Similar to the “How much can you bench,” “How much can you deadlift,” and other such threads, I thought I would start one that might draw in more athletes.
So, how much can everyone here bulgarian split squat?
Since it’s my thread, I’ll go first.
Height: 6’1"
Weight: 202 lbs
Split Squat: 210 lbs x 5 reps per leg
Here’s a video of said split squats, dont just this morning:
And for those cynical bastards out there, yes, I am taking this opportunity to brag. I just hit over BW for reps for the first time and am damn proud of it.
Shit, that’s some strong squatting. I can only do about 140 for 3 or something, but I haven’t done them in a little while. Having your foot on a bed is hard, too.
To give you a better idea of the difficulty level, Shizen, here is a quote from Joe Defranco:
“Northwestern linebacker, John Pickens, is the only athlete I�??ve ever trained who can perform single leg squats with the back leg elevated, holding 100lb. dumbells. If you�??ve ever done this exercise, you can appreciate this feat of strength much more. By the way, the last time we did this exercise I realized mid-way through John�??s set that his shoes were untied and he was having a conversation with the person next to him. He still performed a perfect set of 10 reps with ease!”
This is an older quote, and I’m sure he’s had athletes go heavier since, but if he’s impressed by a linebacker doing it, I’m proud of my achievement seeing as I’m in the weight room once per week.
It’s a seriously hard exercise. I love squatting and deadlifting, but this is one of the only exercises I try to talk myself out of doing before I start a set. Also, if you sprint, it’s pretty much the perfect exercise.
The exercise performed by the first poster is called bulgarian squat. In his case he does it with dumbells, so it becomes bulgarian squat with dumbells.
Personally I have seldom done this exercise with dumbells, simply because then I would need very heavy dumbells.
I have myself done barbell lunges with 170kg for 2 reps on each leg @ approx. 100kg bodyweight.
Bulgarian Squats I have done with at least 140kg in training for reps at about the same bodyweight.
After I learned these exercises don’t help much in the squat strength (probably a bit tough), I have focused on the front squat instead (favouring it over back squats), because it feels better for mye back.
I haven’t seen anyone else do these exercises heavier than me in any of the gyms I have trained, but I guess this is not because I am so very strong, rather because other stronger atlethes don’t do these exercises.
A member of the national powerlifting team told me that lunges do for squats about what pec-decks do for benchpress. Not much in other words.
But when this is said, I have to add that bulgarian squats with a barbell on the back, doing it full ROM is some of the most brutal exercise I have ever done. If you don’t get a headache, and feel like vomitting after a gruelling set of those, then you aint doing it right. It is brutal!
To the starter of this topic: Good job on the bulgarian squats, but I think squats or front squats are a lot more impressive, that is real leg strength. When that is said, most gym rats probably could not do what you have done. So you have reason to be proud, but don’t stay satisfied for too long, it really aint that big weights!
120 lb (total) at a BW of 183lb. I have only tried them once though and they felt slightly awkward. I will probably focus on them more at some stage in the near future.
Roger, why do you only lift weights once per week?
[quote]rmccart1 wrote:
It’s a seriously hard exercise. I love squatting and deadlifting, but this is one of the only exercises I try to talk myself out of doing before I start a set. Also, if you sprint, it’s pretty much the perfect exercise.[/quote]
Why do you feel that it’s such a great exercise for sprinters?
[quote]Roger Nelsen wrote:
I’ve hit 320 lbs for 8 and 335 lbs for 5 in the back squat.[/quote]
Thats interesting. I’m about on the same strength level. 335x5 wouldn’t be that hard for me, much easier than 320x8 at least. I know I couldn’t do 105s x5 with this exercise. Do you think its helped your overall back squat max?
My best split squat was with 100lb dumbbells for like 6 reps. I stopped doing them because I couldn’t go deep enough with the height of the bench and I was doing a leg extension with my back leg to cheat. Even if I did put my foot at the right height to squat deep enough, I still wouldn’t be able to not cheat with my raised leg.
My best barbell back lunge is like 6 or 7 with 275. I did some step-ups today with 80lb dumbbells and got 6 or 7 reps as well. I can only do parallel depth pistol squats if I set up a bunch of boxes the way Michael Boyle has some Hockey player doing them in one of the videos in his article that says every female athlete should be able to do 3 pull-ups with 45lbs added.
Stallion, that is some heavy weight. I imagine you have quite an impressive back squat then? I feel the same way you do about this exercise too, they truly are nauseating. I hate them with a passion, but love the way they work. And don’t worry, I don’t plan on staying at this weight for long.
Gonzalez, I’m only in the weightroom once per week right now because of how my training is currently programmed. I’m a sprinter and focus much more on plyometric variations and sprints. Weights take a back seat. Also, I’m with rmccart on that too. What’s good about split squats is that they hit both the hip flexors and the hip extensors in one movement. They also heavily involve the hip stabilizers, more so than squats, which would aid athletes.
SK, I don’t know how these have helped my back squat. I squatted for a couple of months to complement my sprint work and have since dropped squats and done BSSes for the last three sessions. However, if I had to guess, I would say these would not directly help too greatly in building a big squat. They are a lift best reserved for athletes and those seeking a lot of glute hypertrophy.
