CalisthenicsIn review

Bodyweight Bulgarian Split Squat

A split squat with the rear foot raised on a bench or box, with the body weight as the load.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Lunge
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand about one long step in front of a bench or box, facing away from it.
Rest the top of the rear foot on it and keep the front foot flat.

Do the rep

Lower the back knee toward the floor and keep the chest up.
Stop when the front hip crease is below the front knee.
Push through the whole front foot and stand up.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the front hip crease drops below the front knee and you return to a full stand on the front leg.

One rep lowers until the front hip crease is below the front knee, then ends with the front hip and knee fully extended; count each side.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Most of the weight on the front foot.
Front knee follows the toes.
Pause at the bottom when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Front foot too close
What you seeThe front heel lifts or the front knee moves far past the toes.
FixMove the front foot farther from the bench.
A good stance keeps the whole front foot on the floor.
Pushing off the back foot
What you seeThe rear leg pushes hard into the bench to stand up.
FixKeep the rear foot relaxed and drive with the front leg.
The front leg must do the work for the rep to train it.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the bench moves or you lose balance.
End the set when you cannot reach the depth under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Adductors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight + Bench or Box step

Place the rear foot on a stable bench or box at about knee height, and keep the front foot flat.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 4, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_bulgarian_split_squat, the closest Wave 1 record.
The CSV says bilateral. One leg does the work, so the record counts each side (rule 1).
Rule 2 gives one-leg squat rows single_leg and secondary_lower, as the Wave 1 lunges.
Skill tier intermediate and failure cost moderate, as ex_bulgarian_split_squat: the raised rear foot needs one-leg balance (rule 3). The CSV says beginner.
Exception to rule 1: the CSV lists a box-step as optional. The movement needs a raised support, so the record requires a bench or a box-step. Home stays yes, because a bench is a home item.
The CSV says squat. The record uses the lunge pattern, as the Wave 1 lunges and ex_bulgarian_split_squat, so the web library groups it with them.
Not an alias (rule 4): ex_bulgarian_split_squat requires two dumbbells, so it does not accept bodyweight only.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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