Type: Legs · Difficulty: Advanced
Muscles worked: front of the thighs, glutes, back of the thighs and calves.
Bulgarian split squats are the demanding take on lunges. The back foot rests on a chair, so nearly all the bodyweight goes through the front leg. This is the step that comes after regular lunges, once those feel solid on both sides. Do them once or twice a week, in a leg session.
The position
The steps
- Place a sturdy chair behind you and rest the top of your back foot on the seat. Your front leg is well ahead of the chair, foot flat on the floor.
- Find your balance, torso upright, hands on your hips or at your sides.
- Lower yourself by bending the front knee, until the front thigh is parallel to the floor or nearly so. The back knee moves down toward the floor.
- Keep the front knee over the ankle, pointing in the same direction as the foot. Most of your weight stays on the front leg.
- Push through the middle and heel of the front foot to rise back to the top. Finish your reps on that leg, then switch sides.
Common mistakes
- Standing too close to the chair: the back leg gets cramped and the front knee travels far past the foot. Move your front foot further out.
- Pushing off with the back leg: it is there for balance, not for the lift. The work belongs to the front leg.
- The front knee caving inward: keep it pointing in the direction of the toes.
- The torso collapsing forward: keep your chest upright and your eyes ahead.
- Dropping down too fast: control the descent, especially with one foot raised.
Adjust the difficulty
- Easier: rest the back foot on a lower support, such as a step or a thick cushion, and shorten the descent to halfway. Keep a support for balance and start with 4 to 6 reps per leg.
- Harder: go deeper, slow the descent to three seconds, or pause for one second at the bottom.
- The pace: 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps per leg, with 90 seconds of rest between sets. Both legs done count as one full set.
