How to do one-legged squats correctly

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We talk about preparing the body for squats on one leg, correct technique and mistakes.

What is a pistol exercise

Pistol is an exercise in which you squat on one leg while keeping the other straight in front of you.

This is a fairly difficult move and it may take you weeks or even months to complete it at full range and with good technique. However, it's worth a try anyway.

Why do one-legged squats

The pistols have several advantages.

Build muscle strength without equipment

If you decide to pump up your legs without barbells and dumbbells, be sure to include pistols in your program.

For muscle growth, regular squats on two legs are not enough. You will have to do very long sets to tire your hips with this light exercise.

In "pistols" only one leg lifts the body weight, which significantly increases the load on the buttocks, hips and legs. In addition, the muscles of the core and supporting leg are under constant tension to maintain balance.

Exercise pumps several muscle groups at once: hip flexors, quadriceps, adductors, gluteus maximus and middle muscles. The latter are loaded especially well - better than in regular or Bulgarian split squats.

Helps to remove asymmetry

In bilateral exercises - those performed on both sides at once - one limb often works harder than the other. In the long run, this can spoil your training performance and even lead to injury.

For example, if in heavy squats one leg receives more load, the risk of injury to the muscles or joint structures is much higher than if the weight is evenly distributed over both limbs.

Unilateral, or unilateral exercises such as pistols or the Bulgarian split squat with the leg on a dais, can help eliminate asymmetry, which reduces the risk of overload and injury.

Develop mobility

At the bottom of the pistol, the angle of the ankle and hip joints is much greater than during regular squats. Therefore, you will definitely have to develop mobility, although this can be done in different ways:

• Additionally stretch. In this case, "pistols" will become not a means to an end, but a motivation.
• Do lead exercises. You can do squats on one leg in a limited range or with support, which will also perfectly stretch the desired muscles and increase joint mobility.

If you learn how to do pistols, you will have no problem with squatting, deadlift and other lower body movements.

Improves balance and body control

The one-legged squat teaches your body to maintain balance in motion - to tighten the right muscle groups to stabilize on limited support.

This skill can be useful both in sports and in everyday life. For example, it can help you regain balance faster and avoid falling on slippery floors or ice.

How to prepare your body for the one-legged squat

If you have not been involved in sports for a long time and spend most of your day sitting, it is best to first prepare your body for mastering the exercise. Do the following movements every day for 1-2 weeks, then move on to the lead-up exercises.

If you are well prepared, you can skip this step and start mastering the one-legged squat right away.

Deep squats

This exercise will help you get used to the correct position, stretch and strengthen the desired muscles.

Make sure that the lower back remains in a neutral position even at the lowest point of the exercise. Spread your knees slightly to the sides and press your heels to the floor - in no case should they come off.

Do it in full range - sit as deep as you can, and each time try to do it even lower.

Do 5 sets of 20 squats.

Stepping up the dais

This movement will develop the leg strength needed to perform pistols, build balance and stretch the muscles.

Find a stable support - a chair or cabinet 30-50 cm high. Place your foot on the edge and rise up, keeping your back straight. You can stretch your arms in front of you or put them on your belt - as you prefer.

Do not wrap the knee of the supporting leg inward while lifting and make sure that your back does not slouch. Perform the movement slowly and in a controlled manner, as shown in the video. Do not push off the floor with your supporting foot: inertia takes the load off your muscles.

Perform 3 sets of 10 lifts on each leg.

Raising the legs while lying

This exercise will help strengthen the hip flexors, the muscles that will hold the raised leg during pistols.

Lie on your back, press your lower back to the floor. Bend one knee and place your foot on the floor. Straighten the other leg and lift it 15–20 cm from the floor.

Keep your leg raised for 30 seconds, and swing it up and down in a small amplitude for the next 30 seconds. Repeat with the other leg.

Do three sets of this exercise on each side.

Stretching the muscles of the legs

This combination of exercises will help develop ankle mobility, increase the range of flexion in static and in motion.

Stand a meter away from the wall facing her. Take a wide step forward with your right foot, bend your knee and place your hands on the wall. The left leg remains straight - we stretch it.

Press with your heels on the floor, do not bend your left knee. Hold in position for 30-60 seconds.

Then, without changing position, bend the knee of the left leg and maintain this pose for the next 30-60 seconds.

Change legs and repeat the ligament from the beginning again.

Back of the thigh stretch

The stiffness of the muscles on the back of the thigh can prevent you from keeping your leg parallel to the ground during pistols. This exercise will help stretch them out.

Sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward and straighten your knees. Tilt your body, trying to lower your stomach to your hips. Grasp your feet with your hands or place your palms on either side of your legs - whichever is more comfortable for you.

Stay in this position for 30 to 120 seconds, trying to deepen the stretch.

What training exercises will help master squats on one leg

These exercises will help you memorize the correct movement technique and avoid mistakes, muscle overload and pain.

Start with the lightest version and do it in three sets of 10-12 reps per leg. If everything works out, try the next hardest option on another workout.

Incomplete "pistol"

This movement repeats the pistol exercise, but is performed within a limited range.

Stand with your back to a chair, put your feet together, lift one of them and stretch your arms forward to make it easier to maintain balance.

Slowly and under control, lower yourself into a chair. Return to starting position and repeat.

Keep your back straight. Make sure that the knee of the supporting leg does not turn inward, and the heel does not come off the floor.

Pistol exercise with support

This is already a real squat on one leg in a full range, but with a support that relieves some of the load.

Find some kind of rack or ladder rail and do one-legged squats next to each other, holding on to the support. Do it smoothly and in control - don't fall down.

Make sure that the heel of the supporting leg remains on the floor, and, on the contrary, does not touch the ground with the free one.

Exercise "pistol" from the dais

If you lack hip flexor strength, the free leg will interfere with the full range pistol: you will push your heel into the floor and lose your balance.

In this approach, you don't have to keep your free leg parallel to the floor, so you can lower yourself into a full squat.

Find a low support, stand on the edge on one leg, stretch your arms forward. Perform full range squats on one leg, observing all technical points. Try to raise your free leg higher and keep it straight. Over time, you will strengthen your muscles and be able to do a pistol on the floor.

Exercise "pistol" with a weight in the hands

In this approach exercise, due to the shift in the center of gravity, it is easier to maintain balance and maintain the correct position at the bottom point.

Take a small, heavy object like a dumbbell or a small barbell pancake and squat, holding it in front of you in outstretched arms.

How to do one-legged squats

Stand up straight with your feet together. Raise your straight leg low from the floor, stretch your arms forward.

Press down on the floor with the foot of your supporting leg - this will help activate the leg muscles and provide you with a stable position. Make an "arch": tense the muscles of the foot so that the instep is slightly raised. Just do not overdo it, otherwise fall on the outside.

Bend your knee and lower yourself into a full squat, keeping your free leg suspended.

Rise out of the squat, turning the knee of the supporting leg slightly outward. Straighten fully at the hip joint and repeat the exercise.

To make it a little easier, try placing your heel on a slight, stable elevation. This compensates for the lack of mobility in the ankle and helps you perform the movement without twisting your back or lifting your heel off the floor.

What mistakes should be avoided when squatting on one leg

If you cannot correct these mistakes, return to the lead-up exercises and do them until the body is ready for pistols with the correct technique.

Unstable calf

Make sure that the lower leg does not move - hold it in one place.

Knee wrapped inward

Try to move the knee of the supporting leg slightly outward, or at least keep it in line with the foot.

If the knee crosses the midline of the foot, it is at a disadvantage, so you could be injured if you bump up.

Raised heel

The heel should be kept flat on the floor during all phases of the exercise. If it rises, you are most likely lacking ankle mobility.

Work on this limitation by stretching the calf muscles, and do the pistols with a small, stable object like a book under your heel.

How to incorporate one-legged squats into your workouts

To develop leg strength

If you are doing calisthenics and want to pump up your legs with the help of pistols, do them 1-2 times a week in three sets, 10-15 times on each side.

Those who pump the whole body in one workout should alternate pistols with other hip exercises: striding and boxing jumps, squatting with one leg on a dais.

If you are doing splits - dividing your body into zones and training them on separate days - do pistols on every leg workout, along with the exercises above.

For balance and mobility

If you are building strength with a barbell and want to develop a sense of balance using squats on one leg, do the exercise three times a week.

Don't include pistols in your warm-up before strength training. A rounded back at the bottom of the exercise reduces the ability to hold the arched lower back. This can prevent you from doing subsequent barbell squats or deadlifts with good technique.

Therefore, it is better to do "pistols" at the end of the workout, or even separately from it. Do either 3-5 sets of 10 times on each leg, or 1-2 sets of this movement and 2-3 more exercises to develop balance, so that the entire workout takes at least 10 minutes.