Split Squat Exercise: Build Strength and Improve Form Guide and Video
Certain exercises help you build muscle mass. Others improve your balance or coordination. And some can increase your endurance by getting your blood pumping and heart racing.
But what if there was a movement that did it all? As it turns out, there is: the split squat exercise.
Split squats are like a secret weapon in your training arsenal. They are effective in working many muscle groups, quick to get used to and quite simple in the gym or at home.
Ready to learn how to do them right? Read below.
What is the Split Squat?
Split squats are a unilateral (one-sided) exercise designed to build lower body strength and promote balance. The split squat achieves these goals by targeting the following muscles:
- Squares
- Hamstrings
- Calves
- Buttocks
- Abs (core)
The benefits of Split Squats
Along with building strength in your lower body and core, split squats are great for:
- Improve balance – Adding split squats to your workout routine can increase your sense of balance. That’s because the exercise targets your adductors, the muscles in the middle of your thigh that stabilize your pelvis and keep you balanced while you walk.
- Correction of muscle imbalances – Since split squats make you work one leg at a time, it’s easier to spot and work on strength differences between your right and left sides. If one leg feels weaker, you can isolate that side until both legs are equal.
- Enhancing athletic performance – For anyone who does sports, split squats offer the ultimate cross-training opportunity. After all, many athletic movements—including running and jumping—are unilateral. By strengthening both legs, developing stability and increasing mobility, the split squat prepares you for any activity.
- Increase endurance – Like many exercises, split squats get your heart pumping. Doing multiple sets of these unilateral squats can improve your overall fitness, helping you tackle other workouts without feeling out of breath.
How to do the Split Squat exercise
Because you don’t need specialized equipment for split squats, you can do them anywhere. Here’s how.
Step 1: Position your body
First, find a space in the gym and stand with your feet hip-width apart, facing forward. Take a large step forward, planting your heel on the ground and straightening your front leg. Leave the back leg slightly bent.
From there, stand up tall, arms at your sides and chest facing forward.
Step 2: Lower to the ground
When you feel stable, begin to bend both legs until your back knee almost touches the ground.
At your lowest point, your front shin should be straight up and down with your knee aligned over the top. Your back knee, meanwhile, will rest just behind the hip. you should feel a stretch in your hip flexor.
Step 3: Stand up
To complete your first rep, push off the ground, driving your front heel into the floor. As you return to the starting position, straighten your front leg while maintaining a slight bend in the back leg.
Step 4: Switch sides
After completing a set of split squats on one side—we recommend 10–20 reps per set—work on the other side. Bring your back leg forward, send your front leg back and repeat the exercise on the opposite side.
Tips and Tricks for Split Squats
Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, this guidance from our fitness experts will help you stay safe and train at a high level when doing split squats:
- Use a stable surface for balance – Split squats are about both balance and strength, so performing the exercise with control can be difficult for first-timers. If you need help standing up, you can hold on to a chair, bench, or other solid surface for support. As your strength and coordination improve, you’ll be able to complete your split squats without assistance.
- Stand as straight as possible – You may feel a natural tendency to lean forward as you lower yourself to the ground, but try your best to fight it. By maintaining a straight back, you can enjoy the full benefits of each split squat and reduce the risk of spinal injuries.
- Keep the back knee lifted – For best results, do not let your back knee touch the ground. Keeping the knee elevated ensures that there is no ‘rest period’ during your set, allowing you to get the most out of your workout. However, if you need to rest your knee on the ground between reps, you may find it more comfortable to place a small pillow or towel on the floor.
Split Squat Variations to Try
For more of a challenge, experiment with these split squat variations.
Bored Split Squats
The Weighted split ups the difficulty of the standard version by adding weights to the mix.
To perform this variation, follow the steps above, but hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. Make sure to keep your arms straight as you raise your body.
As always, we recommend starting with lighter weights before moving on to heavier equipment.
Bulgarian Split Squats
To up the difficulty even further, try the Bulgarian split squat. In this exercise, you’ll squat with your back leg on an elevated surface, such as a weight bench or yoga block. Simply rest the top of your back foot on a sturdy surface and complete a set of squats as normal.
If the standard Bulgarian split squat is still not enough for you, you can also do it with weights.
It’s time for Split Squats and so much more
There may not be a perfect exercise, but split squats come pretty close. By incorporating the split squat exercise into your workout routine, you can simultaneously increase your lower body stability, endurance, and strength.
Now, all you need is a friendly, organized place to exercise. Chuze Fitness offers. With convenient locations across the country, we’ve got everything you need to perform any variation of the split squat—plus any other exercise you can think of.
To get started, explore your membership options, then find the Chuze Fitness facility that works for you.
Sources:
National Center for Biotechnology Information. Anatomy, bony pelvis and lower limb: Adductor femoris Magnus Muscle.
It fits very well. How to Do a Bulgarian Split Squat: Correct Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes.
Reviewed by:
Ani is the VP of Fitness at Chuze Fitness and oversees the group fitness and group training departments. He has had a 25+ year career in club management, personal training, group exercise and instructor training. Annie lives with her husband and son in San Diego, California and loves hot yoga, snowboarding and all things wellness.
