Split Squat

The split squat is a great exercise for both new and experienced fitness enthusiasts. It helps beginners develop foundational strength and experienced gym goers improve their performance.

When performed correctly, the exercise has little to no risk of injury because it uses body weight as resistance. Additionally, its numerous variations make it a very sustainable movement, allowing you to progress in difficulty and technique. This article thoroughly investigates the exercise, focusing on the aspects required to master it.

How To Do

  1. Begin by standing upright, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your hands straight and your shoulders back.
  2. Take a split stance by moving your right foot backward. Slightly elevate your right heel while keeping your left foot flat on the ground.
  3. Tighten your core and keep your spine neutral, your neck straight, and your gaze straight ahead. This ensures that you remain stable enough to complete the activity without falling to the side.
  4. Slowly bend both knees to lower your body, focusing your weight on the left leg. Pause when your right knee is nearly touching the ground.
  5. Push through the left foot to gradually return to a split stance.

Tips From Expert

  • Ensure you keep your hands by your sides throughout the movement. This ensures a stable body position to move form.
  • Your body should move in a straight line as you bend your back leg towards the ground. This helps to keep balance throughout the movement.
  • You should keep a neutral back with your chest up and head facing forward during the exercise. This helps to limit lower back stress.
  • Ensure both legs are an even distance away from your body. Make sure you don't overextend your legs to get into the lunge position.
  • Inhale and engage your core before squatting. Exhale as you push through your leg back to the starting position.

Optimal Sets and Reps

The optimal split squat sets and reps for you are determined by your fitness level and overall training goal. Your fitness level determines where you begin, and your goal guides the appropriate exercise for strength, hypertrophy, power, or endurance.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 4–6 (Per leg)
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–12
Endurance Training 2–3 15–20+
Power Training 3–4 3–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Split Squat

How to Put in Your Workout Split

The split squat is an excellent addition to any fitness routine, particularly in leg-specific and lower-body workouts. This unilateral exercise targets the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps while improving hip flexion and overall stability.

There are numerous ways to incorporate it into workout splits, including:

  • Lower Body: The split squat is an excellent way to increase lower body strength and stability. You can combine them with other lower-body exercises.
  • Leg Days: Incorporate split squats into your leg day routine to sculpt your quads and glute muscles. The exercise combined with other leg-focused workouts helps build strength and improve athletic performance.
  • Full-Body Workout: If you want to improve your overall fitness, incorporate split squats into your general workout routine. Combine it with compound exercises and core exercises like side plank variations to achieve balanced hypertrophy.

To train properly, consider starting with just your body weight and gradually adding dumbbells. Additionally, it is critical to align your training with your specific goals.

You can find the appropriate resistance by calculating your one-repetition maximum (1RM). This is the maximum weight that can be lifted in a single repetition while maintaining perfect form.

  • Strength: 80%–100% of your 1RM.
  • Hypertrophy: 60%–80% of your 1RM.
  • Endurance: 40%–60% of your 1RM.
  • Power: 80%–100% of your 1RM.

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Primary Muscle Groups

Quadriceps

Muscles located at the front portion of your upper legs, below your pelvis and above your knees. Consists of four parts.

Quadriceps

The quadriceps are four muscles found in the front of the thigh. They originate from the femur (thigh bone) and ilium (upper pelvis) and connect to the tibia (shinbone). Quads extend the leg to help with everyday movements like walking, running, and climbing stairs.

A 2019 study found that this traditional exercise stimulates the vastus medialis more than the single-leg squat. The maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) for this muscle was 130% in the split squat. On the other hand, it was 80% in the single-leg squat.

According to another study, changes in step length activate more muscles. This is notably true in the posterior pelvis (back region of the hip), posterior thigh, and shank, including the calf. In contrast, it has only a minor effect on the anterior (front) thigh muscles.

It's important to remember that the rate achieved is dependent on a variety of factors. This might include foot placement, squat depth, and personal biomechanics. This is the study of how your body moves and the forces applied to it. When you use an external load, such as dumbbells, the activation rate increases because muscles are put under more strain.

Secondary Muscle Groups

Gluteus

Large, superficial muscles located at your buttocks just below your lower back area.

Hip Abductors

Muscles located between your lower back and perineum. Consists of three muscle groups.

Hamstrings

Muscles located at the back of your upper leg, below your glutes and above your calves. Consists of three muscles.

Hip Adductors

Muscles located at the upper inside part of your legs between your quads and hamstrings.

Gastrocnemius

Muscles located at the back of your lower leg and consists of your calf. Starts just behind your knee and extends to your ankle.

Soleus

Muscles located behind your gastrocnemius sitting slightly deeper. Runs down your leg and connects with the gastrocnemius to make your Achilles tendon.

Iliopsoas

Muscles starting at your back, moving through your pelvis connecting just below your groin.

Gluteus

The gluteus is a group of three muscles found in each buttock. These muscles extend from the hip bone to the thigh bone. During the exercise, the gluteal muscles are responsible for hip extension and upright stability. They also help to maintain proper alignment, which allows for dynamic movements.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings are three large skeletal muscles located in the back of each thigh. Each is essential for daily movements such as walking, standing, and jumping.

During exercise, the hamstrings assist with hip extension on the back leg as you push upward. Along with the quads, they contribute to the stabilization of the knee joints. Split squats continually shorten and lengthen the hamstrings under tension, increasing their size and strength.

Gastrocnemius

The gastrocnemius is a muscle in the back of the lower leg. It comprises the majority of the calf muscle and is required for everyday activities such as walking. However, you primarily require it to maintain posture. When performing a split squat, this muscle stabilizes the lower leg and controls movement, particularly ankle plantarflexion (pointing the foot down).

Soleus

The soleus is another calf muscle. It starts just below the knee, runs along the gastrocnemius muscle, and ends in the calcaneus (heel). When performing the split squat, the soleus muscles help prevent you from falling forward while standing still. It also promotes ankle mobility.

Hip Abductors And Hip Adductors

Hip abductors are a group of muscles in the hips that help move the thighs away from the body's center. Hip abductors help maintain balance by stabilizing the front leg's pelvis during the split squat exercise.

Hip adductors are muscles located on the inner thigh. They help to move the legs closer to the body's center. During a split squat, the hip adductors help to stabilize the legs. They also help to keep the lower body in proper alignment.

Iliopsoas

The iliopsoas connect the spine and the lower body. You use it for everyday movements like walking and athletic activities like running. During the split squat, this muscle is the primary hip flexor. It is lengthened in the back leg and is required for pelvic stability and alignment.

Erector Spinae

The erector spinae muscles run from the skull to the sacral region (the bottom of the spine). These muscles are the longissimus, iliocostalis, and spinalis. They help keep you stable during the split squat. This is accomplished by ensuring proper spinal alignment and preventing excessive forward or backward bending of the torso.

Equipment

Bodyweight

Bodyweight

Requires bodyweight resistance and additional equipment for proper execution.

Variations

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the same equipment.

Bodyweight Squat

Bodyweight Bulgarian Split Squat

High Knees

Standing Quadricep Stretch

Burpees

Jumping Jacks

Lunges

Side Lunge

Jump Squat

Jogging

Alternatives

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the different equipment.

Hack Squat

Squat To Overhead Press

Barbell Squat

Dumbbell Lunge

Front Squat

Dumbbell Split Squat

Dumbbell Walking Lunge

Leg Extension Machine

Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat

Leg Press

Who Should Do?

Athletes

Split squats improve functional strength and athletic ability because they use similar movement patterns to many sports. Such include sports that involve running and jumping. As a unilateral exercise, it enhances power and athletic performance in many sports. 

Athletes who rely on single-leg strength for propulsion, such as runners and cyclists, can improve their performance with the exercise. This is by increasing single-leg power, endurance, and stability by performing split squats regularly. 

Bodyweight split squats are also beneficial to athletes because they reduce the risk of injury from muscle overuse. The exercise strengthens muscles needed for explosive movements hence improving athletic performance.

People Pursuing General Fitness

This exercise can help you lose weight and improve your overall fitness because it activates large muscle groups. The exercise improves functional strength and metabolism, leading to faster weight loss.

Split squats burn calories because they engage multiple muscles, including the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core. If performed regularly, they also help build lean muscles, which improves your physique. 

They also improve cardiovascular health by increasing calorie expenditure (the amount of calories burned during an activity). Split squats also boost your overall fitness by mimicking common movements like climbing, lunging, and stepping.

Who Should Not Do?

People With Knee And Hip Injuries

Such injuries include hip and ankle injuries that limit mobility, as well as acute knee pain. Split squats can aggravate an existing knee, ankle, or hip injury by putting additional stress on these areas. This is because it involves bending the knee deeply and shifting the weight to the joints on the leading leg. 

As an alternative, you may explore exercises that can improve knee and hip stability such as planks. You may be surprised about all the side plank benefits. Such exercises help to improve hip stability which is beneficial for individuals rehabbing a knee or hip injury.

Individuals With Poor Balance

Split squats require a high level of balance, which can be difficult for people with impaired stability. This is common for individuals recovering from neurological conditions, the elderly, or when recovering from a lower-body injury. 

Limited hip or ankle mobility can lead to compensatory movements like misaligning the knee or leaning forward, which affects form. Individuals with balance limitations can begin with exercises demanding less stability like the traditional squat. Also, pregnant women should avoid doing split squats because the change in center of gravity can impair their balance. 

Benefits Of The Split Squat

Improves Athletic Performance

Split squats increase the leg’s unilateral strength, which is required for athletic and daily activities such as running, climbing, and sprinting. Various sporting activities necessitate strong unilateral strength, power, and stability, which are some of the benefits of split squats. 

For best results, combine the exercise with side planks to increase endurance. With such a combination you can enjoy side plank benefits after a month. 

Split squats involve stretching the hip flexors of the back leg while strengthening the glutes and quads of the front leg. The repeated motion improves your range of movement. The exercise also boosts hip flexibility, reduces tightness, and improves mobility.

Improves Balance

Split squats use a unilateral approach to restore strength and balance between the two legs, addressing muscle imbalances. The exercises also improve balance by testing your equilibrium and stabilizing muscles in the core, ankles, and hips.

Split squats activate the abdominals and lower back core muscles, thereby stabilizing the spine and encouraging overall balance. Improved balance and coordination are extremely beneficial in both sports and daily activities.

Builds Lower Body Strength

Split squats work various lower-body muscles, such as the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. They also work other muscles, including the calves and core stabilizers. 

The exercise is easier on the joints because it uses lesser resistance than squats with weights. Split squats are accessible to beginners or those at advanced fitness levels. It uses simple movement variations adaptable to a variety of strength and muscle-building goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a split squat good for?

It is beneficial for developing lower-body strength, improving balance and stability, flexibility and mobility, core stability, and correcting muscle imbalances.

Are split squats and Bulgarian the same?

Split squats place the rear foot on the ground, whereas Bulgarian split squats place the rear foot on an elevated platform.

What is the most powerful squat stance?

The most effective stance is the shoulder-width one or a somewhat wider one. In a given situation, the most effective squat stance benefits your fitness goals, biomechanics, and flexibility.

How many split squats a day?

The number of split squat reps and sets you can do per day depends on your fitness levels and goals. Review the ideal sets and reps proposed in the article.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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