Legs · Barbell
Barbell Single Leg Squat
How to do the barbell single leg squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Hold a barbell across your upper back and stand on one leg with the other lifted slightly off the floor. Push your hips back and bend the standing knee to lower until your thigh is at least parallel, keeping your chest up. Drive through your heel to return to standing, controlling your balance the whole way.
- 1Quad, glute, and hamstring of the working leg loading as you lower and
- 2rise
- 3Your standing foot gripping the floor for balance
- 4Knee tracking over your toes with your chest lifted
Common mistakes
- Letting the working knee collapse inward
- Using momentum or bouncing out of the bottom
- Rounding your back instead of hinging to sit back
Muscles worked
The barbell single leg squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the barbell single leg squat for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.