Engaging in a specific leg workout can promote robust and healthy knees, claims the trainer.
Strengthen Your Knees with the Bulgarian Split Squat
Are you tired of knee pain while walking, running, or jumping? A solution might be closer than you think. Personal trainer Elle Linton recommends the Bulgarian split squat as an effective exercise for stronger knees.
To perform the Bulgarian split squat, stand about two feet in front of a bench or step. Place one foot on the bench behind you, keeping your other foot on the ground. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and bend your front knee to lower your hips. Your back knee should be close to the floor, and your front thigh should be parallel to the floor. Press through the heel of your front foot to raise your body back to the starting position.
This exercise can be done with or without additional weights. To increase resistance, you can hold a kettlebell at your chest or grasp dumbbells at your sides. If you still struggle with balance, consider holding onto a fixed surface like a wall.
The Bulgarian split squat offers notable benefits for knee strength and injury prevention. It provides unilateral leg strength development that corrects muscular imbalances, improves joint-friendly loading, enhances hip and core stability, and greater range of motion that supports stronger, more balanced knees [1][4].
For proper technique to maximize these benefits and minimize injury risk:
- Set-up: Place one foot elevated behind you on a bench or sturdy surface while the other foot is positioned forward firmly on the ground.
- Execution: Lower yourself into a squat by bending the front knee, keeping your torso upright and chest lifted. The knee should track over the toes without collapsing inward.
- Depth: Aim for a deep knee and hip flexion to engage glutes and quads effectively, but avoid pain or discomfort in the knee joint.
- Balance & Control: Maintain core engagement and controlled movements to improve joint stability and avoid compensations.
- Load Progression: Start with bodyweight and gradually add dumbbells held at your sides or on your shoulders, scaling the exercise to your fitness level.
- Common modifications: If you experience knee pain, reduce depth or use lighter resistance; for lower back concerns, focus on posture and core bracing [1][2][3].
This exercise reduces spinal loading compared to bilateral squats, making it joint-friendly and especially beneficial for those with back or knee issues [2][5]. Training one leg at a time through this movement helps enhance muscular symmetry and coordination, crucial for injury prevention [4].
In summary, the Bulgarian split squat is a highly effective unilateral leg exercise for building knee strength and stability, preventing injury, and improving lower-body muscular balance when performed with proper form focused on controlled depth, posture, and progressive loading.
Knee injuries are incredibly common, but with exercises like the Bulgarian split squat and a focus on proper form, you can help prevent knee pain and strengthen your knees for a more active and enjoyable life. For more joint-friendly exercises, try a yoga routine for knee pain or learn how to do isometric exercises.
- Incorporating yoga routines designed for knee pain into a health-and-wellness regime can offer additional benefits for enhancing flexibility and joint health.
- A regular fitness-and-exercise routine that includes variations of unilateral leg exercises, such as the Bulgarian split squat and isolated sports-specific movements, can help maintain muscular symmetry and balance, reducing the risk of knee injuries.
- To complement the Bulgarian split squat and other strength-building workouts, incorporating isometric exercises into a comprehensive fitness-and-exercise regimen can help further improve joint stability, flexibility, and overall fitness-and-exercise performance.
