The Bulgarian Split Squat is one slightly obscure yet highly underrated fitness exercise. For those who know it, it can be regarded as the king of single-leg exercises for its ability to build control, balance, power, and strength.
The Bulgarian Split Squat is a where one leg is elevated on a surface and other performs a squat, receiving most of the load.
Because of this split position, this single-leg unilateral exercise targets the quadricep muscles, glutes, and hamstrings like no other .
It is an exercise recommended for intermediate to advance level athletes who have more control and body-awareness, but beginners can also perform Bulgarian Split Squats on a lower elevated surface without weights to develop these traits.
There are many benefits to adding Bulgarian Split Squats into your training; not only do you strengthen all muscles targeted with a standard squat, but also increase your single leg strength and gain balance and control through the challenge this exercise presents.
As a , the Bulgarian Split Squat is great for spotting and addressing any imbalances you might have in your lower body. This will then carry over to , where you’ll become less likely to compensate with your stronger side.
As well as being a great exercise to build muscle and strength, the Bulgarian Split Squat can improve your ankle and hip mobility when practiced regularly. Additionally, if performed with weights, it’ll increase your core strength and general stability, reinforcing your midline.
Building strength with the Bulgarian Split Squat will carry over to other forms of squat and can help you .
You’ll only need a stable elevated surface to start off with. As you progress with the exercise, you might want to include dumbbells, kettlebells or even a barbell. The correct form to perform a Bulgarian Split Squat is as follows:
Watch this video for a visual demonstration of the Bulgarian Split Squat.
The Bulgarian Split Squat is a lower body exercise that primarily targets your hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, abductor muscles, and calves.
Secondarily, this exercise taxes also your abdominal muscles and spinal erectors.
Depending on where you place your feet, as well as what weight you use and how you choose to hold it, the Bulgarian Split Squat will target slightly different muscles.
Standing close to your elevated surface will emphasise your quads (although you should be aware of your knees), while standing further away will tax your hip flexors more heavily.
Holding weights above your chest as you would with an overhead or back- or front-loaded Bulgarian Split Squat will also increase the strain in your core muscles.
While the leg positioning in the Bulgarian Split Squat is mostly the same, there are multiple ways you could hold the weights to vary the exercise.
You can either:
Below we’ll go over all these variations and their benefits.
Also known as a suitcase Bulgarian Split Squat, this dumbbell variation adds weight on both your arms. Performing the exercise holding two dumbbells to your sides ensures muscular balance on both sides of the body.
The suitcase Bulgarian Split Squat can also be or any other weight, so long as you hold it by your sides.
For this variation, you’d hold a weight by your chest with both hands as you would do for a . You can also use a barbell and hold it crossed-armed or use the front rack position.
Adding this weight can help with stability and will place a bigger emphasis on your core muscles than a standard bodyweight Bulgarian Split Squat. Make sure your back is not rounded by tightening up your core.
To add more resistance to the exercise load a barbell onto your shoulders and complete the same movement. You’ll have to be careful to keep your torso upright throughout the exercise for this variation, as the added weight on your back might make you prone to tilting your chest forward.
This variation of the exercise where the athlete holds a weight overhead places a greater emphasis on the midline than any other variation. The core strength required to stabilise an overhead Bulgarian Split Squat is unmatched.
Because of this, this variation will probably not allow you to lift the heaviest weights but is a very advanced exercise and can be included in your full-body training.
Try the following workouts to include the Bulgarian Split Squat in your training regime.
Workout by
Workout by NCFit.
Workout by CrossFit Stimulus.
Read more:
Learn depending on your abilities or try these excellent variations:
Read more:
Image Sources
