Bulgarian Split Squats Made Easy (FORM FIX)

If you have ever done bulgarian split squats and thought about how much you hated them, then you need to watch this quick video. Here I’ll show you the most important part of this amazing leg exercise that you need to get right if you want to start loving them.

We have to start with the setup and proper form on the bulgarian split squat. If you don’t do this proprely you are going to, at best hate the exercise and not feel it like you should and at worst, lose your balance and never be able to do it correctly.

To execute proper form on bulgarian split squats, make sure that you are putting your feet in the correct positions on the bench and on the floor. We start by sitting down with the dumbbells on your thighs. At this point, extend the leg you want to work straight out in front of you and place your heel on the ground. Now, move your foot a little bit out to the side.

You are going to need this extra space to make sure your body is centered when you stand up.

Next, reach down with your dumbbells and place one on each side of your foot on the ground.

Now, stand up without moving your front foot placement at all.

At this point, you now have to get your back foot placed properly. This is the tricky part where many people screw up. You don’t need to hop or change your body position at all. Simply lift your back foot and place it on the bench. If you did step one properly then you should be perfectly aligned with the bench behind you and you won’t come up too short or overreach the bench.

The key to the placement however is the position of the foot on the bench. Do not point your toes down and rest on the tip of your foot. This is incorrect and gives you too little surface area on the bench to have adequate standing balance. That means you will likely be focusing on keeping your balance during the exercise as opposed to focusing on driving as much tension into the working leg as possible. Instead, roll your foot to the outside and rest it along the surface of the bench. This will give you a much broader area of contact and help you instantly maintain much more balance.

Remember, you want to focus on doing the exercise, not on trying to regain your balance as you end up wobbling side-to-side and hopping around to stay in place.

You will also notice that the width of your stance will be ideal because of shifting the first foot that you placed on the ground a little more to the outside. The base of support will be wide enough to create a nice stabile base and the contact areas of the feet will be optimal as well.

From here there are many other things that you will want to do properly to ensure correct form on the bulgarian split squat such as angling the torso correctly and getting the depth of the exercise right. You can find out how to perform all of these aspects of this popular leg exercise right by watching the longer version of this exercise for legs on the channel.

If you’re looking for a complete video on bulgarian split squat form and other how-to exercise videos be sure to stay tuned to this channel and remember to subscribe and turn on your notifications so you never miss another video from a physical therapist with a pro sports background as a PT and strength coach.

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Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).