Bulgarian Split Squat

theginnyray

Tips? Suggestions?

I'm using a bench, because my gym doesn't have steps. I really struggle to keep the back foot upside down - like I REALLY want to use my toes for balance, rather than the top of my foot. I thought I read somewhere on here to go shoeless, so I tried that, which actually made it harder.
Is my problem the bench? It almost feels like a flexibility issue - If I take a big enough step forward to release some pressure off my back leg, my legs are so far apart that I don't really end up straightening the floor leg. It never fully extends - but if I straighten it, I need to be closer to the bench - but then run into issues keeping my knee over my ankles when bending.

I'm in Stage 4 now, and to be honest, when I did these in Stage 2 I just went ahead and balanced my back leg on the bottom of my toes, essentially just doing another set of Static Lunge Rear Foot Elevated.

natini

I did them today and I used the bench. You have to have your distance from the bench perfect so you can get your front leg paralell when squating. I got better as I did them.

MyOwnSunshine

One of the trainers gave me a good tip with these: Do them on a bench press bench. That way, you have the benchpress bar extending out to your side to help you get into a balanced starting position, and if I put my foreward foot at approximately the end of the bar, that is the right place for me to maintain proper form. Luckily, my gym has 3 bench press set-ups, and usually only one in use at a time.

karensoxfan

One of the trainers gave me a good tip with these: Do them on a bench press bench. That way, you have the benchpress bar extending out to your side to help you get into a balanced starting position, and if I put my foreward foot at approximately the end of the bar, that is the right place for me to maintain proper form. Luckily, my gym has 3 bench press set-ups, and usually only one in use at a time.

This is what I do, too. I also found taking my shoes off helped my balance in stage 2, but I was OK with shoes on in stage 4 as my balance got better. Sometimes it's more comfortable to have my shoe off the back foot though but it's just easier to keep my shoes on now. I also find it easier to put the whole top of my foot on the bench, not just the top of my toes.

theginnyray

Thanx for the tips! No bench press machine at my gym :-(
I'll keep trying!

karensoxfan

Thanx for the tips! No bench press machine at my gym :-(
I'll keep trying!

I don't even know what a bench press machine would look like. I just meant a bench with the supports for the Olympic bar that you could use for bench pressing, like this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=bench+press&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=870&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=y0b75_dRaFeupM:&imgrefurl=http://fortivita.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/90-day-challenge-the-bench-press-wk3-day2/&docid=_-BOCaj_iMKQ1M&imgurl=http://fortivita.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/df1700_flat_bench_press.jpg&w=549&h=406&ei=pBBSUM-SLMnz0gGGxYDYAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=709&vpy=505&dur=1249&hovh=193&hovw=261&tx=162&ty=111&sig=108104634120172395631&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:185

I thought every gym had these?

theginnyray

Thanx for the tips! No bench press machine at my gym :-(
I'll keep trying!

I don't even know what a bench press machine would look like. I just meant a bench with the supports for the Olympic bar that you could use for bench pressing, like this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=bench+press&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=870&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=y0b75_dRaFeupM:&imgrefurl=http://fortivita.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/90-day-challenge-the-bench-press-wk3-day2/&docid=_-BOCaj_iMKQ1M&imgurl=http://fortivita.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/df1700_flat_bench_press.jpg&w=549&h=406&ei=pBBSUM-SLMnz0gGGxYDYAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=709&vpy=505&dur=1249&hovh=193&hovw=261&tx=162&ty=111&sig=108104634120172395631&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:185

I thought every gym had these?

You'd think that, right? I had to Google it too - in case I was missing something. But no, my gym doesn't have that piece of equipment. If I was needing to do a bench press, I'd have to use the Smith Machine, same as I did for my squats in Stage 1. Sigh. I can't complain too much, it's super close home and membership is super cheap.