Exercises You Should Be Doing: Goblet Split Squat with Coil
It’s been a minute since I’ve shared an Exercise You Should Be Doing.
Anyone who’s familiar with this series or has kept tabs on the types of exercises/movements I gravitate towards will dig this one.
Which is to say: It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy, and it doesn’t take a PhD to set up or perform.
Copyright: gekaskr / 123RF Stock Photo
Goblet Split Squat w/ Coil
Who Did I Steal it From? – My coach, Greg Robins, plugged this into my program this month. When I saw it, at first I was like “tha fuck!?!”
What’s up with this foo-fooey exercise?
But then I performed a few sets and was like “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.”
I like it a lot
(cue Dumb & Dumber voiceover).
What Does It Do? – Well, like any single leg variation it challenges balance, core/hip stability, and helps to “temper” any strength imbalances between one leg or the other. Too, it gives the spine a bit of a reprieve from aggressive axial loading.
What separates this variation, however, is the addition of the COIL (or rotation of the upper torso). This subtle tweak offers a bit of a varying training stimulus in that it takes us out of the traditional up/down, forward/back nature of exercise we’re accustomed to and adds rotation into the mix; or transverse plane motion.
The twisting action also leads to a bit more internal rotation of the front hip which feels divine (unless you’re someone with a history of FAI; in that you’ll probably want to avoid this one).
As a quick aside I had my wife perform this exercise the other day after she tweaked her lower back/SI joint and she loved it. As noted in THIS article written by Dr. Erika Mundinger on this site a few years back, introducing rotation can be a game changer for those with chronic SI joint issues.
Key Coaching Cues – This exercise is pretty self-explanatory.
- Assume a split squat position.1
- Whichever foot is in front rotate the opposite shoulder TOWARDS that direction making sure to keep the torso upright and shoulders back.
- Perform the drill “squatting” up and down while maintaining the same torso position throughout. Perform allotted reps (6-10) and then switch sides.
- My god, you’re so hot.
