Besides the many benefits of lunges, there is one powerful reason for you to love this incredibly effective, easy-to-learn exercise — it sculpts the backside and is probably the secret to J Lo’s famous derriere.

Getting down to the grunge, the lunge is the gritty part of your workout. And if it isn’t, it should be. The lunge is a functional exercise, which can help you perform activities such as hiking, climbing and pushing a lawnmower or wheelbarrow up a hill. Not many of us see ourselves doing it as part of our daily lives but lunges make your legs incredibly strong.

It is a compound exercise which works four groups of muscles — your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves. It is a movement that requires finesse as jerks and falls or bad form may lead to injury.

You can love them or hate them but lunges are here to stay

You step forward, back or to the side to lunge. It makes your core work more than in a squat, since you need it to maintain your balance as you move through space. The push-off motion, to move out of the lunge, and back to standing position translates into function fitness for running (and other sport).

The lunge has many variations, each of which has its own benefits. Backward or reverse lunges really work the booty; side lunges work the inner and outer thighs.

By holding dumb-bells while you lunge, you can add bicep curls and overhead presses but before you start on the variations, it is better to master the basic lunge as maintaining balance can be quite challenging.

To keep yourself upright, you must recruit more muscles at once, including core muscles and your stabilisers found in the butt and back. The good news, of course, being that the more muscles you recruit, the more calories you burn! Plus balance training prevents injury from trips and falls.

If done correctly, lunges keep your body upright and your spine stacked so low back pain issues are not a problem here. For those with bad knees, reverse lunges are a little easier on your knees.

To begin, stand tall and take a controlled lunge (or large step) backward with your left foot.

Lower your hips so that your right thigh (front leg) becomes parallel to the floor and your right knee is positioned directly over your ankle. If your foot lies behind or beyond your knee, it may cause injury or be ineffective. Keep your left knee bent at a 90-degree angle and pointed toward the floor. Your left heel should be lifted.

When your left knee is almost touching the floor, hold. Then, slowly push with your left foot to raise your pelvis up a bit, then straighten your knees and return your left leg back to starting position next to your right leg.

This completes one rep. Repeat with your left leg in front. Do as many as you can in one minute, making sure to alternate legs.

If you hate them, aim for one set of eight to 12 reps, done to failure, with each leg for maximum strengthening benefits. After you have completed your set, allow your body at least one full day of rest before doing another set of lunges. But if you fall in love with lunges and the results, you could take up a 30-day challenge — start with 20 lunges a day, go up to 150 lunges in 30 days with a rest day after every seven days. But remember, proper form and positioning are better than reps.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 1st, 2015

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