Bulgarian split squats - what's a good barbell weight

[cline]

Trainer had me doing Bulgarian split squats with a barbell last night.

Am female @ 160# currently and wondering what a good weight is for these? I was up to 90lbs last night.

[Hermione Gainser]

You know, I had never thought of doing this with a barbell. So simple. So excellent. Though, the videos I just watched.. one of the guys was having serious trouble getting his foot on the bench. That's a little scary. ANYHOW...

As I've never done this with a bar bell I will give you my generic advice for all weight bearing exercise: as much as you can do with good form. This will depend on how many SetsXReps you're doing, obviously. It should be challenging but not dangerously so. Meaning, you shouldn't struggle for form each rep.

Also, not knowing your stats (weightlifting goddess? weightlifting padawan?) or your program I'll just say that if you're closer to padawan than goddess and this is a new exercise you could benefit from starting low, working the movement and adding weight each time you successfully complete your desire set of reps (aka the linear progression). If you're closer to goddess.. well... I'm not so I'll default to someone else

[Anivair]

Trainer had me doing Bulgarian split squats with a barbell last night.

Am female @ 160# currently and wondering what a good weight is for these? I was up to 90lbs last night.

I don't even know how you'd do this. Is it basically a back squat on one leg? If you're up to 90, that's a good number. When it gets too light, go up, but bear this in mind:

A bulgarian squat is not an exercise for massive weight. it's designed for high reps. If you can do it with 90 pounds, do pistols instead. They're harder. You don't need to add weight till you can't increase the bodyweight difficulty enough. Actually, going straight to pistols night be hard, but some single leg box squats might help as a crossover.

The bulgarian is not, IMO, just a harder version of a regular back squat. that's what adding weight to the squat is for.

[Waldo]

Bulgarians to me are more of a lunge type movement than a squat type movement. Balancing a bulgarian with a barbel would seem to be precarius, dumbbells have the advantage of being a great balance assistant.

I second working on pistols.

[cline]

I don't even know how you'd do this. Is it basically a back squat on one leg? If you're up to 90, that's a good number. When it gets too light, go up, but bear this in mind:

A bulgarian squat is not an exercise for massive weight. it's designed for high reps. If you can do it with 90 pounds, do pistols instead. They're harder. You don't need to add weight till you can't increase the bodyweight difficulty enough. Actually, going straight to pistols night be hard, but some single leg box squats might help as a crossover.

The bulgarian is not, IMO, just a harder version of a regular back squat. that's what adding weight to the squat is for.

Yes, just a backward lunge (basically). Pistols are a great idea! Thanks!

[Corbab]

Bulgarians to me are more of a lunge type movement than a squat type movement. Balancing a bulgarian with a barbel would seem to be precarius, dumbbells have the advantage of being a great balance assistant.

I've done Bulgarians goblet-style as part of a circuit, but it's not a great exercise to add huge amounts of weight to. It is a good joint integrity/balance exercise, but I wouldn't rely on it for building raw strength. Stick with regular barbell squats if you want to see some high numbers.

[Hermione Gainser]

I always wondered why they call it squat when it's quite lunge like.

The bulgarian is not, IMO, just a harder version of a regular back squat. that's what adding weight to the squat is for.

I'm confused.. did someone say it is? Is this another crazy trainer thing? I hope not.. yikes.