Howdy Warriors! You know that I love some form tips and tricks. Be it for strength exercises or yoga, I’m all about helping you get the most out of your workout. Since Halloween is right around the corner now that we’ve rolled into October, I thought I’d tackle one of the scariest strength exercises. The Split Squat.
To be 100% truthful, I think the reason most dislike these so much is because they’ve been doing a more advanced or intense version. The Bulgarian, or Rear Foot Elevated, Split Squat is the bane of every lifter’s leg day. And with good reason. We all know we aren’t walking or going to the bathroom without pain for at least three days after these. Part of what makes this version so difficult is the balance and active control necessary to complete them with good form.
I want to dial it back a notch and focus on standard split squats, though. These are super undervalued because in Exercise Culture, you should be doing the most difficult version of an exercise. Which I will continue to call BS on. But you can probably reap 80-85% of the benefits without engaging in a version that will leave you questioning all your life choices the next day.
The split squat is a fantastic unilateral exercise (meaning one side is doing something different than the other). Typically, these are exercises where one side of the body is in motion at a time (single arm bicep curls, for example), but that doesn’t have to be the case. The front and back legs have to fire different muscles in different orders to create the movement pattern. You know what else requires that? Walking. Which makes these one of the most transferable exercises to everyday life.
Standard split squats are also a great way to challenge balance without overtaxing or being too intimidating. Both legs should support a roughly equal portion of the upper body. This requires thought and core control that other unilateral lower body exercises, like single leg hamstring curls, lack.
So, my first tip, as is the usual case, is to mind your set up. Your feet should be placed at a distance that is just shy of twice the length of your normal stride. Obviously, this varies person to person based on height and leg length, but this is a good starting point. Additionally, your feet should not be in a straight line. We aren’t walking a tight rope here. Keep the width you’d maintain during your normal gait (i.e. somewhere between hip and shoulder width).
My second tip is to pay attention to your angles. Because we tend to sit a lot, many of us have tight hip flexors that can allow our torso to bend or rotate. You want your hips to be level and parallel with the ground. You also want your shoulders and hips pointing in the same direction, which should be square over your front leg. And you want to keep all the joints in question in this alignment throughout the entire motion.
Which leads me to tip number three. If you can’t keep you shoulders and hips properly aligned, do not add additional weight until you can. Any additional loading can create torque in the spine. This can throw off the weight distribution and your balance. Your form will absolutely suffer, and you may potentially cause injury. When you are able to keep your hips and shoulders aligned and you’d like to add weight, do so with caution. Add a small amount to start and be sure to evenly distribute it, either by carrying the weight in front of your torso or by adding equal weight to both hands. After you have mastered the alignment again, you can try unevenly loading the exercise by carrying weight one only one side.
Tip four has to do with your toes. And while avoiding dropping weight on them is important, that isn’t what I mean here. You shouldn’t be pressing into or up on the toes of either foot. If you feel the downward motion in the toes of your front foot, you need to review tip two. Your torso is likely inclined forward, which shifts your weight forward. Relax your shoulders down and back over your hips. You should feel the most pressure under your heel. You can also try taking a slightly longer stance.
If you feel the toes of your rear foot on the upward motion, your calves in the rear leg are doing too much of the work. The rear foot is meant to function more like a fulcrum (like your toes in push ups), that your ankle is very subtly rotating around. The press up should be driven by the hamstrings of the front leg and the glutes in the rear. Relax your rear foot and imagine a string is pulling you upwards from your head.
Lastly, work with your body. As I mentioned, as sitters, tight lower body muscles are something that we have to adjust to and with. Let go of the pressure to drop the back knee all the way to the floor. It isn’t necessary for this exercise to be effective.
Additionally, own the fact that your body might need something different with your left leg front than when your right leg is front. Unilateral training means working with the strengths and limitations of each limb segment. Try to keep the load the same, but if range of motion isn’t exactly symmetrical, guess what? That makes you a completely normal human.
I hope that those tips take some of the apprehension out of split squats. They are a wonderful exercise that engages most of the lower body musculature. They are also a great alternative to standard squats, especially if you are dealing with an injury and need to train the legs separately for a bit.
Until next time, be well friends!
