Compound — lower body

Bulgarian Split Squat

Dumbbells or barbell and a bench

The Bulgarian split squat is one of the most demanding and effective single-leg exercises. It exposes and corrects strength differences between legs and drives huge quad and glute growth.

The Bulgarian split squat is widely disliked for a good reason: it is genuinely hard, and it removes the ability to hide a weaker side. That is exactly the argument for doing it. It builds quads and glutes with a fraction of the spinal load of a barbell squat, which makes it valuable when your back needs a break but your legs do not.

Technique

1. 1Rest your rear foot on the bench — not too high, which strains the hip flexor
2. 2Place your front foot far enough forward that the knee stays over the ankle
3. 3Lower your hips straight down, not forward
4. 4Stay upright for more quads, lean forward for more glutes
5. 5Start lighter than you think — the balance demand alone is significant

Common mistakes

• Front foot too close to the bench

  Fix: The knee ends up far past the toes and the quad takes everything. Step further forward until the shin is near-vertical at the bottom.

• Rear foot placed too high

  Fix: A high bench forces the hip flexor into an aggressive stretch and destabilises the position. Knee height or slightly below is right.

• Pushing off the back foot

  Fix: The rear leg is for balance only. Drive through the front heel — if the back leg is working, you are doing a lunge.

• Starting far too heavy

  Fix: The balance demand alone is significant. Start with bodyweight and only add dumbbells once you can do 3×10 per side without wobbling.

Sets and reps

How to progress

Add reps per side before load — 3×8 to 3×12 is real progress. Then add dumbbells in 2 kg steps. Because it is single-leg, total systemic fatigue is low, so it can be trained twice a week without the recovery cost of heavy squats. Always start the set with your weaker side and match the reps on the stronger one.

Variations

• Front-foot-elevated split squat

  Raising the front foot increases range and glute involvement.

• Goblet split squat

  Dumbbell at the chest, which helps balance and keeps the torso upright.

• Deficit split squat

  Front foot on a plate for a deeper stretch at the bottom.

Frequently asked questions