Split squats

Want to boost your cycling power? Squats can improve sport-specific endurance, time to exhaustion and maximal aerobic power.

The first exercise in our system is split squats. Many people will think of these as lunges but some clarification is needed. A split squat has the feet in a split stance, the same as when lunging. However, lunges have a movement component – the trainee steps in and out of each lunge.

How to

Typical variations are on the spot forwards or backwards as well as walking forwards. However, for the split squat you keep the feet motionless for all your reps, only swapping to perform the second side.

The best way to set the feet is actually from the bottom position. At this point you will have the rear leg bent at 90 degrees with the knee under the hip. The front leg will also be bent at 90 degrees at the knee with the ankle under the knee.

Your torso should be upright and weight will be distributed evenly between both feet. Think of dropping your weight straight down until the rear knee is about an inch from the ground. Telltale signs they’re being done poorly are the torso angled forwards or the front shin not being vertical.