The Bulgarian Split Squat

One of the great advantages of the Bulgarian Split Squat over lunges is the ability to go below parallel. This is important, because in a squat based movement (which the lunge is) the gluteus maximus does not fully engage until the knee and hip are bent at 90/90.

Now some of you may have noticed that while I covered several progressions and variations for the lunge, the Bulgarian split squat is the only split squat variation I have covered, leaving out the regular split squat. This is because, as a general rule, the split squat is a lame exercise, providing little in the way of challenge and benefit. It is the same basic movement pattern as the lunge, only with a shorter range of motion, and it is in the end range of motion (Full hip flexion and full hip extension) that we see the real benefits of these movements.

To perform the Bulgarian split squat, place one foot behind you on a bench, or 18" jump box. With your weight driving through the heel of your front foot (are you noticing a pattern here?) squat down as far as you can, while maintaining an upright posture in the upper body. Press back up until the hip is fully extended. Ideally, you will be able to squat down to where the hip is bent to an angle less than 90 degrees. Keep with it, as it may take some time to develop the strength and mobility to do so. The deeper you go, the more benefit you will see here.

Once you can get to full depth, you can progress the difficulty by adding weight: first with dumbbells held at your sides, then with a barbell on your back and finally with dumbbells held overhead.

One last thing: I need you to promise me that you will never perform your Bulgarian Split Squats (or any other exercise) in a Smith Machine. I know, I know, everyone else at your gym does, including the trainers. I could write a whole post on the reasons the Smith Machine is one of the worst pieces of equipment, and I promise that sometime in the next few weeks I will. For now, I'm just going to ask you to trust me when I say that it inhibits performance, while setting you up for injury.

Train smart; eat right.

The Reverse Lunge

The reverse lunge is a great movement for developing glute and hamstring strength. When weighted, it is also a great progression towards the holy grail of single leg movements, the pistol, or one-legged-squat.

To perform it, simply step back and drop down by bending your front hip and knee until the rear knee grazes the floor. Return to the starting point, by rising up and bringing the rear foot forward. Do not push off the front foot and come up to a new position one step back from where you started. You want the leg that carries the tension on the down portion of the movement to be the same one that carries the tension on the return.

Train smart; eat right.

The Forward Lunge (corrected version)

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties (read: I'm a newbie and a techtard) this post was originally published in a significantly truncated version. Here's the whole shebang.

The forward lunge is the most basic of all of the single leg movements. It is also the easiest place to start for single leg movements, because while it does begin to activate the glute, it is still a quad dominant movement, thereby playing to most people's strengths, while working on their weaknesses.

It has many variations, including, walking, goblet, traveling, overhead and spiderman. Any of these can be weighted, to increase the level of difficulty. Each of them places different demands on the body, while increasing performance. Depending on loading, each of them is also a top performer for increasing strength or mobility: your choice.

Let's start with the most basic, the walking lunge. From a standing position, take one large step forward. Pressing your weight through the heel, come down by bending the front leg until the knee is bent to a 90 degree angle and the back knee touches the floor. Keeping your weight through the heel, drive back up to a standing position, so that you've taken one step forward. Repeat with the opposite leg. That's one rep. This will test:

• Balance - did you wobble?
• Glute strength - did you have to add a little extra movement in the upper body to get the momentum to get back up?
• Hip mobility - was it difficult to get all the way down because of a stretch in the front of your back hip?

The traveling lunge is just a slight variation, in that the lead leg remains the lead leg until the prescribed number of reps are completed, then switch. The benefit here is that it allows you to place more stress on each leg by reducing the rest time between reps. When doing traveling lunges, I recommend that you perform with your non-dominant leg first. This will keep you from wearing yourself out on the dominant leg, and not having the energy to complete your reps with the non-dominant leg.

The goblet lunge is a weighted variation that allows you to work the legs harder without placing too much stress on the upper body. Simply hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, close to your body. Focus on keeping your chest high so that you don't bend forward and over-stress the low back muscles.

The overhead lunge can be performed weighted or unweighted. As an unweighted movement, it challenges hip flexibility and low back stability. Simply raise your hands straight up, with the palms facing in. Now perform a walking lunge. Resist the temptation to allow the upper body to fold forward. If you add weights, in the form of dumbbells, a barbell or a keg, you will add a shoulder stability component to the movement. You will also place an excellent stress on the entire core (the girdle as it is often referred to when talking about engaging all of the muscles in a wrap-around fashion.)

Finally, the spiderman lunge is a great mobility movement, challenging range of motion in the front of the hip. It is performed unweighted, similar thot he walking lunge. The difference here is that instead of having the arms down at your sides, you put them in front of you, so that at the bottom of the movement you can touch the ground with both hands. This forces you to focus on getting low in the front in order to be able to reach the ground.

Start adding these variations into your routine to see great improvements in strength, mobility and athleticism.

Train smart; eat right.

The Forward Lunge

The forward lunge is the most basic of all of the single leg movements. It is also the easiest place to start for single leg movements, because while it does begin to activate the glute, it is still a quad dominant movement, thereby playing to most people's strengths, while working on their weaknesses.

It has many variations, including, walking, goblet, traveling, overhead and spiderman. Any of these can be weighted, to increase the level of difficulty. Each of them places different demands on the body, while increasing performance. Depending on loading, each of them is also a top performer for increasing strength or mobility: your choice.

Let's start with the most basic, the walking lunge. From a standing position, take one large step forward. Pressing your weight through the heel, come down by bending the front leg until the knee is bent to a 90 degree angle and the back knee touches the floor. Keeping your weight through the heel, drive back up to a standing position, so that you've taken one step forward. Repeat with the opposite leg. That's one rep. This will test:

• Balance - did you wobble?
• Glute strength - did you have to add a little extra movement in the upper body to get the momentum to get back up?
• Hip mobility - was it difficult to get all the way down because of a stretch in the front of your back hip?

The traveling lunge is just a slight variation, in that the lead leg remains the lead leg until the prescribed number of reps are completed, then switch. The benefit here is that it allows you to place more stress on each leg by reducing the rest time between reps. When doing traveling lunges, I recommend that you perform with your non-dominant leg first. This will keep you from wearing yourself out on the dominant leg, and not having the energy to complete your reps with the non-dominant leg.

The goblet lunge is a weighted variation that allows you to work the legs harder without placing too much stress on the upper body. Simply hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, close to your body. Focus on keeping your chest high so that you don't bend forward and over-stress the low back muscles.

The overhead lunge can be performed weighted or unweighted. As an unweighted movement, it challenges hip flexibility and low back stability. Simply raise your hands straight up, with the palms facing in. Now perform a walking lunge. Resist the temptation to allow the upper body to fold forward. If you add weights, in the form of dumbbells, a barbell or a keg, you will add a shoulder stability component to the movement. You will also place an excellent stress on the entire core (the girdle as it is often referred to when talking about engaging all of the muscles in a wrap-around fashion.)

Finally, the spiderman lunge is a great mobility movement, challenging range of motion in the front of the hip. It is performed unweighted, similar thot he walking lunge. The difference here is that instead of having the arms down at your sides, you put them in front of you, so that at the bottom of the movement you can touch the ground with both hands. This forces you to focus on getting low in the front in order to be able to reach the ground.

Start adding these variations into your routine to see great improvements in strength, mobility and athleticism.

Train smart; eat right.