Even though your non-working leg rests on a surface behind you during the Bulgarian split squat, it doesn’t do much to assist you through the full range of motion. Aim for three to four sets of 8 to 10 repetitions (reps) on each leg. Rest for 45 seconds after each set.

Often, lifters and athletes have a dominant leg, leading to muscle imbalances, movement compensation patterns, and overuse injury. The split squat has you focus on one leg at a time, so therefore you’re able to better strengthen, well, one leg at a time. This means you’ll be less prone to injuries that could be caused by muscular compensations — that is, a discrepancy in form due to one leg making up for the other leg’s incompetence. Unilateral Hypertrophy and Strength It’s easy to let your chest collapse if your core isn’t strong enough to keep you more vertical at the bottom of the movement, but you should do your best to maintain tension in your upper body and keep your shoulders straight. Related Article: The Ultimate List Of 55+ Barbell Exercises (By Muscle Group) Common Mistakes With The Bulgarian Split Squat

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If you are new to split squats, start off by doing 5 to 8 reps on each leg. Once you get stronger, increase to 12 to 16 reps on each leg. Aim to do split squats three times a week to get the maximum results. Eventually, you may want to add weights to this exercise. Split Squat Adaptations When the heel of the foot on your working leg comes off the floor, it puts more stress on your knee. It also makes you feel less stable during a movement that already challenges your balance. 2. Chest Falling Too Far Forward On the other hand — or foot — sometimes it may feel like you’re too heel dominant. This may manifest as your toes actually rising off of the ground while you stand up with each repetition. This is also not ideal, as it will make it more difficult for you to really recruit as much glute and quad musculature as possible. Similarly, using the ipsilateral side for loading — holding weight on the same side as the working leg — will greatly challenge your hip stability. While these may also be assets long term, either unilateral variation may see your hip stabilizers or core hit fatigue before your legs themselves. The main goal of any split squat is to retain even foot pressure throughout the entire range of motion. With that in mind, it can be extremely common for you to feel like you’ve got more weight distributed over your toes.

The glutes are responsible for hip extension and stabilizing the pelvis during the split position. Athletes/lifters can manipulate the depth of the split to isolate the glutes and hamstrings further. Quadriceps Similar to your glutes, your hip flexors are highly active during the split squat. An easy way to boost mobility across your hip flexors for your split squat is to choose a stretch that emulates the position. Many programs will place a split squat or its variations later in a workout. This makes sense, given that you typically want to perform your bigger movements first — think barbell squats and deadlifts. But this might mean that you have limited gas in the tank when split squat time rolls around. The Fix Weighted Bulgarian split squats. ​​This variation is like the traditional split squat exercise except you add weights for a more challenging workout. Hold a single dumbbell (or kettlebell) vertically with both hands in front of your chest. Keep your elbows close to your rib cage at all times. You can also hold the dumbbells at your sides.When you’re new to the Bulgarian split squat, it can take a while to find the ideal foot placement for your working leg. You can keep it closer to your body or step it further in front of you to target either the quads or glutes, but the exact distances will vary based on your limb proportions and what feels most comfortable to you. Improved lower body strength. Split squats predominantly target your quads and glutes. Because split squats focus on one leg at a time, it requires more muscle focus and increases muscle activation. This helps to increase the growth of muscles used for unilateral movements like sprinting and jumping more efficiently. Quadriceps. Located at the front of your thigh, these muscles allow you to extend your knee and flex your hip so you can squat or sit. Unlike other Bulgarian Split Squat Stands, this specialty bench includes a small and larger foot roller for even greater exercise variety. Here are several exercises you can perform with this machine: