# Bulgarian split squats



## davegmb (Jan 20, 2011)

What do you think to this exercise? I love and hate them at the same time! no exercise has ever filled me with as much dread before doing it and made me feel sick afterwards as much as these.






YouTube Video


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## natural1 (Jan 20, 2011)

Yep agreed,  realy hard!!  wish i could do em like the bloke in the vid,  I wobble a bit and have to keep adjusting myself.

i ant done them in a wile so gunna give another go next week... inspired


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## gtbmed (Jan 20, 2011)

I like them for knee stability, especially when I'm squatting often.


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## fufu (Jan 20, 2011)

Wicked hard. What really sucks is once you finish one side, you have to match your reps on the other leg. 

You have serious stabilization demands going on and at the same time you can really challenge your strength and strength endurance, deadly combination. Plus like I said, double the reps!

BTW, the video demo isn't that great. He is skimping on ROM and his form isn't too desirable. It is alright though.


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## caangelxox (Jan 23, 2011)

I dont have the hip flexor flexibility for these and I tried to attempt it once (bodyweight) and it puts pressure on my knee. It is also hard to stretch my hip flexors sometimes too and do lunges. If I roll the heck out of my quads, hip flexors, TFL, and vastus lateralis...I feel less pressure on the knee. Maybe my knees are not strong enough yet for this exercise? I struggle on lunges already due to my flexibility trying to get my back leg & front leg to go straight down. mike robertson talks this that it is very important to go straight up and down.


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## Doublebase (Jan 24, 2011)

I do them all the time.  I use barbell as well.  My glutes are always sore the next day after those.


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## fufu (Jan 27, 2011)

I had a little insight about Bulgarian squats while doing them the other day. This is my thought process as to why they hurt so bad.

Due to the positioning of this exercise, you are never really in a full hip and knee extended position, so you are constantly contracting your working muscles every rep, never allowing them to relax between reps.

Because of that, you aren't allowing your muscle pump venous return mechanism to function as well as it could. Basically the muscle pump mechanism pumps deoxygenated and metabolic waste product filled blood away through continuous sequences relaxation and contraction of skeletal muscle. What is included in the metabolic waste is lactic acid and hydrogen ions from anaerobic respiration (weight lifting). Lactic acid and hyrogen build up create an acidic environment in the muscle and create that burn you get.

However, your working muscles are never relaxed so not only are they producing even more lactic acid and hydrogen ion byproduct because they are working longer than a typical squat, they are also having a hard time pumping the waste away, so you get that really intense burning feeling due to the building acidity.

Not only that, but the continuous contraction also means you are likely to over saturate your muscle fibers with calcium which causes them to "lock" in position. Lactic acid and hydrogen can also impede on basic muscle contraction is levels build too high as well. This is why Bulgarian squats turn you into a hobbling piece of pukey jelly, I think.


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## Rodja (Jan 27, 2011)

There are very few things that strengthen the quads better than these.  While the front foot is elevate on a small box, you really get a deep stretch in the quads and help to keep the hips loose.


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## davegmb (Jan 27, 2011)

fufu said:


> I had a little insight about Bulgarian squats while doing them the other day. This is my thought process as to why they hurt so bad.
> 
> Due to the positioning of this exercise, you are never really in a full hip and knee extended position, so you are constantly contracting your working muscles every rep, never allowing them to relax between reps.
> 
> ...


 
Is this a good or bad thing then fu lol, you lost me?


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## fufu (Jan 27, 2011)

davegmb said:


> Is this a good or bad thing then fu lol, you lost me?



It's not really good or bad, it just is. 

Basically, when you do Bulgarian squats you build a tremendous amount of acidic byproduct in the working muscles which creates that burning feeling. After you stop doing the squats you get a release of that byproduct in the blood...which doesn't feel good (sick).

In my earlier posts I mentioned that the muscles don't get a chance to relax because you are in the lunge position and need to stabilize with your whole body. It creates a larger than normal energy debt compared to other exercises. You also have to do the same amount of reps on both sides.


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## caangelxox (Jan 27, 2011)

how can I make bulgarian split squats easier on the knees? better way to put it.....how can I feel the stretch where I want it without any pressure on my knees?

Every time I try to get into the Bulgarian split squat position to stretch my quads/hip flexors, my knees feel weird. Also when I do the kneeling hip flexor stretch, I feel it in the knees a majority of the time. My right knee, it bothers me more when I kneel on it. No pain, just feels uncomfortable like my knee is being stretched. I am also squeezing my butt hard like I am supposed to when stretching, it does not make a difference.


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## Gissurjon (Jan 28, 2011)

caangelxox said:


> I dont have the hip flexor flexibility for these and I tried to attempt it once (bodyweight) and it puts pressure on my knee. It is also hard to stretch my hip flexors sometimes too and do lunges. If I roll the heck out of my quads, hip flexors, TFL, and vastus lateralis...I feel less pressure on the knee. Maybe my knees are not strong enough yet for this exercise? I struggle on lunges already due to my flexibility trying to get my back leg & front leg to go straight down. mike robertson talks this that it is very important to go straight up and down.


 
Why dont you work on increasing the fexibility of your hips? its gotta suck not being able to performe an exercise this good because of lack of flexibility. just be careful, start very light. i was up to a considerable weight when i used to do these freaquently but now im just starting to get back into them with 20 pounds in each hand. kills your spirit but beats jackin up your knees.


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