BIOMECHANICS OF THE REAR FOOT-ELEVATED SPLIT SQUAT — A SCOPING REVIEW

The rear foot-elevated split squat (RFESS) is a commonly implemented resistance training exercise whose biomechanics have not been systematically collated. Objective: To provide a comprehensive overview of the biomechanical research on the RFESS. Design: Systematic scoping review. Method: The systematic scoping review protocol was designed following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and SportDiscus) were searched for relevant articles in October 2023. Results: A total of 103 studies were identified and screened, with 20 studies satisfying the inclusion criteria. RFESS was referred to by six different names, with the most common being “rear foot-elevated split squat” (30%). Surface electromyography was the most common data collected (55%), followed by joint kinematics (20%), barbell kinetic/kinematic data (15%), and joint kinetics (10%). Conclusions: RFESS set-up (stance length, stance width, elevation height, range of motion, and cadence) varied substantially across studies, and was inadequately described in most studies. Several research gaps were identified in the set-up, study methodologies and inter-limb asymmetry testing. We recommend future studies to adopt the name “rear foot-elevated split squat”, fully describe five key set-up variables, perform at least one familiarization session with representative loads, and conduct a separate 1-repetition maximum testing to normalize the exercise intensity.