Knee pain.

It sucks. Plain and simple.

And there are a ton of reasons why you could be suffering from knee pain (reasons I will be getting to at a later date).

But no matter why you have the pain, it generally causes you to avoid leg exercises that could help you develop stronger, more powerful legs.

Lunges and squats generally cause pain. And even traditional deadlifts or sumo deadlifts may be uncomfortable.

But just because you have knee pain doesn’t mean you can skip leg day.

Actually when you have knee pain, you NEED to develop stronger legs, especially stronger glutes. Strengthening your glutes can often help alleviate knee pain (even though weak glutes are not necessarily the direct cause of knee pain).

Single leg deadlifts and straight leg deadlifts can both be great options. If your knee pain is a result of a previous ankle injury, single leg deadlifts can be a great way to also work on and improve your balance.

HOWEVER, I have found that one of the most torturous standing glute exercises isn’t a variation of the deadlift, it is the Anterior Reach Lunge by Nick Tumminello.

This move is so great that I love using it even with uninjured people. It seriously is a deceptively hard move and one that is sure to make your butt SO SORE the first time you do it.

How to do the Anterior Reach Lunge:

1. Start standing with your feet together. Beginners should start with bodyweight while more advanced lifters can hold weights by their sides. Intermediate lifters or people suffering from low back pain may want to do the lunge with a front reach instead of adding weight.

2. Step forward with one foot. Beginners can keep the step forward smaller. A bigger step forward will make the move more difficult.

3. Step forward and bend the front knee slightly as you hinge over. All of your weight should basically be in your front leg with your back leg used for balance and support.

4. While you are stepping forward, your weight shouldn’t continue to go forward as you hinge over. Your front heel should be firmly on the ground while your back leg stays straight.

5. Your back should also be flat as you lean/hinge over.

6. The more you lean over, the harder the move. DO NOT ROUND YOUR BACK TOWARD THE GROUND. It doesn’t matter if the weights touch the ground or if you can only lean over a little bit. It only matters that you push the butt back, keep the core engaged and the back flat as you hinge over.

7. If you do the reach instead of holding weights, you will reach your hands overhead and in front of you as you hinge over. Do not round as you reach.

8. Feel a nice stretch in your glute and hamstring as you hinge over. Make sure your weight isn’t going forward into your front toe. The heel of the front foot should be firmly planted on the ground. After you hinge over, stand up and step back.

9. You can choose to complete all reps on one side or alternate legs as you go.

Knee pain is no excuse to skip leg day, especially GLUTE DAY. For more great glute strengthening moves that could help alleviate your knee pain, check out these 10 Mini Band Moves.

P.S. For some reason this move does really make me think of the bend and snap…Anyone else get that!?!