Split squat
A stationary lunge — one leg in front, one behind, going straight up and down.
- Pattern
- Lunge
- Equipment
- Nothing needed
- Space
- Standing room
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Load
- External load
- Side
- One side at a time
What it is
Take a long step forward so one foot is well in front of the other, both facing forward. The back heel stays off the floor.
Lower straight down until the back knee is close to the floor and the front thigh is roughly horizontal, then press back up. Your feet do not move between repetitions — that is what makes it a split squat rather than a lunge.
Do all the repetitions on one side, then swap.
What it demands
Single-leg strength, with most of the work on the front leg.
Hip extension range on the back leg. The trailing hip is being extended and the front of it lengthened, which involves iliopsoas and rectus femoris — the one quadriceps head that crosses the hip. If the back hip feels like the limiter rather than the front leg, this is why.
Balance side to side, which is a new demand relative to any two-footed squat, and which gluteus medius on the front leg is largely responsible for.
What usually goes wrong
Stance too short. The feet end up too close together, the front knee travels a long way forward and the back hip cannot extend. Longer than feels natural is usually right.
Leaning forward. Torso stays fairly upright; the movement is down, not forward.
Lowering onto the back knee. The back knee comes close to the floor, not onto it.
Wobbling side to side. Usually a stance too narrow front-to-back — the feet should be on two parallel lines, not one tightrope.
Where it sits
The entry point to single-leg work, and the most controllable one because the feet stay put and there is no stepping to coordinate.
That makes it the right step between the bodyweight squat and the reverse lunge, which adds the step and therefore the coordination. The step-up is the other single-leg option and loads the front leg differently.