Bulgarian Split Squats

[Backlash]

Does anyone have any tips on doing these? I tried these for the first time yesterday, and it was pretty awkward (though I really felt it in my quads).

I used two dbs (one in each hand) and got my foot back on the bench (on the ball of my foot) with my other foot way out in front. It was tough to get set up, though.

Do you start way out in front with both legs and then try to set your other leg back on the bench? And how should your legs be in relation to your body - exactly parallel, or at an angle, or what? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Backlash]

^

 

[coolcolj]

whatever is comfortable

And if your starting on em why do you have dumbells?

 

[Backlash]

Should I be using a barbell instead? It seemed like dbs would be easier.

 

[IronLion]

I use a barbell, and I don't like using a bench.

The way we do it is we take about a 4-6 box and place the toe of our back foot on it. Then walk your front foot out till it is far enough for you to squat up and down without your knee pushing forward over your toes. Concentrate on keeping an arch and letting your body move straight up and down like an elevator (cheesy visualization). You don't want to have any movement in the forward plane.

I think what ccj was sugesting was that you should start with nothing and perfect the movement. That is what I would suggest. I would go straight to a barbell once you are comfortable doing these.

some tips:
keep your front foot slightly angle outward (15 degrees) and focus on pushing through your entire foot.
keep your arch tight and flex your abs hard at the bottom.
have little to no forward lean.

something to do before you start using weights:

Place a 12-14" box behind you. Stand with your feet together. You should be about 12 to 18 inches away from the box. With your arms extended in front of you sit back as far as you can on one leg, let the other leg extend like your arms on the way down. When you hit the box, pause but stay tight and squat up on one leg. You will not need any weight for these for a while. Eventually you will be able to lose the box.

 

[Backlash]

Awesome thanks IL!

 

[coolcolj]

yeah that's what I meant

But I think dumbells are safer since if you go off -balance, you can dump the weights safely.

http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/exdetails.asp?exid=147

 

[Backlash]

Cool. I will be using this as my main quad move, after rear squats. Front squats have been bothering my back a bit lately, and I think this will work perfectly. Thanks again guys.

 

[Zander1983]

I've found DBs are much safer too, especially when you start to get heavier.

 

[IronLion]

safer?...lol

I don't give safety a lot of thought, I do sets up to 315 and don't have a problem, but I don't put my back foot up on a bench where it would be hard to get down if you had to dump, I don't think I would use a barbell and keep my foot up on a bench

 

[Zander1983]

315 on your back, lol. You're right, dumping could get a little tricky using a bench