This article assumes you have some experience of regular squatting and lunging. Attempting to do a pistol squat before you have built up a foundation of strength first is not recommended.
The one legged squat or ‘Pistol’ has long been an exercise I have strived to perfect. Many factors were hampering my progress in this very powerful body weight move. Strength was never one of them but balance and flexibility certainly were. It requires strength, balance and co-ordination, not to mention lots of patience and determination before you’re able to do a body weight only pistol. This article will hopefully provide you with the necessary progressions needed in order to master this move.
The benefits.
As already mentioned, mastering the pistol will increase your flexibility, co-ordination, and make you stronger enabling you to run faster and jump higher. Most activities are carried out on one leg at a time and the pistol is the ultimate expression of single leg strength.
The key ingredients
Balance. Maintaining a single leg balance pose can be difficult enough for most people. To perfect the pistol squat, you will have to maintain that balance throughout a full range of motion as you sink into the pistol and rise back out of it again.
Flexibility. Excellent flexibility in the ankles, hamstrings, hips and lower back are required as you will be working through a full range of motion. There are ways around flexibility issues which will still enable you to do a pistol squat but ultimately the naked body weight pistol is the ultimate goal.
Co-ordination. What on the face of it appears as a relatively simple exercise actually requires quite a complex and co-ordinated sequence of events to take place if you are going to get it right.
Strength. Attempting a pistol on the spur of the moment, ‘just to see if you can do one’ is not recommended. You will be working many stabilising muscles here due to the very narrow base of support. You will be driving powerfully through your glutes, quadriceps and core musculature and all without the usual two footed base of support. Follow the progressions, take your time and stay safe.
Where to start.
Start with the goblet squat. Have a wider than shoulder width stance and hold a Kettlebell or weight disc at chest level. Squat as deep as you can whilst maintaining integrity of the lower spine. This means that you don’t pitch forward at the bottom of the squat in order to facilitate more depth. As you squat down, bring your elbows to the inside of your knees and attempt to prise your legs apart, feeling the stretch in your adductors. Maintain this low position for a few second before driving back up.
The Goblet Squat
An excellent progression from this is a narrow stance squat. Start with a Kettlebell or weight disc held in front of you initially to help you with your balance. As and when you are able, switch to body weight only. Go as low as you can with this squat just as in the goblet squat, the idea being to get your glutes to touch your calves. If you are struggling to do this without an engaged lumbar spine, add a wedge under your feet. Never under any circumstances lose the integrity of the lower spine. If you have to rock excessively forward to create extra depth or to come back out of the squat, then you went too low. Elevate the heels, practice until you can hit rock bottom. Reduce the elevation, practice again until you hit rock bottom. Proceed like this until you can achieve the rock bottom position without a wedge. Once you can make this low position, you have reached a level of flexibility appropriate for a pistol squat.
Narrow Stance Squat
Space and length in the spine and hips at the bottom of your squat is vital if you want to avoid lower back and knee injuries. You need to feel comfortable, very strong, and confident that you can get your glutes to your calves and keep an engaged lumbar spine with a wide stance and two legs before even considering trying a to squat down on one leg without the luxury of a wide knee to hip angle.
Move to a single leg.
Now it’s time to start working on your single leg strength. There are several exercises you can use here.
Bulgarian split squat. Position one leg on a bench or chair as in the picture. Position the working leg sufficiently in front of you so as to enable you to perform a lunge whist keeping the knee back beyond the toes. Lunge as deep as you can, hold the bottom position for a second, and then power back up. If you have access to a suspension trainer such as a TRX, you can add an extra element of difficulty by performing a suspended lunge. You now have instability in the trailing leg thus increasing the challenge to the stability of the exercise
Bulgarian Lunge
Modified step ups
This exercise will further increase your leg strength as well as your balance. As in the picture, position your top leg on a high bench or box. Your body weight should be positioned forward as shown and you bottom foot dorsiflexed so as to prevent you pushing off with your calf. You’re essentially performing a one legged squat from the low position. Don’t cheat, so make sure all the pushing is done with the forward leg.
Modified Step Up
Assisted pistol.
Okay, now you’re really making progress. Grab a door frame or post as shown. Push your hips back and slowly descend into a full squat position. Because you are holding on to a solid object, any lack of flexibility will result in you leaning back more. Of course you won’t have the luxury of this when you are performing a standard pistol as you will topple backwards. Aim to minimise the amount that you have to pull on the door frame. If you have access to a suspension trainer, use this instead as you will find it more comfortable.
Assisted Pistol
Suspended Pistol
The weighted pistol
This is now a fully-fledged pistol squat. Grab some form of weight. This can be a Kettlebell, a dumbbell in each hand or a single weight disc held like a steering wheel.
Descend slowly into the squat pushing your hips back as far as possible. As you lower yourself, hold the weight out in front of you. This will help counter-balance you as you descend therefore preventing you from toppling over backwards. Be especially careful to keep your lumbar spine engaged as the weight out in front creates a lot of leverage. As a result of this, use the smallest weight possible to create the necessary counter balance. This method of pistol is not the one to use with increasingly heavy weights. Once you have sufficient strength in the body weight pistol, the way to add weight is with a Kettlebell held in the racked position. This adds the weight directly over your base of support and therefore won’t increase the leverage on your lower back.
If you are still struggling with flexibility in your hamstrings then perform the exercise on a sturdy bench or plyometric box. This will enable you to let the non-working leg hang down lower.
Once you have sufficient power, flexibility and balance, you can progress to a weighted pistol with a Kettlebell or kettlebells held in the rack position
Racked Pistol
Weighted Pistol
Body weight only pistol
This is the hardest pistol to perform other than a heavy racked pistol. You now have no counter balance to keep you from tipping backwards. You will need to have good flexibility in your hamstrings lower back and hip flexors if you want to go to full depth and have any chance of coming back out again. One tip I can give you, hold onto the front of your foot as you descend and ascend the pistol. This will help you maintain your balance and help prevent you from falling backwards. If you are still lacking confidence, squat down to a small bench behind you. Aim to tap the bench with your behind and not to actually sit down. Gradually decrease the height of the bench until you no longer need it.
Pistol on bench
Unassisted Pistol
Make sure you include stretching before and after your pistols. Whilst stretching before training is generally regarded as non-beneficial, for me, personally speaking, I haven’t a chance of performing a body weight only pistol without stretching my hip flexors and hamstrings first. Pay particular attention to the muscle groups just mentioned. I have included a great stretch for the quads and hip flexors here.
In conclusion
There is no reason why the average person shouldn’t be able to progress to a full pistol squat. Don’t dismiss the assisted pistols and modified step ups purely as progression steps towards a pistol. They are excellent exercises in their own right and have many of the benefits of a full pistol. So, practice, practice, practice until you get it right. Take your time and perform the steps as discussed here and before long you will have mastered the body weight pistol.
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