What you'll gain
Builds strength at a specific joint angle with no equipment and no movement.
Suits people who cannot yet load a full split squat through range.
Improves single leg control and trunk stability under sustained tension.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Step one foot forward into a split stance with your hands at your sides.
- 2
Keep your gaze forward and your trunk braced with a slight forward lean.
- 3
Lower under control until your rear knee lightly touches the floor.
- 4
Drive through the front foot so the rear knee lifts one to two inches off the ground.
- 5
Hold that position for the prescribed time without letting the front knee drift inward.
- 6
Lower the rear knee back to the floor, stand up, and repeat on the other side.
Common Mistakes
Shifting weight onto the rear foot, which takes load off the front quadriceps.
Letting the front knee collapse inward during a long hold.
Standing too upright and locking the trunk, which usually ends the hold early.
Holding the breath instead of breathing through the position, which shortens the set.
About This Exercise
The split squat isometric hold builds tension without movement. You take a split stance, lower until the rear knee touches the floor, then drive through the front foot just enough to lift that knee an inch or two and hold the position. Muscle tension is produced with no change in muscle length, which is what makes the action isometric, and it develops joint control and postural stability at the exact angle being held. The front quadriceps carries most of the load, with glutes, hamstrings, trunk, and calves stabilizing. A narrow stance and pressure through the ball of the foot favors the quadriceps; a wider stance and heel pressure brings the glutes in. In a catalog this clip is the isometric entry in a lower body library, useful for warm ups, tempo work, and rehab progressions.
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Split Squat Isometric Hold
A static split stance hold near the bottom of a lunge, with the rear knee hovering just off the floor.
Need more than one animation?
Choose a focused 104-exercise pack or unlock all 412, with commercial licensing included.
Specifications
Built for
- Isometric and tempo blocks in a bodyweight training app.
- Rehab and prehab progressions before loaded split squats.
- Warm up flows that prime single leg control.
- Bodyweight pack merchandising alongside lunges and split squats.
Muscles Worked
Details
License Includes
Bodyweight Alternating Lateral Lunge
$4.99A side-to-side lunge that loads one leg at a time — builds glute and quad strength while opening up the inner thighs and hips.
Bodyweight Alternating Reverse Lunges
$4.99A backward-stepping lunge that builds the glutes and quads — the knee-friendly cousin of the forward lunge.
Bodyweight Box Squat
$4.99A bodyweight squat to a bench or box — the cleanest way to teach squat depth and hip-back mechanics to beginners.
Bodyweight Reverse Lunge
$4.99A single-leg lunge stepping backward — builds the glutes and quads while staying easy on the front knee.
Bodyweight Squat
$4.99The foundational squat pattern done with just bodyweight — the first leg exercise in any program and the test of clean mechanics.
Box Jump
$4.99An explosive jump from the floor onto a box — the clean way to train lower-body power without high-impact landings.