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LegsDumbbellLunge

Bulgarian Split Squat

Reviewed by Bryan Cortez, MS

The hardest free-weight leg move per pound — balance is the tax.

Rep Sweet Spot
8-15
Sets
2-4
sets per leg
RIR
0-2

How to do it

Setup

  • Rear foot on a bench, front foot forward enough to keep the shin near-vertical at the bottom, dumbbells at the sides.

Execution

  • Drop straight down, front knee tracks the toes, drive through the front heel; upright torso = more quad, forward lean = more glute.

Common Errors

  • Front foot too close (knee caves past the toes, all knee stress)
  • Bouncing the back knee off the floor
  • Torso/hips twisting to one side
  • Pushing off the back foot instead of the front heel

No-Fly Zone

under 6 reps (balance fails before the muscle does)

Programming

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The Evidence

Builds unilateral quad/glute mass and fixes imbalances. Does NOT let you load as heavy as bilateral machines.

SFR — 0.8

Train with the system.

Programs, coaching and the full library — inside the community.

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Divine Wellness USA

What about supplements?

Train hard and hit your protein first — that's most of it. If the fundamentals are handled, two are worth it for building muscle:

Creatine

Monohydrate, 5 g/day. The most studied muscle supplement.

See it on Divine Wellness USA

Clean Whey protein

An easy way to hit your daily protein target.

See it on Divine Wellness USA

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.