🦵 15 lunge variations to scorch your legs

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Welcome to The BarBend Newsletter! Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Lunge variations to spice up your leg training

• USA Weightlifting is unhappy with the Enhanced Games

• A bodybuilder’s bizarre chicken protein shake

Exercise Selection

Lunge, Lunge, Lunge Your Boat

Your options for lunges are far more varied than you realize. In addition to the traditional forward lunge you may have grown up using, or even the popular walking lunge variation, there are just about as many ways to lunge as there are stars in the sky.

Here are 15 options for ways to unilaterally train your legs, each with its own interesting way of hitting your quads, hammies, and glutes.

You can change up your angles by swapping in reverse lunges or going side-to-side with pendulum lunges. You can also load your lunges in almost innumerable ways, from holding dumbbells to sticking a weight overhead and hanging on for dear life with your core. Don’t get stuck in a lunge rut. Stand on the back of some single-legged giants and find out how far you can see.

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Weightlifting

Enhanced Mode

The Enhanced Games is set to take PED-fueled athletic competition out of the shadows and onto the Vegas strip in May of 2026.

However, USA Weightlifting, with its anti-drug indignity flying from the tallest mast it can find, has strongly come out against the Enhanced Games, not least of which because of its perceived poaching of USAW’s athletes.

Calling them an “unwanted sideshow” and claiming the Enhanced Games “violates the spirit of true sport,” USAW President and CEO Matt Sicchio holds down the fort on the only opinion media talking heads are allowed to have on PED use.

Will the Enhanced Games force a more nuanced look at chemical assistance in sports? Will gassed-up monsters fly into a roid rage mid-contest and destroy the event? Probably neither, but, as this article shows, the pot is getting stirred up now more than ever.

Bodybuilding

Costco’s Chicken Bake Has Nothing on This

One of the greatest keys to success may be learning to manage setbacks and turn weaknesses into strengths. 2025 Arnold Classic Physique champion Mike Sommerfeld recently dealt with a serious health issue — but worse than that, this emergency made it extremely difficult to eat. (Every bodybuilder’s worst nightmare.)

Sommerfeld, driven by his belief in “no excuses,” turned his inability to chew into something beneficial by learning to drink massive chicken shakes.

“Tastes just like grandma’s soup,” he said in a recent YouTube video.

Building up to October’s Olympia, Sommerfeld has no time to take a break from his high-protein, low-carb diet. Learn about the macros, timing, and secret ingredients he uses to pound down his liquid chicken meals to fuel his workouts.

Quick Hits

🪵 Press This: Strongman competitors have long known the benefits and difficulties of the log press. Still not as common as sleds or sandbags, logs offer a unique take on the traditional “picking weight up from the ground and pressing it overhead” oeuvre. Get your hands in a neutral position, brace your upper back, and get ready to jump on the best log ride around by learning about this unique piece of equipment.

💪 Shake This Up: Protein powders are hardly a secret. Shaker bottles are as common a sight in kitchen cabinets as casserole dishes are at your grandma’s house. Find the best protein blend for your needs by reviewing the 11 best products in this class from 2025.

🏋️‍♂️ Band This: Follow the advice of Justin “Judd” Lienhard, who discusses how he uses resistance bands to develop rotational power, mobility, and athletic ability.

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