We talk about the preparation of the body for squats on one leg, the right technique and errors.
What is the exercise “Pistolik”
“Pistolik” is an exercise in which you squat on one leg, and while holding the second one in front of you.
This is a rather complex movement, and you may need more than one week or even a month to fulfill it in the full range and with good technology. However, you should try anyway.
Why do squats on one leg
Pistolics have several advantages.
Pump muscles without equipment
If you decide to pump your legs without a bar and dumbbells, be sure to include “pistols” in your program.
For muscle growth, there are insufficiently ordinary squats on two legs. You will have to perform very long approaches to tire the hips with such an easy exercise.
In Pistolics, only one leg lifts the body weight, which significantly increases the load on the buttocks, hips and lower legs. In addition, the muscles of the case and the supporting leg are in constant tension to maintain balance.
The exercise pumps several muscle groups at once: hip flexors, quadriceps, leading, large and medium gluteal muscles. The latter are loaded especially well-better than in ordinary or Bulgarian split-sedimentation.
Help remove asymmetry
In bilateral exercises – those that are performed on both sides at once – one limb often works more than the second. In the future, this can ruin your indicators in training and even lead to injury.
For example, if in heavy squats one leg receives more load, the risk of damaging the muscles or joint structure is much higher than if the weight was evenly distributed along both limbs.
Unilateral, or unilateral exercises, such as “pistols” or a Bulgarian split-delleum with a foot on the elevation, help get rid of asymmetry, which reduces the risk of overload and injury.
Develop mobility
At the bottom of the “pistol” angle of the fold in the ankle and hip joints is much larger than during ordinary squats. Therefore, you will definitely have to develop mobility, although this can be done in different ways:
- Additionally stretch. In this case, “pistolics” will not become a means of achieving the goal, but motivation.
- Doing upcoming exercises. You can perform squats on one leg in a limited range or with support, which will also perfectly stretch the necessary muscles and increase the mobility of the joints.
If you learn to perform “pistols”, you will not have problems with the technique of squats, standing traction and other movements to the lower body.
Improve the sense of balance and control over the body
Squats on one leg teach your body to maintain balance in motion – strain the necessary muscle groups in order to stabilize on a limited support.
This skill can come in handy both in sports and in ordinary life. For example, it will help you quickly restore your balance and avoid falling on slippery floor or ice.
How to prepare the body for squats on one leg
If you have not played sports for a long time and spend most of your day sitting, first it is better to prepare the body for the development of the exercise. Perform the following movements every day for 1-2 weeks, and then proceed to leading exercises.
If you are well prepared, you can skip this stage and immediately start mastering squats on one leg.
Deep squats
Photo: Alexander Starostin
This exercise will help you get used to the correct position, stretch and strengthen the necessary muscles.
Make sure that the lower back remains in a neutral position even at the lower point of the exercise. Dilute the knees to the sides and press the heels to the floor – they should never be torn off.
Perform in the full range – sit down as deeply as you can, and each time try to do it even lower.
Make 5 approaches 20 squats.
Striding for elevation
This movement will develop the strength of the legs necessary for the performance of “pistols”, pumps a sense of balance and stretch the muscles.
Find a stable support – a chair or a cabinet 30-50 cm high. Put your foot on the edge and rise, holding your back straight. You can stretch your hands in front of you or put on your belt – as you are more convenient.
Do not wrap the knee of the supporting leg inside during the rise and make sure that the back does not stoop. Move the movement slowly and under control, as shown in the video. Do not push off the floor with a supporting foot: inertia selects the load from your muscles.
Perform 3 approaches of 10 lifts for each leg.
Lowing the legs lying
This exercise will help strengthen the hip flexors – muscles that will hold the raised leg during the “pistol”.
Lie on your back, press the lower back to the floor. Bend one knee and put the foot on the floor. Straighten the second leg and lift it 15–20 cm from the floor.
Hold your foot raised for 30 seconds, and shake it up and down the next 30 seconds in a small amplitude. Repeat the same from the other leg.
Perform three approaches of this exercise on each side.
Stretching of the muscles of the legs
This bunch of exercises will help develop the mobility of the ankle, increase the flexion range in statics and in motion.
Get a meter from the wall face to her. Take a wide step forward with your right foot, bend your knee and place your arms on the wall. The left leg remains straight – we stretch it.
Press the heels on the floor, do not bend your left knee. Spend in position 30-60 seconds.
Then, without changing the position, bend the knee of the left leg and keep this pose for the next 30-60 seconds.
Change your legs and repeat the bunch from the beginning again.
Hip stretch
Photo: Julia Obolenskaya
The stiffness of the muscles on the back of the thigh may prevent you from holding your foot parallel to the ground during “pistols”. This exercise will help stretch them.
Sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward and straighten your knees. Tilt the case, trying to lower the stomach onto the hips. Get your hands to the feet or put your palms on both sides of the legs – as you are more convenient.
Spend in this position from 30 to 120 seconds, trying to deepen the stretch.
What leading exercises will help to master the squats on one leg
These exercises will help you remember the correct movement technique and avoid errors, muscle overload and pain.
Start with the easiest version and execute it in three approaches 10-12 times on the leg. If everything works out, in another training session, try the next complexity option.
Incomplete “pistol”
This movement repeats the exercise “Pistol”, but is performed in a limited range.
Stand with your back to the chair, put your legs together, raise one of them and stretch your arms forward to make it easier to maintain balance.
Slowly and under control, sink to a chair. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Hold your back straight. Make sure that the knee of the supporting leg does not wrap inside, and the heel does not break away from the floor.
Exercise “Pistolet” with support
This is the real squat on one leg in the full range, but with the support that removes part of the load.
Find some rack or railing of the stairs and perform a squat on one leg nearby, adhering to the support. Do it smoothly and under control – do not fall down.
Make sure that the heel of the supporting leg remains on the floor, and free, on the contrary, does not touch the ground.
Exercise “Pistol” from the elevation
If you lack the strength of the hip flexors, the free leg will prevent you from performing a “gun” in the full range: you will reproach a heel to the floor and lose your balance.
In this leading exercise, you will not have to keep your free leg parallel to the floor, so you can go down in full squat.
Find a low support, stand on the edge on one leg, stretch your arms forward. Perform a squat on one leg in the full range, observing all the technical points. Try to raise your free leg higher and hold it straight. Over time, you will strengthen your muscles and can make a “gun” on the floor.
Exercise “Pistol” with a weight in the hands
In this supply exercise, due to the displacement of the center of gravity, it is easier to maintain balance and maintain the correct position at the lower point.
Take a small heavy object like a dumbbell or a small pancake from the bar and squat, holding it in front of you in outstretched arms.
How to do squats on one leg correctly
Stand straight, put your legs together. Raise your straight leg low from the floor, stretch your arms forward.
Press the foot of the supporting leg to the floor – this will help activate the muscles of the legs and provide you with a stable position. Make an “arch”: tighten the muscles of the foot so that the rise is slightly raised. Just do not overdo it, otherwise fall on the outside.
Bend your knee and get into a complete squat, holding your free leg by w8.
Rise from squat, slightly turning the knee of the supporting leg outside. Straighten up in the hip joint and repeat the exercise.
To lighten the task a little, try to put the heel on a small stable elevation. This compensates for the lack of mobility in the ankle and will help you perform movement without very twisting your back and without tearing the heel from the floor.
What mistakes should be avoided by squatting on one leg
If you cannot fix these errors, return to the leading exercises and perform them until the body is ready for “pistols” with the right technique.
Unstable lower leg
Make sure that the lower leg does not go stuck – hold it in one place.
Knee
Try to slightly take the knee of the supporting leg outward or at least keep it on the same line with a foot.
If the knee crosses the middle line of the foot, it is in a disadvantage, so with a sharp rise you can get an injury.
Raised heel
The heel should be pressed to the floor in all phases of the exercise. If it rises, most likely you lack the mobility of the ankle.
Work on this restriction, performing the stretching of the lower leg muscles, and do the “pistols” by putting a small stable object like a book under the heel.
How to include squats on one leg in your training
For the development of leg strength
If you are engaged in kastenika and with the help of “pistols” you want to pump your legs, perform them 1-2 times a week in three approaches 10-15 times for each side.
Those who pump the whole body at the same training session should alternate “pistols” with other hips: striding and jumping on boxing, with one foot on a lift.
If you work with splittes, divide the body into zones and train them on some days – perform “pistols” in each training dedicated to study, along with the above exercises.
For balance and mobility
If you are working with a barbell on force, and with the help of squats on one leg you want to develop a sense of balance, perform the exercise three times a week.
Do not include “pistols” in a warm -up before strength training. Rounded back at the lower point of the exercise reduces the ability to hold a cried out lower back. This may prevent you from performing subsequent squats with a barbell or a damp traction with good equipment.
Therefore, it is better to make “pistols” at the end of the training or even separately from it. Perform either 3-5 approaches 10 times with each leg, or 1-2 approaches of this movement and 2-3 more exercises for the development of balance so that the entire training takes at least 10 minutes.
What is the exercise “Pistolik”
“Pistolik” is an exercise in which you squat on one leg, and while holding the second one in front of you.
This is a rather complex movement, and you may need more than one week or even a month to fulfill it in the full range and with good technology. However, you should try anyway.
Why do squats on one leg
Pistolics have several advantages.
Pump muscles without equipment
If you decide to pump your legs without a bar and dumbbells, be sure to include “pistols” in your program.
For muscle growth, there are insufficiently ordinary squats on two legs. You will have to perform very long approaches to tire the hips with such an easy exercise.
In Pistolics, only one leg lifts the body weight, which significantly increases the load on the buttocks, hips and lower legs. In addition, the muscles of the case and the supporting leg are in constant tension to maintain balance.
The exercise pumps several muscle groups at once: hip flexors, quadriceps, leading, large and medium gluteal muscles. The latter are loaded especially well-better than in ordinary or Bulgarian split-sedimentation.
Help remove asymmetry
In bilateral exercises – those that are performed on both sides at once – one limb often works more than the second. In the future, this can ruin your indicators in training and even lead to injury.
For example, if in heavy squats one leg receives more load, the risk of damaging the muscles or joint structure is much higher than if the weight was evenly distributed along both limbs.
Unilateral, or unilateral exercises, such as “pistols” or a Bulgarian split-delleum with a foot on the elevation, help get rid of asymmetry, which reduces the risk of overload and injury.
Develop mobility
At the bottom of the “pistol” angle of the fold in the ankle and hip joints is much larger than during ordinary squats. Therefore, you will definitely have to develop mobility, although this can be done in different ways:
- Additionally stretch. In this case, “pistolics” will not become a means of achieving the goal, but motivation.
- Doing upcoming exercises. You can perform squats on one leg in a limited range or with support, which will also perfectly stretch the necessary muscles and increase the mobility of the joints.
If you learn to perform “pistols”, you will not have problems with the technique of squats, standing traction and other movements to the lower body.
Improve the sense of balance and control over the body
Squats on one leg teach your body to maintain balance in motion – strain the necessary muscle groups in order to stabilize on a limited support.
This skill can come in handy both in sports and in ordinary life. For example, it will help you quickly restore your balance and avoid falling on slippery floor or ice.
How to prepare the body for squats on one leg
If you have not played sports for a long time and spend most of your day sitting, first it is better to prepare the body for the development of the exercise. Perform the following movements every day for 1-2 weeks, and then proceed to leading exercises.
If you are well prepared, you can skip this stage and immediately start mastering squats on one leg.
Deep squats
Photo: Alexander Starostin
This exercise will help you get used to the correct position, stretch and strengthen the necessary muscles.
Make sure that the lower back remains in a neutral position even at the lower point of the exercise. Dilute the knees to the sides and press the heels to the floor – they should never be torn off.
Perform in the full range – sit down as deeply as you can, and each time try to do it even lower.
Make 5 approaches 20 squats.
Striding for elevation
This movement will develop the strength of the legs necessary for the performance of “pistols”, pumps a sense of balance and stretch the muscles.
Find a stable support – a chair or a cabinet 30-50 cm high. Put your foot on the edge and rise, holding your back straight. You can stretch your hands in front of you or put on your belt – as you are more convenient.
Do not wrap the knee of the supporting leg inside during the rise and make sure that the back does not stoop. Move the movement slowly and under control, as shown in the video. Do not push off the floor with a supporting foot: inertia selects the load from your muscles.
Perform 3 approaches of 10 lifts for each leg.
Lowing the legs lying
This exercise will help strengthen the hip flexors – muscles that will hold the raised leg during the “pistol”.
Lie on your back, press the lower back to the floor. Bend one knee and put the foot on the floor. Straighten the second leg and lift it 15–20 cm from the floor.
Hold your foot raised for 30 seconds, and shake it up and down the next 30 seconds in a small amplitude. Repeat the same from the other leg.
Perform three approaches of this exercise on each side.
Stretching of the muscles of the legs
This bunch of exercises will help develop the mobility of the ankle, increase the flexion range in statics and in motion.
Get a meter from the wall face to her. Take a wide step forward with your right foot, bend your knee and place your arms on the wall. The left leg remains straight – we stretch it.
Press the heels on the floor, do not bend your left knee. Spend in position 30-60 seconds.
Then, without changing the position, bend the knee of the left leg and keep this pose for the next 30-60 seconds.
Change your legs and repeat the bunch from the beginning again.
Hip stretch
Photo: Julia Obolenskaya
The stiffness of the muscles on the back of the thigh may prevent you from holding your foot parallel to the ground during “pistols”. This exercise will help stretch them.
Sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward and straighten your knees. Tilt the case, trying to lower the stomach onto the hips. Get your hands to the feet or put your palms on both sides of the legs – as you are more convenient.
Spend in this position from 30 to 120 seconds, trying to deepen the stretch.
What leading exercises will help to master the squats on one leg
These exercises will help you remember the correct movement technique and avoid errors, muscle overload and pain.
Start with the easiest version and execute it in three approaches 10-12 times on the leg. If everything works out, in another training session, try the next complexity option.
Incomplete “pistol”
This movement repeats the exercise “Pistol”, but is performed in a limited range.
Stand with your back to the chair, put your legs together, raise one of them and stretch your arms forward to make it easier to maintain balance.
Slowly and under control, sink to a chair. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Hold your back straight. Make sure that the knee of the supporting leg does not wrap inside, and the heel does not break away from the floor.
Exercise “Pistolet” with support
This is the real squat on one leg in the full range, but with the support that removes part of the load.
Find some rack or railing of the stairs and perform a squat on one leg nearby, adhering to the support. Do it smoothly and under control – do not fall down.
Make sure that the heel of the supporting leg remains on the floor, and free, on the contrary, does not touch the ground.
Exercise “Pistol” from the elevation
If you lack the strength of the hip flexors, the free leg will prevent you from performing a “gun” in the full range: you will reproach a heel to the floor and lose your balance.
In this leading exercise, you will not have to keep your free leg parallel to the floor, so you can go down in full squat.
Find a low support, stand on the edge on one leg, stretch your arms forward. Perform a squat on one leg in the full range, observing all the technical points. Try to raise your free leg higher and hold it straight. Over time, you will strengthen your muscles and can make a “gun” on the floor.
Exercise “Pistol” with a weight in the hands
In this supply exercise, due to the displacement of the center of gravity, it is easier to maintain balance and maintain the correct position at the lower point.
Take a small heavy object like a dumbbell or a small pancake from the bar and squat, holding it in front of you in outstretched arms.
How to do squats on one leg correctly
Stand straight, put your legs together. Raise your straight leg low from the floor, stretch your arms forward.
Press the foot of the supporting leg to the floor – this will help activate the muscles of the legs and provide you with a stable position. Make an “arch”: tighten the muscles of the foot so that the rise is slightly raised. Just do not overdo it, otherwise fall on the outside.
Bend your knee and get into a complete squat, holding your free leg by w8.
Rise from squat, slightly turning the knee of the supporting leg outside. Straighten up in the hip joint and repeat the exercise.
To lighten the task a little, try to put the heel on a small stable elevation. This compensates for the lack of mobility in the ankle and will help you perform movement without very twisting your back and without tearing the heel from the floor.
What mistakes should be avoided by squatting on one leg
If you cannot fix these errors, return to the leading exercises and perform them until the body is ready for “pistols” with the right technique.
Unstable lower leg
Make sure that the lower leg does not go stuck – hold it in one place.
Knee
Try to slightly take the knee of the supporting leg outward or at least keep it on the same line with a foot.
If the knee crosses the middle line of the foot, it is in a disadvantage, so with a sharp rise you can get an injury.
Raised heel
The heel should be pressed to the floor in all phases of the exercise. If it rises, most likely you lack the mobility of the ankle.
Work on this restriction, performing the stretching of the lower leg muscles, and do the “pistols” by putting a small stable object like a book under the heel.
How to include squats on one leg in your training
For the development of leg strength
If you are engaged in kastenika and with the help of “pistols” you want to pump your legs, perform them 1-2 times a week in three approaches 10-15 times for each side.
Those who pump the whole body at the same training session should alternate “pistols” with other hips: striding and jumping on boxing, with one foot on a lift.
If you work with splittes, divide the body into zones and train them on some days – perform “pistols” in each training dedicated to study, along with the above exercises.
For balance and mobility
If you are working with a barbell on force, and with the help of squats on one leg you want to develop a sense of balance, perform the exercise three times a week.
Do not include “pistols” in a warm -up before strength training. Rounded back at the lower point of the exercise reduces the ability to hold a cried out lower back. This may prevent you from performing subsequent squats with a barbell or a damp traction with good equipment.
Therefore, it is better to make “pistols” at the end of the training or even separately from it. Perform either 3-5 approaches 10 times with each leg, or 1-2 approaches of this movement and 2-3 more exercises for the development of balance so that the entire training takes at least 10 minutes.