This month’s exercise is the Split Squat!  The Split Squat is a great leg exercise that hits all areas of the legs from glutes to quads to hamstrings to the calfs!  Like always though, that’s only if it’s done correctly!

To do the exercise, place one leg behind you on the ball of the foot while keeping the other in front of you firmly planted on the ground.  Make sure your feet are at least shoulder width apart for balance.

Bend both knees as you lower the body and move the back knee towards the floor, almost touching.

From there, straighten back up to the top as you squeeze the quads and calf of the back leg before going back down again.

Where most people make mistakes is that they lean forward too much and negate the bend in the back leg which misses the entire quads muscle group.  This leads to doing more of an assisted one leg squat as most of the weight is now over the front leg instead of being equally balanced.  Another mistake is allowing the heel of the back leg to go down, which negates the contraction of the calf muscle.

Have bad toes that won’t bend backward enough to do a proper split squat without pain or any other foot or ankle injury that causes problems while doing this exercise?  Rest your back foot on a bench that is about knee level to turn it into a Bulgarian Split Squat.  This version is very similar to the regular Split Squat except that the calf contraction is removed but an element of balance is now incorporated.

Why the Split Squat over the Walking or Stationary Lunge?  Both are great exercises!  I prefer the split squat, especially for beginners, as it keeps things as simple as possible and requires less weights to wear out the legs as there is a more constant repetition happening with the same muscle groups.  Lunges on the hand have moments of rest between the contractions as the movement transfers to the next step.  Walking Lunges, due to the extra movement, do have additional muscle groups working that the Split Squat does not.  Note that these same techniques can be applied to the Walking Lunge as well to get the most out of your exercise!