Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups The Back Squat Killers?

According to Bondarchuk the back squat was a non specific exercise for Olympic Lifting that caused some potential concerns for the low back. Since in Olympic Lifting there are no actual sporting positions that rely on back squatting the back squat exercises is technically assistance work. It may be a very similar movement when compared to the front squat but ultimately front squats are going to be more sport specific than back squats.

He developed some concerns about the inclusion of the back squat for this reason. Was the low back receiving potentially too much loading? If the athletes were already front squatting and cleaning a lot.....did they need another squatting pattern that increased the lumbar stress?

So he had his athletes experiment with high step ups and found that the low back stress decreased. Not only that but the athletic development of the Olympic Lifters changed. In other words their Olympic Lifts improved and the injury risk went down.

The high step up became a useful addition to the training program of Olympic Lifters. Now these kind of step ups are not of the cardiovascular group step class variety. Instead these were high step ups that were loaded heavily. Which then starts to make sense why there was such improvement. They were able to lift heavy but cut the spine load in half. Also, and this is just speculation, there was probably an increase in pelvic stability since the Olympic Lifts are always a bilateral affair. To give those athletes a unilateral training stimulus probably changed their control of their hips, knees and ankles quite a bit!

So where does the Bulgarian Split Squat show up in this equation? Similar to the high step up the BSS or Bulgarian Split Squat is another exercise that helps to spare the spine and increase hip/leg capacity. Now the original variation looks nothing like what is being done currently in US commercial gyms and athletic training facilities. Instead it was a low box(4-6 inches) that was used to elevated the

back leg. While this may seem completely different that was the original variation of the movement that has slowly changed and morphed into the more commonly executed exercise with a higher elevated back leg.

Angel Spassov is commonly credited for the development of the BSS in the west after communicating about its benefit to Kim Goss who was a strength and conditioning coach for the Air Force in Colorado. What seemed to occur is confusion about the long term benefits between the step up, split squat and the back squat for athletes.

When exercise selection is the big consideration then what immediately comes into my mind is what does the athlete look like from a segmental perspective as well as a muscular balance perspective. If an athlete has a long torso and short femurs they may not be the best candidate for a deadlift or a high bar back squat. They are essentially going to fight the movement with their body quite a bit. The issue is how to still improve them? If the only option is loading the long spine and short femur situation then it's going to cause potential challenges than it would for more evenly distributed segemented people. If the goal is to assist the athlete in solidifying their physiology and not create cracks in the foundation then what matters most is using exercises that allow them to execute movements easier with less biomechanical drama. This is not to say that long torso short femur athletes can not master their mechanics and improve on those more challenging exercises. It's just that they are going to have a smoother process gaining strength other ways.

Also, if you can give an athlete a robust capacity without risking quite so much isn't that a great trade? I'm not sitting here dogging on the back squat because it's a bread and butter strength and conditioning exercise that most people can learn how to access well if they want to take the time to learn it. However, if there are mechanical limitations do we dogmatically force a square peg into a round hole? Does that make sense? If variability is the necessary reality to embrace long term with strength training then having only a handful of options means that you will only be able to continue to engage with strength training for a handful of years.

Let's think about this a different way for just a minute as well. What if the back squat is the thing you are trying to build and the BSS and Step Up exercises help you build it. What if your training program looks like this?

Monday Thursday

BSQ 5X5 @ 70% BSS 3X10 @ 50%

GM's 3X10 @ 50% Step Ups 3X10 @ 50%

Leg Curls 3X10 @ 50% Leg Curls 3X10 @ 50%

R. Hypers 3X10 @ 50% R. Hypers 3X10 @ 50%

Instead of this?

Monday Thursday

BSQ 5X5 @ 70% BSQ 5X3 @ 80%

GM's 3X10 @ 50% GM's 3X8 @ 60%

Leg Curls 3X10 @ 50% Leg Curls 3X10 @ 50%

R. Hypers 3X10 @ 50% R. Hypers 3X10 @ 50%

Now with option A you are getting a stimulus for a more well rounded amount of stress. Slightly less spine shearing stress but plenty of hip and leg stress. Which one do you think is going to be more sustainable over time? Option B certainly has more specificity built in so the neural loading portion will drive the back squat up faster.....but what we know from Newtonian physics is what goes up must come down.

A lot of these choices get down to understanding and comprehending a lot of other factors for the athlete. Are they in season or off season? Do they have 3-6 months to improve their body before they have specific sport related conditioning that is going to show up? Do they play a sport where getting both shoulders into external rotation well is going to be a challenge. Also, muscle imbalances because of their sport? A lot of factors to consider here.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Here is what I am saying. Keep your mind open and your options open when you are training. The back squat is a great exercise and it gives you a lot back. Especially from a neutral drive and bullet proofing perspective. Very few things will make you feel brick house strong like back squatting above 2XBW. However, know that if you lack physical qualities that makes it easy to access that specific exercise there are still a lot of other exercises that will give you more back and take away less from you!