Many do not like this exercise because they do it incorrectly.
What are Bulgarian attacks and why perform them
Bulgarian attacks are an exercise in which you squat on one leg, putting the second on the elevation behind the body. Their other name is split -out.
You should definitely try this movement, because it:
- Well pumps hips and buttocks. If you are engaged in without weight, Bulgarian attacks will load your legs much better than air squats. And in order to activate muscles as effectively as in a squat with a bar on your back, it will be enough for you to take half of the usual working w8.
- Loads the back of the thigh well. Several studies at once showed that this one -sided exercise is much better activated by the hip biceps than squats on two legs and ordinary lunges, and also loads the average gluteal muscles well.
- Improves a sense of balance. Like any one -sided movements, Bulgarian attacks teach the body to work in conditions of instability and provide additional load on the muscles of the case.
- Helps to fix an imbalance in the development of the limbs. If one leg is stronger than the other, in bilateral movements it will automatically take most of the load. Bulgarian attacks will help to evenly pump both limbs and get rid of imbalance.
How to prepare for exercise
Even before you start performing the exercise, it is worth finding a support for the optimal height and provide a sufficient distance to it, to make lunges comfortable and safe.
How to find a suitable elevation
To check whether the support is suitable in height, stand a step away from it and turn your back, put the toe of the right leg on the edge and sit down until the floor touches the right knee.
If you feel strong stretching in the front of the right thigh and cannot move the foot behind the standing foot, your support is too high – find something lower.
In the video, a physiotherapist and specialist in power and conditioning training Aaron Horshig shows how the foot should move if the support for the Bulgarian attacks is selected successfully.
How to take the right position
Put the toe of the foot on the selected elevation and go down to the squat to the floor touch.
Torture body weight to the front leg, as if getting ready to rise. In this position, the lower leg of the supporting limb and the body should be parallel to each other.
Frame: Squat University / YouTube
Control that the front leg is on the same line with the same shoulder. For most people, this situation will be comfortable.
Frame: Squat University / YouTube
How to perform Bulgarian attacks correctly
Put your foot on an elevation, remove your hands on the belt or hold in front. Straighten your back and tighten the press.
Bend the supporting leg and sit down to the parallel of the hip with a bench. Do not strive to reach the floor with a knee of the limb located behind. Let it remain 5-10 centimeters from the surface.
Check that the heel of the supporting leg does not break away from the floor at the lower point of the exercise. If you cannot resist this, reduce the range of movement – sit down until you manage to hold the whole foot on the horizontal.
Straighten out of the squat, controlling the position of the knee of the supporting leg: it should be directed strictly forward.
What mistakes should be avoided when performing Bulgarian attacks
These flaws in technology reduce the effectiveness of the exercise and make it dangerous for joints and backs.
Swing
Some people during a squat shift a little back. Due to this, part of the load from the supporting leg is removed, and the risk of falling increases. Therefore, try to move in a straight path and up and down to fully use the working limb.
The inversion of the knee is inside
If during the rise, the knee of the supporting leg is wrapped inward, the joint is in an unstable position, which can lead to injury ligaments. Therefore, make sure that the knee looks clearly forward or even slightly unfolds out.
Excessive tilt of the case
Shot: Colossus Fitness / YouTube
If the leg muscles are not strong enough, the case can go forward during the rise, so you will practically fall on the hip. To avoid this, do not look down and direct the chest horizontally.
The wrong position of the foot on the elevation
If the foot is far from the edge of the elevation, this will prevent you from performing a squat in the full range. Only a toe should be on a chair or a shop.
With what we burdening you can make Bulgarian attacks
If you manage to make 15–20 Bulgarian attacks in the approach, maintain good equipment and not lose balance, try to perform an exercise with w8.
With two dumbbells or weights
Put the shells on the floor a step away from the support. Take the starting position with the foot on the elevation, perform a squat and take in each hand according to dumbbells or gyra. Straighten, holding the weight in lowered hands, and repeat it again.
With one dumbbell or weight
Take a dumbbell or weight and hold it in bent hands in front. Perform Bulgarian attacks, trying to keep your back even and not to lean forward.
In the Smith simulator
Put a bench or stand in a step from the simulator, take the bar on the shoulders and remove the shell from the racks. Put the toe of the foot on the elevation and perform lunges in conventional equipment, holding the stamp with your hands on the shoulders.
With a bar on the shoulders
If you are sure of your sense of balance, you can try the Bulgarian attacks with a free barbell on your shoulders. But even in this case, first check the technique with an empty stamp.
Put a bench 1-1.5 steps from the racks, remove the bar, move back and put your foot on the elevation. Follow the body: if the body leans forward during the rise, you took too much w8.
With an expander
This option is suitable for those who are engaged at home and do not have access to free scales.
Fold the expander in half and step on the middle of your foot. Take free loops and throw them on the bends of the elbows. Straighten the body, stretching the elastic bands, put one leg on the elevation and perform the Bulgarian attacks. Due to the elasticity of the expander at the exit from the squat, the load on the working leg will be greater.
How to choose weight, number of approaches and repetitions
If you do an exercise with weight, perform three to five approaches 8–12 times for each leg. Select the weight so that the latest repetitions in the approach are given with difficulty, but without flaws in technology.
In other words, if by the 12th time a burning sensation is increasing in the hips, but you can still straighten your leg without lies with your stomach on your knee and without wrapping the joint inside, the weight is chosen correctly.
If you are engaged in without weight, you can increase the number of repetitions to 20–25 times to achieve sufficient muscle stimulation. You can also add jumping out – the explosive component will increase the load.
How often to perform Bulgarian attacks
It all depends on your training program and available shells. If you work without weights, for example, perform power houses, you can make Bulgarian attacks on each lesson dedicated to pumping the legs.
Complete the program with pistol squats, striding for elevation and Nordic twisting, and you can load the hips and buttocks in full.
If you are in the gym, use the Bulgarian attacks with a plus to squats with a bar on your back, bench press and other movements with heavy weights.
How to prepare for exercise
Even before you start performing the exercise, it is worth finding a support for the optimal height and provide a sufficient distance to it, to make lunges comfortable and safe.
How to find a suitable elevation
To check whether the support is suitable in height, stand a step away from it and turn your back, put the toe of the right leg on the edge and sit down until the floor touches the right knee.
If you feel strong stretching in the front of the right thigh and cannot move the foot behind the standing foot, your support is too high – find something lower.
In the video, a physiotherapist and specialist in power and conditioning training Aaron Horshig shows how the foot should move if the support for the Bulgarian attacks is selected successfully.
How to take the right position
Put the toe of the foot on the selected elevation and go down to the squat to the floor touch.
Torture body weight to the front leg, as if getting ready to rise. In this position, the lower leg of the supporting limb and the body should be parallel to each other.
Frame: Squat University / YouTube
Control that the front leg is on the same line with the same shoulder. For most people, this situation will be comfortable.
Frame: Squat University / YouTube
How to perform Bulgarian attacks correctly
Put your foot on an elevation, remove your hands on the belt or hold in front. Straighten your back and tighten the press.
Bend the supporting leg and sit down to the parallel of the hip with a bench. Do not strive to reach the floor with a knee of the limb located behind. Let it remain 5-10 centimeters from the surface.
Check that the heel of the supporting leg does not break away from the floor at the lower point of the exercise. If you cannot resist this, reduce the range of movement – sit down until you manage to hold the whole foot on the horizontal.
Straighten out of the squat, controlling the position of the knee of the supporting leg: it should be directed strictly forward.
What mistakes should be avoided when performing Bulgarian attacks
These flaws in technology reduce the effectiveness of the exercise and make it dangerous for joints and backs.
Swing
Some people during a squat shift a little back. Due to this, part of the load from the supporting leg is removed, and the risk of falling increases. Therefore, try to move in a straight path and up and down to fully use the working limb.
The inversion of the knee is inside
If during the rise, the knee of the supporting leg is wrapped inward, the joint is in an unstable position, which can lead to injury ligaments. Therefore, make sure that the knee looks clearly forward or even slightly unfolds out.
Excessive tilt of the case
Shot: Colossus Fitness / YouTube
If the leg muscles are not strong enough, the case can go forward during the rise, so you will practically fall on the hip. To avoid this, do not look down and direct the chest horizontally.
The wrong position of the foot on the elevation
If the foot is far from the edge of the elevation, this will prevent you from performing a squat in the full range. Only a toe should be on a chair or a shop.
With what we burdening you can make Bulgarian attacks
If you manage to make 15–20 Bulgarian attacks in the approach, maintain good equipment and not lose balance, try to perform an exercise with w8.
With two dumbbells or weights
Put the shells on the floor a step away from the support. Take the starting position with the foot on the elevation, perform a squat and take in each hand according to dumbbells or gyra. Straighten, holding the weight in lowered hands, and repeat it again.
With one dumbbell or weight
Take a dumbbell or weight and hold it in bent hands in front. Perform Bulgarian attacks, trying to keep your back even and not to lean forward.
In the Smith simulator
Put a bench or stand in a step from the simulator, take the bar on the shoulders and remove the shell from the racks. Put the toe of the foot on the elevation and perform lunges in conventional equipment, holding the stamp with your hands on the shoulders.
With a bar on the shoulders
If you are sure of your sense of balance, you can try the Bulgarian attacks with a free barbell on your shoulders. But even in this case, first check the technique with an empty stamp.
Put a bench 1-1.5 steps from the racks, remove the bar, move back and put your foot on the elevation. Follow the body: if the body leans forward during the rise, you took too much w8.
With an expander
This option is suitable for those who are engaged at home and do not have access to free scales.
Fold the expander in half and step on the middle of your foot. Take free loops and throw them on the bends of the elbows. Straighten the body, stretching the elastic bands, put one leg on the elevation and perform the Bulgarian attacks. Due to the elasticity of the expander at the exit from the squat, the load on the working leg will be greater.
How to choose weight, number of approaches and repetitions
If you do an exercise with weight, perform three to five approaches 8–12 times for each leg. Select the weight so that the latest repetitions in the approach are given with difficulty, but without flaws in technology.
In other words, if by the 12th time a burning sensation is increasing in the hips, but you can still straighten your leg without lies with your stomach on your knee and without wrapping the joint inside, the weight is chosen correctly.
If you are engaged in without weight, you can increase the number of repetitions to 20–25 times to achieve sufficient muscle stimulation. You can also add jumping out – the explosive component will increase the load.
How often to perform Bulgarian attacks
It all depends on your training program and available shells. If you work without weights, for example, perform power houses, you can make Bulgarian attacks on each lesson dedicated to pumping the legs.
Complete the program with pistol squats, striding for elevation and Nordic twisting, and you can load the hips and buttocks in full.
If you are in the gym, use the Bulgarian attacks with a plus to squats with a bar on your back, bench press and other movements with heavy weights.
Add the exercise in the second half of the workout once a week to finish the muscles, correct the imbalance and properly load the back of the thigh.