The split squat is known to be a superb workout routine with the utmost effectiveness in the legs. It provides you with stability, coordination, and strength. Workout routines like split squat aids in improving the balance in your joints and reducing your risk of sustaining injuries during workout sessions. Athletes whose main aim is to develop power, strength, and fitness ought to incorporate split squats and other similar exercises in their workout routine to ensure that they attain maximum effectiveness.
How to Perform Split Squats
It is important that
one master the skill of performing split squats to avoid the sustenance of injuries properly. There are various variations to the split squats, but we must be familiar with the basics properly. To perform split squats, begin by:
Setting your Split
Begin by placing your feet wide apart from each other while standing firmly on the ground.
Tip: You can make use of a dumbbell or barbell while performing this exercise. This weight would aid as an intensifier to your workout routine. Ensure that your abs are contracted, and your pelvis is in a forward direction. Also, place your toes in a forward position while your hip is kept inwards.
Aligning your Chest
Place your chest in a vertical position while you lean your body downwards to form the split squat. Ensure that your knees are bent and touch with the ground. The back of your heel should also be lifted to ensure that you are taking the split squat’s correct form. Also, your body should not be pulled forward or pushed backward as a result of the weight. This is thereby contradicting the performing form of split squats. However, the weight and your body should be positioned in between your legs that are placed firmly on the ground.
Tip: While lowering your body, perform it gradually while firmly holding your weight, and maintaining your body balance. Ensure that the back part of your knee is not slammed onto the ground.
Contract and Stand
The major part of the eight should be situated towards the leading leg. Once this is done, gradually lift your body while maintaining a straight torso.
Tip: Ensure that you are not leaning either forward or backward while you rise. Push your hips back while attaining your standing position. Position most of the tension in your front and leading leg. Return to your original area and repeat this procedure for at least ten to fifteen sets to get the best results.
The benefit of Split Squats
There are certainly some benefits attached to performing split squats, and they are attainable as long as you are consistent. These benefits are what ought to be expected from athletes or other individuals who wish to perform split squats. They include:
Address Muscular and Movement Asymmetries
Split squat work by increasing the strength in your legs individually. By doing this, you are left with strong legs that have high endurance and stability. Not only does split squat improve your all-round performance, but it also reduces your risks of developing injuries as a result of the underdevelopment of one leg about the other. Most at times, athletes or lifters develop a leading leg, which would result in imbalanced muscles, thereby leading to injuries. By performing split squats, you are eliminating these imbalances and preventing their further occurrence.
Increased Unilateral Hypertrophy and Strength
The performance of unilateral exercises has caused grave imbalances, muscle hypertrophy, and even bilateral deficit. It is a great cause of concern for fitness athletes and lifters. It causes individuals to develop dormant muscles, which can cause muscle imbalances in the body. Performing workout routines lie split squats is sure to activate the inactive muscles in the body.
Application to Human Movement and Sport
Splits squats enable an efficient and effective movement. It ensures that our joints are flexible enough for running, cycling, jumping, and even sprinting. Split squats equip you with the endurance, stamina, flexibility, and strength to perform all these activities.
Muscles Worked- Split Squats
The split squat is a superb workout that increases your strength in the lower part of your body, balance, stability, and endurance. However, this exercise has effects on some particular parts of your body like:
Gluteals
Your glutes are very active when you perform split squats because they aid in the performance of your hip extension and the stabilization of your pelvis while in the split form. Individuals can increase the depth of the exercise to further work on the glutes and hamstrings.
Quadriceps
These are another set of muscles that are affected during the split squat. This is because they have a major function during the formation of the knee extension in the leading leg. The more the expansion of the leading leg, the more your quadriceps would be worked out.
Hamstrings
Another vital area which is thoroughly effected upon during the split squats is the hamstrings. They are responsible for the provision of balance, strength, and stability during the reduction part of the split squat. By performing the split squat, your hamstrings are further developed and strengthened. It also aids immensely in the proper performance of activities like sprinting, running, jogging, and even jumping.
Core
Your
core muscles are put into extensive work during the performance of split squats. The muscles that are mostly used are the oblique and the rectus; they aid in supporting the chest and stabilizing your abs to ensure that the hips are properly functional—also, the abs aid in resisting forces that occur as a result of imbalance and instability.
Who should do Split Squats?
The following factors are why split squats are very beneficial to power, fitness, and even strength athletes.
Strength and Power Athletes
Asides from the basic requirement of unilateral training, power, and strength fitness, individuals also require and perform other bilateral exercises like clean, snatch, squat, and even deadlift.
- Olympic Weightlifters: These weightlifters require extra strength, balance, and coordination as a result of activities like a split jerk. Strength and power individuals who do not have these qualities tend to develop injuries, muscle disorders, movement restrictions, and diminishing body strength.
- Powerlifters: Although the lifts used during competitions are closed chains or even bilateral, you must make use of unilateral training to increase your strength, endurance, and stability. Many powerlifters are bound to be better than their peers if they include split squats in their training routine.
- Strong man Athletes: These set of athletes do not only require developing a large amount of strength, endurance, and power, they also need to have unilateral training in their training sessions to prevent the sustenance of injuries.
Fitness and Sport Athletes
Fitness individuals and athletes need to develop the attributes which were listed above to ensure that full efficiency throughout their fitness journey. They need the capability to run, sprint, jog, and even jump conveniently without complications. Split squat aids in developing the body against the occurrence of injuries, strength imbalances, and hypertrophy. It also aids in the ease of performance of activities like cycling and running.
Runners, Cyclists, and Endurance Athletes
These sets of individuals require unilateral exercises consistently and heavily. Split squats increase their muscle mass, but it also enables them to incorporate other fitness exercises into their routine without causing a stretch out of the muscles. Incorporating split squats into your workout routine is a superb way to increase your strength, endurance, and stability.
General Fitness and Movement
Apart from strengthening the muscle and strength of your leg, your muscle mass, and hip and knee stability, split squat aids immensely in the strengthening of the patterns of your movement. Movement patterns like running, hiking, sprinting, and walking. They all hope on unilateral training exercises, thereby making split squats a must in your workout routine.
Split Squats Variations
There are some ways in which you can spice up the basic split squats. They include:
Bulgarian Split Squat
This is a form of split squat variation. It entails that an individual performs this workout while placing a particular leg on furniture. By doing this, the weight is increased, and your leg needs more strength to be balanced. This would, in turn, result in greater development of strength, endurance, and stability.
Front Rack Split Squat
This is another superb variation to the split squat. It entails that while performing the split squat, a weight is placed in front of your body, holding a dumbbell or even a kettlebell. This workout routine heightens the need for the vertical positioning of your back. It challenges your quadriceps, upper back, and anterior abs. This exercise aids in the further development and strengthening of these various parts of your body.
Suspension Split Squats
This is also an amazing variation to the basic split squats. It entails that you make use of TRX bands on your legs to create resistance. This would result in better development of the strengthening of the lower part of your body.
Conclusion
Split squats are known to be superb workout routines that help strengthen the lower part of your body. You must perform the divided squat correctly to avoid the sustenance of injuries. The various types of variations top split squats include front rack split squat, suspension split squat, and Bulgarian split squat.
