How to do the Bulgarian Squat or Bench Lunge?

What is the Bulgarian squat?

The lunges foot on bench still called squat Bulgarian make it possible to solicit the muscles of the thighs and the glutei. Indeed even if the squat is a great exercise of musculation to develop the thighs, the risk of injury is not negligible and the Bulgarian squat makes it possible to make your legs more voluminous and stronger without requiring large equipment, the back remaining more vertical and the handled loads less high. It can be made with the weight of the body or with dumbbells or kettlebell

How to do the Bulgarian squat?

Grab a dumbbell in each hand, then place the back foot on a bench and move the other foot far forward so that when you come down to the bottom position the angle at the front knee is about 90 degrees. The back knee should come down towards the floor without touching it. Push off on your front heel to come back up keeping your back straight without swaying your torso and then come back down until the end of your set and move to the opposite leg.

The muscles involved in this exercise are: the gluteus medius and the gluteus maximus, the hamstrings and the adductors and then the entire quadriceps (Vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius and the rectus femoris). Moreover it will solicit the abdominal and lumbar muscles.

CAUTION: If you don't move your foot forward enough when you lunge, you can stress the knee joint, which is why it's important to keep the knee at a 90-degree angle and to keep it off the big toe. Start by working without dumbbells with your hands on your hips to master the movement before adding weight.

Tips :

1. Inhale on the way down and then blow out as you push on your heel on the way up. Breathing in bodybuilding is important
2. Keep your chest straight throughout the movement without rocking back and forth. Keep your abdominal muscles tight throughout the movement to avoid arching your back.
3. In order to maintain a good balance, keep your feet shoulder width apart (if you have one foot in line with the other you will lose your balance).
4. The front foot should not be too close to the bench so as not to stress the knee joint too much.
5. You can take a standing break between each repetition before coming back down if you have trouble keeping your balance.

Variant:

• The Bulgarian squat or bench lunge can also be performed with a barbell on the back instead of dumbbells, which will require a little more agility. However, this variation is not for beginners.

You will find this exercise in the following program:

Supplementary article :

How to do the squat without hurting yourself?