The Split Squat Exercise is a great way to build strength in your hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps while stretching your hip flexors.
The Split Squat Exercise forms part of the Golf Strength and Endurance series of innovative and dynamic exercises that are designed to efficiently increase your stabilising strength – supporting proper body alignment, movement patterns, and energy transfer within the golf swing, and helping to prevent injuries.
Equipment
This exercise requires a pair of dumbbells.
This is dedicated strength exercise, so choose a weight that is heavy enough to make the movement challenging, but enables you to complete all of your repetitions (reps) with proper form. The last couple of reps should be very difficult, but make sure that you can perform them properly.
If you are performing this exercise as part of a Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System programme workout, you should be able to complete the prescribed number of reps in the allotted time with proper form – adjust your tempo accordingly.
See How Much Weight Should I Lift? for more information.
Figure 1. Split Squat Exercise Video.
Steps
- Start by standing tall with your feet in a split stance, your torso inclined slightly forwards, with a dumbbell in each hand down by your sides.
- Drop into a split squat position, lowering your hips towards the ground as you drop your weight back into your hips, keeping your back knee off the ground, and your front knee inline with and behind your toes.
- Return to the starting position by pushing up with your front leg.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
- Switch legs and repeat.
Try to maintain perfect posture throughout the exercise – your head over your shoulders, your chin up, chest up, your abdominal muscles engaged to stabilise your spine, and your shoulder blades back and down.
Do not let your squatting knee slide over your toes or collapse to the inside – at the bottom of the squat your front thigh should be parallel with the floor with your shinbone in a slight forwards lean and your knee aligned with the second toe of your foot. Do not let your back knee touch the floor.
Contract the glutes of your back leg as you squat.
You should feel it working your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps, and stretching the hip flexors of your back leg.
Variation
There are a number of other squat exercises in the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System that offer a variety of challenges, you can see them all by clicking here.
If you have any questions or comments about this or other articles on Golf Loopy, please send us an email.
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