Bulgarian Split Squats

A squat is one of the basic strength exercises, wherein you lower the hips from a standing position and then stand back up! A Bulgarian split squat is an advanced variation of the basic squat exercise, which is a combination of balance & coordination apart from building serious leg strength!

This compound lower body exercise is performed on a single leg, with the other leg is placed on a bench. This exercise focus on the quadriceps (the thigh muscles), gluteus maximus (buttocks muscles) and abductor’s muscles. This exercise requires a lot of balance and coordination apart from strength and hence also involves core muscles

You could increase the difficulty of this exercise by also adding weights (dumbbells)

Be sure of engaging only one leg (placed on the ground) and not the one placed on the bench behind. The foot on the ground has to be placed roughly one foot ahead of the central axis of your body. It will take a bit of trial & error to get the proper foot placement to perform this exercise comfortably.

You may start this exercise without weights with the hands stretched outward sideways to get a proper balance. Slowly and steadily, you may add weights (hold a pair of dumbbells) to increase the difficulty level of this exercise.

This is an excellent exercise for building serious lower body strength and can be performed even outside a gym.

Caution: This exercise is helpful to build strong leg muscles (especially quads), however, those with knee pain/injury are strictly advised to NOT perform this