel free to reach out to Jurgen Schnable at 0419 301 565—be sure to mention DKB Transformations when you get in touch!
