Bulgarian Split Squat

What you'll gain

• Builds single-leg strength in the glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

• Exposes and corrects left-right strength imbalances.

• Improves hip stability and balance under load.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Stand a stride-length away from a bench and place the top of your back foot on the bench behind you.

2. 2

   Square your hips forward and brace your core with your hands on your hips or at your chest.

3. 3

   Lower your back knee straight down toward the floor while keeping your front shin near vertical.

4. 4

   Drop until the back knee is just above the ground and the front thigh is roughly parallel to the floor.

5. 5

   Keep your weight in the front heel and your chest tall throughout the descent.

6. 6

   Drive through the front heel to push yourself back up, finishing with the front glute squeezed.

Common Mistakes

• Standing too close to the bench, which shoves the front knee too far forward and loads the joint.

• Letting the front knee cave inward instead of tracking over the foot.

• Pushing off the back foot instead of driving through the front heel — robs the front leg of work.

• Twisting the hips to compensate for balance instead of staying square — kills the unilateral training.

About This Exercise

The Bulgarian split squat is the most effective single-leg exercise in lower-body training. By placing the back foot on a bench and sinking into a deep split-stance squat, it loads the front-leg glute and quad through a full range while exposing balance and hip stability gaps that bilateral squats hide. It is brutal, honest, and irreplaceable. For app builders, this clip is essential inventory in any serious leg program — strength, hypertrophy, athletic prep, or rehab-adjacent training. It is the bridge between bilateral squats and true unilateral work, and it scales from bodyweight to heavy dumbbells or a barbell. Drop it into your library and it will appear in nearly every advanced leg-day template you ship.

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