It's the exercise everyone loves to hate, but the Bulgarian split squat is arguably the single most effective unilateral movement for building round, lifted glutes.

What muscles does the Bulgarian Split Squat work?

• Gluteus Maximus — Taking the brunt of the load as you push up.
• Quadriceps — Working hard to stabilize and extend the knee.
• Gluteus Medius — Firing constantly to keep your hips balanced on one leg.

How to do a Bulgarian Split Squat — step by step

1. Stand a couple of feet in front of a bench, chair, or sofa, facing away from it.
2. Reach one foot back and rest the top of your foot (or the ball of your foot) on the elevated surface.
3. Keep your torso slightly leaned forward to target the glutes (an upright torso targets the quads more).
4. Lower your hips straight down until your front thigh is parallel to the floor.
5. Your front knee should track in line with your toes, and your back knee should hover just above the floor.
6. Drive forcefully through your front heel to stand back up.

Intermediate & Advanced Variations

• Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat: Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your shoulders back and let the weights hang naturally at your sides.
• Smith Machine Split Squat: Set up the bench inside a Smith machine. This eliminates the balance requirement, allowing you to load maximum weight safely to isolate the glutes.

Common mistakes (and how to fix them)

• Placing the front foot too close: If your front foot is too close to the bench, your knee will shoot far past your toes, putting stress on the joint and shifting focus to the quads.
• Staying totally upright: To build the booty, you need a slight forward torso lean to put a stretch on the glute.
• Using the back leg to push: The back leg is just for balance. 90% of the work should be done by the front leg.

Sets and reps guide

Pro tip

Play with your foot positioning. A longer stance (front foot further away) combined with a forward lean is the golden ticket to transferring all the tension straight into your glutes.