Bulgarian split squats are the king of leg exercises.
Have you ever tried flipping squats and Bulgarian split squats around? Have you ever tried Bulgarian split squats as your main leg exercise, and then used squats as an assistance exercise?
I think we’ve developed this mantra because squats have always been considered the best leg exercise of all time. No one has challenged this mantra.
I feel that people dismiss Bulgarian split squats because they’re hard to do. You try them and have you use light weights due to balance issues.
It only takes 2–4 weeks to develop your balance in Bulgarian split squats. Once you have this, you can load these suckers up like crazy. I’ve seen people use 200lbs external load on Bulgarian split squats (that’s 200lbs on ONE leg), but not able to squat 400lbs. Sure, the back leg helps handle a bit of the load, but you’re still squatting down on the front leg, giving it 80–95% of the load.
Now, you may be thinking, “200lbs?! That’s way too heavy! I’ll never be able to do that!”
It’s like any exercise. You practice it, rep after rep, adding weight over time, and you’ll get there easily. In fact, you’ll probably be able to build a 200lb Bulgarian split squat faster than building a 315lb squat.
Just try this!!!