Smith Single-Leg Split Squat

How to do it

1. Set the Smith machine bar at upper-chest height and step under it into a split stance.
2. Place one foot forward and rest the other on a bench behind you, or leave it on the floor.
3. Position your front foot far enough forward that the bar's fixed line stays over the middle of it.
4. Unhook the bar and lower by bending the front knee until the back knee is near the floor.
5. Keep the torso upright and the front heel down.
6. Drive back up through the front foot, then finish the side before swapping.

Common mistakes

• Setting the front foot under the bar rather than ahead of it. The bar's line is fixed, so the foot has to move forward to meet it — otherwise the knee travels a long way past the toes to compensate.
• Letting the front heel lift. A heel coming up means the foot is too far back for the fixed line, which is a setup problem rather than a mobility one.
• Treating the fixed path as balance training. The machine removes the balance, which is exactly what makes it useful for loading a split squat — and exactly why it is not a substitute for the free-weight version.
• Pushing off the rear foot. The rear leg holds the position; the front leg does the work.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Quads

Secondary

• Calves
• Glutes
• Hamstrings