Coach Rozy Wednesday Exercise of the “WEAK” – The Bulgarian Split Squat or Single Leg Squat
Coach Rozy Wednesday Exercise of the WEAK The Bulgarian Split Squat or Single Leg Squat
Why is the single leg squat so important? Well for starters, since you are doing movement from one limb instead of two it wil improve your balance and body awareness. Most people need to sit down while putting on their socks and shoes. Next time you’re going to put on your socks, stay standing while putting them on – see how the old balance is then! It will also balance the legs out. Two legged squats allow your body to create muscle imbalances and leads to a dominant leg doing the majority of the work. Single leg squats force both legs to develop and strengthen. And if you have weak knees, the single legged squat also works the knee stabilizers. Any when we walk, jog, run, sprint – and do other actives that require us to move, it’s mostly done from leg to leg, foot to foot; which means we do things from a single leg. So single leg squats are great as a functional exercise because we generally have one foot off the ground while the other cycles through the weight bearing portion when we move.
I usually suggest being able to do at least 20 bodyweight two legged squats before getting into single leg work. While in this post I will concentrate on the Bulgarian Splt Squat – but you can also start with standing on the ground, holding Dumbbells and progressing from there.
The Exercise:
1 Start by standing about 2 to 3 feet in front of a flat bench with your back facing the bench. To start – just use body weight for the movement. When you advance – have a set of dumbbells in front of you on the floor. SOME FOLKS USE A BAR – BUT FOR SAFETY – IN CASE YOU NEED TO DROP THE WEIGHTS – WE USE DB’S. Tip: Your feet should be shoulder width apart from each other.
2 Bend the knees and grip the dumbbells the with your hands, keeping the weight to the outside of the knees/thigh.
3 Move one foot back so that your toe is resting on the flat bench. Your other foot should be stationary in front of you. Keep your head up at all times as looking down will get you off balance and also maintain a straight back. Tip: Make sure your back is straight and chest is out while performing this exercise.
4 As you inhale, slowly lower your leg until your thigh is parallel to the floor. At this point, your knee should be over your toes. Your chest should be directly above the middle of your thigh.
5 Leading with the chest and hips and contracting the quadriceps, elevate your leg back to the starting position as you exhale.
6 Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
7 Switch legs and repeat the movement.
Variations: You can use a step up box to place your toes on to perform this exercise. You can even elevate the step up box. Note: the higher the step up box, the more difficult it is to perform this exercise.
Caution: Keeping your balance with this exercise can be challenging. This is an advanced exercise – so start easy and use progression. Don’t try to do more then you can handle doing each movement correctly
