How should I approach a “cursed” exercise that’s more frustrating than challenging?

Question

I’ve been following a semi-elaborate routine which adds intensity by using rest-pause training. Most of it is going well, except for the lunges in Legs B, with a goal of 50 reps over 5 sets. (My understanding is I’m to do “however many good-enough reps” on set 1, 30s rest, repeat for 5 sets.)

At a guess, that’s because having mostly done Starting-Strength-like workouts before, whichever small muscles keep you balanced side-to-side don’t really get a lot of work compared to the big muscles meant to move load upwards.

The lunges end up being strenuous beyond what seems like challenging-yet-sane exertion: I get very winded, sometimes even dizzy; occasionally to the point where I have to lie down on a bench or mat until it subsides. (I take medication daily which has nausea and heart pounding as possible side effects, which might be contributing to this.) Probably can’t maintain good form either, or develop it in the first place.

The overall effect is this ends up being a huge drag on what’d already be a lengthy workout. Since the rep goal is for each leg, they end up being this time consuming block of obnoxious suffering that makes me want to skip them or call it a day thinking “meh it’s just accessories.”

What I’m looking for is actionable suggestions on what I could change up to bridge this deficiency and motivation issue. My rough idea is:

1. Lower the rep goal to say 30 or even 20.
2. Do a full rest between sets. (I use a heart rate measuring app for this to wait until I drop below 70% max for my age.)
3. Keep the load to a minimum. (A pair of 4kg/10lb dumbbells.)

progressing by removing the above limits in that order. (Increase reps, then reduce resting time, then begin adding weight.) All this while trying to focus on form and proper muscle recruitment. (Not sure what exactly helps here beyond gut feeling… Using a mirror, or slow and careful negative reps?)

Now, this is mostly me wildly guessing as an amateur, so I’m not sure if this makes sense in the context of the whole routine, or if I’m missing something, so it’d help me if somebody more experienced could look this over.

Other options that come to mind are: substituting split squats instead. (Since one leg is supported, there’s less to juggle mechanically - I’m not sure how important what the rear leg does is with lunges.) Or maybe there’s a difference between regular and reverse lunges - I’m doing reverse, and maybe I’m unnecessarily doing the fiddlier variant?

Answer 1

I’m not a big lunge fan myself, but they are certainly a useful exercise. While they aren’t an exercise that can be appropriately performed within lower rep ranges (say 10 or less), you certainly don’t need to do 50 reps to have an effective set. Anything between 15 and 30 should be fine, just work to (or close to) failure with reps done in good form. There’s no sense in torturing yourself with an exercise that is more mentally taxing than it is physically taxing.

Answer 2

you can reduce repetition goal to 1 rep maxes and go with heavy weight.... obviously by ramping up the weight slowly first starting with warm up sets.

or by doing 5 x 5 with heavy weight. Any exercise can be loaded heavily if you dislike high rep work.

another option is to substitute Lunges with Shrimp squats, they are better at building glutes... as a matter of fact many people who can squat twice their weight can't do one shrimp squat because its more a glute exercise than a leg one.

if you struggle doing high repetitions on lunges, split squats will be worse.

Answer 3

If an exercise seems challenging to you, that's usually a bodybuilder/athlete's way of knowing that they are weak in that area and need to do it more often... although 50 reps is not very common at all for many people, especially lunges. Lunges burn a lot of calories which make an exercise seem "winded". 50 reps or "half-century" set can sometimes be more grueling than a simple 3 set of 10 with 4 times the weight. Lactic acid accumulates and your muscles get a lot of endurance. You could try variations of lunges, such as walking, static, dynamic, or other lunges. reverse lunges are different as they tend to target hamstrings and glutes a bit more, and quads a bit less, than regular lunges. It might be easier to do regular lunges. To be honest, I've done century sets, and its usually with exercises that are deemed "easy" such as cable machine exercises or isolation exercises like dumbbell curls. You could do leg extensions or something else that isn't so tough, but I'd say stick with it and just perform the regular lunges rather than reverse lunges. Overtime, the workout will get easier as your body adapts and doesn't release as much lactic acid and your muscles get stronger