Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and either a box, a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand a long stride in front of a bench or box at about knee height, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
- Reach one foot back and rest its top on the bench, laces down.
- Place the front foot far enough forward that its heel will stay down at the bottom.
- Lower straight down by bending the front knee, letting the back knee travel toward the floor.
- Go down until the front thigh is about parallel with the floor, keeping your chest up.
- Drive up through the whole front foot, then finish the side before swapping.
Common mistakes
- Standing too close to the bench. The front knee then travels far past the toes and the heel lifts; a short shuffle forward before the first repetition fixes both.
- Pushing down through the back foot. The bench holds the back leg in place and nothing more; if the back leg is helping, the front leg is not doing the set.
- Using a bench that is too high. Above knee height, the front of the back hip runs out of stretch before the front thigh reaches parallel, and the depth stops there instead of where the working leg decides.
- Letting the front knee fall inward on the way up. It tracks over the middle of the foot; on one leg, a knee that drifts in is the hip failing to hold the thigh, and slowing the ascent is the first thing to try.