How To Do the Bulgarian Split Squat for Leg Strength

The Bulgarian split squat is a powerful lower-body exercise for leg strengthening. It's a type of single-leg squat that involves placing your back leg on a bench. This exercise works similar muscles to a traditional squat while challenging your balance and stability.

This exercise is suitable for most people and can be progressed or regressed to meet your current fitness level.  

Benefits of Bulgarian Split Squats

The Bulgarian split squat is a functional movement that uses multiple muscles and joints. Functional movements mimic real-life movement patterns and activities.

For example, step-ups mimic climbing stairs, while rows (which target your back muscles) mimic pulling open heavy doors or lifting heavy objects. Learning to do functional movements correctly helps you avoid injury and move better in general.

The Bulgarian split squat loads one leg at a time. It mimics movement patterns like walking and accelerating quickly and offers several impressive benefits. For example, it:

• Targets the major muscle groups of your lower body: quads (front thighs), glutes (butt muscles), hamstrings (back thighs), and calves
• Challenges your balance and stability
• Engages your core muscles and improves your unilateral (single-sided) strength
• Reduces discrepancies (differences) in strength between your two legs

The Bulgarian split squat places less demand on the knee than a traditional squat, which might make it a helpful exercise for people with knee injuries (e.g., those in physical therapy for knee pain). It also doesn’t load your spine like a barbell squat, making it safer for those with lower back injuries or pain.

How To Do a Bulgarian Split Squat

Here's how to do a traditional Bulgarian split squat:

1. Hold one dumbbell in each hand.
2. Place your back leg on a bench or stable surface and plant your other foot firmly on the ground. 
3. Maintaining a tall posture, descend into the single-legged squat by bending your front knee and dropping your back knee directly toward the floor beneath you. 
4. Stop when your front leg comes roughly to parallel or deeper, based on your mobility.
5. Press into the floor with your front foot to return to the starting position, focusing on staying balanced.
   

Aim to distribute 90% of your weight on the front foot and only 10% on the balancing leg. Do the movement slowly and carefully. Squeezing your core muscles and the dumbbells in your hands helps you maintain balance.

Modifications

If you find the exercise too challenging from a free-standing position, you can do bodyweight Bulgarian squats (without weights) and hold onto something in front of you instead. This eliminates part of the stability challenge and also assists your strength on the way up from the squat.

You can further modify the movement by not bending your knees as deeply until you build the strength and stability to bend them more.

How To Add It to an Exercise Routine

You can add the Bulgarian split squat to a full-body or leg day routine. In either case, try to continually progress the movement over time to challenge your muscles.

This ongoing challenge—called progressive overload—helps increase muscle size, strength, and endurance. The additional stress you put on your muscles causes them to work harder, leading to muscle adaptations and growth.

You can progress the Bulgarian split squat with the following strategies:

• Add more weight
• Perform more repetitions
• Do more sets
• Improve your form by performing the movement through a greater range of motion. 

You can gain strength and lean muscle tissue through a variety of rep and set ranges, but about three sets of 8-12 reps per leg typically leads to the most effective results.

Safety Tips

There are many ways to add the Bulgarian split squat into your exercise routine, but there are some important safety tips:

• Always perform the movement after you’ve warmed up and activated your leg and core muscles to prevent injury.
• Press through the ball of your front foot and evenly distribute the pressure. Placing too much weight on the front of your foot can lift the heel off the floor and cause injury.
• If you have limited ankle mobility, take a big step forward with the front foot to widen your stance. This requires less bend in your ankle and places most of the work on your hips. 
• If you have a knee injury and notice discomfort when doing split squats, try the exercise unloaded (without weights) to determine if you have any pain before progressing to weights.

As with any exercise, if you’re unsure about whether the exercise is right for you, you can always consult with a certified fitness professional and/or physical therapist. They can offer recommendations based on your unique circumstances. 

A Quick Review

The Bulgarian split squat is a valuable addition to a well-rounded exercise program. It’s a challenging movement that offers impressive benefits to leg strength and stability.

Take your time, practice your form, and progress the movement only when you feel ready. Modify the movement as needed, and reach out to a physical therapist or certified fitness professional for support or ideas.