This Variation of a Bulgarian Split Squat Is My (and My Butt's) New Best Friend

I love a good squat — though you should be doing other exercises if you really want to target your booty. Personally, I'm a fan of one-legged moves like Bulgarian split squats and single-leg Romanian deadlifts because they zone in on your glutes. So you can imagine my excitement when I came across an exercise that incorporated both deadlifts and split squats.

I started NASM-certified personal trainer Bailey Ducommun's at-home Glute Guide a little over a month ago. It consists of two four-week phases, two arm and two butt workouts per week. The first day of phase one features a move that she calls a Bulgarian Romanian deadlift (Bulgarian RDL). Right away I was shocked at how much just three sets of six reps on each side burned my glutes, and according to Bailey, that's the point.

The Bulgarian split squat targets your glutes and quads, while the RDL targets the hamstrings and glutes more, Bailey said. She told POPSUGAR that she likes to pair these movements together because they "complement one another well for a full leg burn targeting your quads, glutes, and hamstrings." It's also kind of similar to doing a superset — performing two sets of exercises in a row without stopping — all in one move, she noted, though supersets typically work opposing muscles (like pairing triceps kickback and bicep curl sets). Ahead, check out how to do each component and put them together for a Bulgarian RDL! Note: this is not a move for beginners, so you can stick to doing each component separately or ditch the weights entirely if it's too much. Would you add this to your next lower-body workout?