Suspended lunge exercise: Assessment of forces in different positions and paces

The forces exerted on a suspension device have been examined in the upper body exercises such as push-ups or inverted row. However, there is a lack of evidence with regard to the effects of a suspension device on force production in lower limb exercises. For this reason, this aim of this study was to determine the effects of body position, contraction patterns and pace on force production by the lower limb during the execution of suspended lunge exercises. Ten physically active male university students (n = 10, age = 23.70±2.83 years old) performed sixteen suspended lunges in four different positions and at three different paces (60, 70, and 80 beats per minute). A load cell was used to assess the forces exerted on the suspension device. Force data were analysed with factorial repeated measurements (ANOVA). Significant main effects for position in concentric force (p= .000), average force (p= .002), and for frequency in peak force (p= .004) were found. Peak force was significantly higher in all positions for dynamic contraction type than for isometric suspended lunge. In conclusion, a greater distance of the feet, frequencies around 70 beats per minute and the dynamic contraction type all contributed to enhancing the forces exerted on the suspension strap in the performance of the lunge exercise.