Split Squat Exercise: Build Strength and Improve Form Guide and Video
Certain exercises can help build muscle mass. Others improve your balance or coordination. And some can increase your strength, regulate your blood flow and heart rate.
But what if there was a movement that did all this? As it turns out, there is: the split squat exercise.
Split squats are like a secret weapon in your training arsenal. They’re efficient at working multiple muscle groups, quick to master, and easy to do at the gym or at home.
Ready to learn how to do them right? Read it.
What is a split squat?
Split squats are a unilateral (one-sided) exercise designed to build lower body strength and promote balance. The split squat achieves these goals by targeting the following muscles:
- Quads
- Hamstring
- Calves
- Gluteus
- abs (core)
Benefits of split squats
Along with building strength in your lower body and core, split squats are great for:
- Improve balance – Adding split squats to your workout will add a sense of balance. That’s because the exercise focuses on the muscles in the middle of your thighs, which stabilizes your hips and keeps them balanced as you walk.
- Correcting muscle imbalances – Since split squats work one leg at a time, it’s easy to identify and address strength differences between the right and left sides. If one leg feels weak, you can separate that side until both legs are equal.
- Enhancing athletic performance – Split squats offer the ultimate training opportunity for anyone who plays sports. After all, many athletic activities, including running and jumping, are unilateral. By strengthening both legs, developing stability and increasing mobility, the split squat exercise prepares you for any activity.
- Increase strength – Like most exercises, split squats get your heart pumping. Doing multiple sets of these unilateral squats can improve your overall fitness, helping you tackle other workouts without feeling out of breath.
How to do the split squat exercise
You don’t need special equipment for split squats, you can do them anywhere. Here’s how.
Step 1: Position your body
First, find a place in the gym and stand in front of you with your feet hip-width apart. Take a big step forward, planting your heel on the ground and straighten your front leg. Leave the back leg slightly bent.
Then stand tall, arms at your sides and chest forward.
Step 2: Lower to the ground
When you feel stable, begin to bend both legs until your back knee touches the floor.
In your low position, your front rotation should be aligned up and down on the knee. Your back knee, meanwhile, rests just behind the thigh; You should feel a stretch in your hip flexors.
Step 3: Get up
Press up from the ground to complete your first rep, driving your front heel into the floor. When you return to your starting position, straighten your front leg while making a slight bend in the back leg.
Step 4: Switch sides
After completing a set of split squats on one side—we suggest 10-20 repetitions per set—work on the other side. Bring your back leg forward, send your front leg back and repeat the exercise on the opposite side.
Tips and tricks for split squats
Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, this guide from our fitness experts should help you stay safe and train at your peak when doing split squats.
- Use a stable surface for balance – Split squats are as much about balance as strength, so mastering the exercise can be challenging for first-timers. If you need help staying upright, you can hold on to a chair, counter, or other firm surface for support. As your strength and coordination improves, you will be able to complete your split squats without assistance.
- Stand as straight as possible – You may feel a natural tendency to lean forward as you land, but do your best to fight it. You can get the full benefits of each split squat while maintaining a straight back. And Reduce the risk of spinal injuries.
- Let the back knee rise – For best results, don’t let your back knee touch the ground. Keeping the energy up ensures there is no “rest time” during your set, allowing you to get the most out of your workout. However, if you need to rest your knees on the floor between repetitions, you may find it more comfortable to place a small mat or towel on the floor.
Open squat variations to try
For more of a challenge, try these variations on the split squat exercise.
Split squats with weight
Weight division adds weight to the mix and makes the regular version more difficult.
To perform this variation, follow the steps above, but hold a dumbbell or keel in each hand. Make sure to keep your arms straight as you raise and lower your body.
As always, we recommend starting with a lighter weight Before moving on to heavy equipment.
Bulgarian split squats
To complicate matters further, try the Bulgarian split squat. In this exercise, you perform squats with your back leg on an elevated surface, such as a weight bench or yoga block. Simply rest the top of your back foot on a solid surface and complete a set of squats as you normally would.
If the standard Bulgarian split squat is still not enough for you, you can also do it with weights.
It’s time for split squats and more.
There may be no such thing as a perfect exercise, but split squats are pretty close. By incorporating the split squat exercise into your workout routine, you can improve your stability, strength, and lower body strength all at once.
Now, all you need is a friendly, organized place to work. Chuze Fitness offers. With locations across the country, we have everything you need to practice any split squat variation – plus any exercise you can think of.
Explore our membership options to get started, then find the Chuze Fitness facility that works for you.
Sources:
National Biotechnology Information Center. Anatomy, bony pelvis and lower limb: thigh adductor magnus muscle. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534842/
Excellent fit. How to do the Bulgarian Split Squat: Correct Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes. https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-do-a-bulgarian-split-squat-4589307
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