Quads exercise
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings, Adductors
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat?
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand facing away from a bench.
- Rest the top of your back foot on the bench.
- Lower until your front thigh is level with the floor.
- Push through your front foot to stand back up.
- Finish your reps, then switch legs.
Cues
- Keep your weight on the front foot.
- Drop the back knee towards the floor.
- Front knee follows your toes.
Common mistakes
- Standing too close to the bench, so the front heel lifts.
- Pushing off the back foot.
- Letting the hips twist or the front knee cave in.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
A flat bench stands behind the athlete, its top 45 cm high (just under knee height). Stand facing away from it with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight, palms facing the thighs. Rest the top of the left foot (laces down) on the bench, toes pointing back. The right foot is flat on the floor, toes straight ahead, about 0.75 m in front of the bench's front edge and in line with the right hip, so the feet are hip-width apart side to side. Trunk tall and braced, shoulders down and back, gaze ahead. Most of the weight sits on the right foot.
The movement
Bend the right knee and hip and lower the body straight down. The left knee bends and drops towards the floor, pointing down; the left foot stays on the bench and does not push. The right knee tracks over the 2nd–3rd toes, the right foot stays flat, and the trunk may tip forward slightly from the hips with a flat back. The dumbbells hang straight down beside the hips. Push through the right foot to rise back to the start.
End position
Bottom: right thigh level with the floor, right knee about 90°, left knee a few centimetres above the floor. With equal thigh and shin lengths (0.43 m) the rear thigh and rear shin then lean back by the same angle; at 120° rear-knee flexion each leans 30°, which leaves the knee about 8 cm off the floor and the rear ankle 0.43 m behind the hip. The front ankle is 0.36 m ahead of the hip, so the feet are about 0.79 m apart.
Tempo
2 s down, 0.3 s pause, 1.5 s up, 0.5 s at the top. The app tells users to switch sides.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front knee flexion at the bottom | 90° | 80–105° | [2] |
| Front hip flexion at the bottom | 90° | 80–105° | [2] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ExRx, Single Leg Split Squat (Bulgarian squat)
- Human Kinetics, "Building strength for soccer with the rear foot elevated split squat" (excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Soccer)
- Mackey and Riemann 2021, Int J Exerc Sci, "Biomechanical differences between the Bulgarian split-squat and back squat"
- Split squat spec (splitsquat.md) and its sources
