Split Squat ISO Hold Overview — A Coach’s Guide to Setup, Cues, and Progressions
- Jake Hicks
- Aug 11
- 6 min read
This simple exercise can fix your hip pain, fix your imbalances, prep you for your squats, strengthen your unilateral strength, reinforce movement patterns and even transfer to improving your sprints and athletic movements. Highly underrated exercise and I'm sharing the tips and tricks with the level of detail I used in the performance world. These concepts and methods can and should be applied for anyone.
In this post I break down the split squat isometric (ISO) hold the way I coach it — why I use it, how to set it up, the common faults I see, and simple fixes you can implement right away. These are the cues and progressions I use with athletes and gym-goers to improve single‑leg strength, movement patterns, and carryover to lunges, Bulgarian split squats, and even sprinting mechanics. Small details lead to big results, don't sleep on these tips and tricks.
If you'd rather watch a video, I made a video on YouTube that will cover this topic, CLICK HERE to watch instead of read.
Why use the split squat ISO hold?
The ISO hold is more than just holding at the top of a split squat. I use it as an activation exercise and as a teaching tool to reinforce the exact positions I want athletes to use in other exercises. It teaches:
Positive shin angle and knee travel (very transferable single leg squat variations, sprinting and athletic movements)
Torso and hip position control (helps maintain vertical alignment)
Single‑leg stability and quad/hip coordination before progressing to heavier or more dynamic lifts
I believe is a great way to address imbalances and improve overall leg strength
Key setup details — start here
The most important technical detail I look for is the shin angle. I want a positive shin angle — the shin tilting forward — because that means the knee is able to bend and load appropriately. A vertical shin reduces knee flexion and is, in my view, less transferable to sport. Quick shout out to the fitness crowd, I don't think a vertical shin is bad, I think it has it's place as well depending on the goal.
Foot distance from knee: I measure thumb to pinky. Place your pinky on the knee and set the front foot so the heel-toe is roughly that distance from the knee — this reliably produces the positive shin angle I want.
Back foot positioning: Athletes frequently load the back foot too much and lean back. To prevent that I place the back foot flush against a wall (heel to toe vertical) — this forces weight forward into the front leg.
If you don’t have a wall: A coach can stand behind and lift the athlete’s heel so it’s vertical, forcing them to shift forward.
Weight distribution: Push through the middle of the front foot — not the heel, not the toes. If toes or heel pop up, cue the midfoot.
Alternative cues I like for the back foot, I tell them pretend the back foot is on John Wick's puppy. You don't want to hurt John Wick's puppy trust me.
Common faults and quick fixes
These are the faults I see most — and how I correct them.
Knee dives inward
Knee caving causes excess strain on the outside of the hip and can lead to nagging pain. Often it’s not just a quad weakness; sometimes athletes simply need coaching on knee tracking.
Fix: cue the knee slightly out — “not even straight, just a little bit to the outside.”
Result: moving the knee out recruits larger hip muscles and improves stabilization.
Torso leans forward or the athlete rounds
This exercise is very uncomfortable as it makes the legs burn A LOT! To make it easier athletes will lean forward to escape the discomfort. Leaning forward makes the position easier and feels different, but it defeats the purpose for developing upright single‑leg control.
Fix A: have the athlete raise their hands overhead. That naturally forces the torso vertical. You can even hold weight overhead if you wanted.
Fix B: use the hip cue described below (belt buckle forward) — it gets them vertical without focusing on the chest. The cue "chest up" doesn't work and it's not really what you want them to do, the hips forward is the move trust me on this.
Back foot loaded / athlete leans back
This is common and shorts the load on the front leg.
Fix: place back foot flush to a wall so the foot is vertical from heel to toe, or a coach can lift the heel while walking behind the athlete to force them forward.
Coaching cues I rely on
Simple, specific cues produce reliable changes. These are my go‑to cues in order of priority.
Shin angle: positive shin angle — shin should tilt forward so the knee can bend ensuring quad involvement.
Foot distance: pinky on the knee to set the front foot distance (thumb‑to‑pinky measurement). If the front foot is too far forward it makes it hard to have a positive shin angle. If it's too close it makes it hard to push through the whole foot or midfoot.
Belt buckle forward: “Belt buckle forward” — hips forward is the action I want. Don’t say “chest up” — that’s a result, not the cue. Hips forward drives verticality.
Hands overhead: Use when the athlete struggles to stay upright; it forces a vertical torso.
Knee tracking: cue a slight outward drift of the front knee — “just a little bit to the outside.”
Weight through midfoot: reinforce pushing through the middle of the foot, not the heel or toes.
Progressions and how I use the ISO hold in a session
I like to structure it as a slow-to-fast progression so athletes learn the pattern and then apply it under dynamic conditions. A simple protocol I use:
Round 1 — 10 to 20 second ISO holds: establish the position, focus on shin angle, belt buckle forward, midfoot pressure. Use ISO holds to reinforce the position before movement.
Round 2 — Oscillations: small bounces up and down without touching the ground; this builds control through range and starts to add movement.
Round 3 — Full range reps: all the way up, all the way down to pattern the movement with speed and coordination.
Use this as an activation prior to heavier single‑leg work, bilateral squatting, sprinting drills, or as a targeted warm-up for athletes with imbalances. Younger athletes often find the ISO hold brutally effective — it’s a great single‑leg primer. You will hear and see this is a tough exercise that gets the muscles burning.
Sample sets and programming
Beginner: 3 rounds per leg — 10s ISO, 6–8 oscillations, 6 full-range reps (bodyweight)
Intermediate: 3 rounds per leg — 10–15s ISO, 10 oscillations, 8–10 full-range reps (light load)
Towel/coaching option: when learning, coach or partner places back foot to wall or lifts heel to prevent backward loading
Keep total volume low if this is being used as an activation — quality of position matters more than quantity. Use it more often for athletes who need to reinforce single‑leg mechanics.
How this transfers to other movements
When taught and cued properly, the ISO hold helps with:
Bulgarian split squats and reverse lunges — better shin angle and knee tracking
Barbell split squats — more effective front leg loading and torso control
Sprinting mechanics — forward shin angle and proper hip drive are reinforced
General single‑leg stability — a better foundation for heavier or more dynamic work
I love to revert back to the positions and cues we use on the split squat iso hold when using any of the above. Saves a ton of time especially in the group setting.
Quick coaching checklist
Positive shin angle — front shin tilts forward
Front foot distance — thumb‑to‑pinky (pinky on knee) set-up
Back foot vertical (use a wall) — prevents leaning back
Belt buckle forward — hips up, torso vertical
Knee slightly out — avoid valgus/caving
Midfoot pressure — don’t load the toes or heel
Conclusion
The split squat ISO hold is simple but nuanced. Get the shin angle, foot placement, and hip cue right and you build a pattern that carries over into stronger, safer single‑leg and athletic movements. Try the setup and three‑round progression I outlined — use hands overhead for those who struggle to stay vertical and use the wall to stop athletes from loading the back foot. Use these cues, put them into practice with your athletes or yourself, and you’ll see better movement patterns and more useful transfer to the field and the gym.
ALL of my programming uses a high level of detail with coaching notes specific to the program's goal. I include cues just like you read today in the exercises and coaching notes. I have a very high rate of people who start a program and stay on a program longterm. Shop my programs below, all of them come with at least a 7 day free trial.
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