Pistol squat progression reddit

This will allow you to get in an ample amount of practice so you don’t become injured or discouraged by trying a movement that’s beyond your current abilities.

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Instead, keep your balance in your mid-foot by allowing your torso to lean forward as you squat down.

• Heels rising up. An inability to demonstrate adequate ankle mobility will leave you unable to progress to the next exercise — grinding your pistol squat progressions to a halt. If you want your own to use at home, here’s the most popular one on Amazon (click here to view today’s price) — there’s 4 different configurations to choose from. 

  Once you can do a controlled single-leg step down on both legs without having to push off the floor with your non-working leg, you should carry on to the next exercise!

  5.

  Ideally, you should be about arms length away from the pole which will lessen your ability to use your arms and shift the focus primarily onto your legs. 

Once you can complete the pole-assisted pistol squat with both legs while using your arms minimally, carry on to the next progression!

9. Finding something that’s about 10 inches high is a good starting point.

This will give your muscles and your connective tissues time to adapt to each load for an exercise you can perform with good technique, before moving on to a more challenging exercise.  

Over Movement Progression Articles

Final Thoughts

Mastering each of the exercise progressions in this article will take someone new to overhead squatting, all the way to being able to perform advanced overhead squat variations correctly. 

The increasing demand of each exercise will train and improve a lifters mobility, stability and strength.

Alternatively, a backpack filled with textbooks (or anything heavy) and held with both hands can also work!

When you can perform the strict box pistol squat with both legs, feel free to advance to the next movement!

7. As you work on mastering the exercise, there are several mistakes you should avoid to prevent injuries and ensure you’re getting the most out of the movement.

Many of the mistakes below are common regardless of which variation you choose.

Allows You To Find the Foot Positioning That Works Best for You

When you’re new to the Bulgarian split squat, it can take a while to find the ideal foot placement for your working leg. Usually, they find themselves unable to stand up without serious momentum added to their ascent. A proper Bulgarian split squat regression will allow you to get used to the feeling of balancing on one leg.

2.

Too much momentum means your legs do less work than they should. You can also hold onto TRX straps or a set of gymnastics rings.

How To Do It

• Step forward by about two feet — if necessary, shorten or increase the distance based on your limb proportions

• Make sure the ball of the foot on your rear leg stays connected to the ground

• With the hand on the opposite side of your working leg, hold onto something sturdy like the back of a chair, the post of a squat rack, or gymnastics rings that are fastened to something secure

• Squat down slowly until your back knee either touches the ground or hovers about an inch above it

• If you touch your knee to the ground, avoid slamming it down with too much force

• Without coming up onto your toes or relying too much on your back foot, push through your front foot to stand back up

2.

As you become more experienced, you can incorporate more advanced progressions to introduce more of a challenge.

Whenever you progress to a more difficult variation, I recommend taking several weeks to perfect that version before moving on to the next progression. Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat

I recommend the barbell Bulgarian split squat for experienced lifters because it can be more difficult to get into the correct positions with a barbell on your back.

Furthermore, if you don’t have the balance and coordination necessary to do the movement correctly and you fail a rep, you can seriously hurt yourself if you have to drop the barbell.

How To Do It

• Position a box or bench several feet in front of a squat rack

• Load a barbell with your desired weight — I recommend starting with no more than 50-60% of your squat 1RM.

  Elevated Pistol Squat

In the elevated pistol squat, the lifter stands on a box as they perform the exercise — allowing them to complete the movement without needing as much hip mobility and strength in their non-working leg.

This exercise also eliminates the support from gymnastics rings or a pole, and forces the lifter to maintain sole control of their balance. 

How to do it

• Start by standing tall on a box next to you that’s roughly knee-high
• Lift your outside foot and allow it to hang off the side of the box (this is your starting position for each rep)
• When ready, begin bending at the knee and hip of your working leg
• Lower slowly while keeping tension in your quad and leaning forward to keep your balance
• Avoid touching your non-working leg to the floor by lifting it as you lower yourself
• Push your foot into the box to stand up
• Repeat for the same reps on the other side

Common Mistakes

• Non-working leg touching the floor. It’s common for lifters to keep their non-working leg hanging directly under them as they first perform this exercise, allowing the foot of their non-working leg to assist out of the bottom.

  Before overhead squatting with a weighted object over our heads, we need to make sure our body weight squat is rock solid. 

  When we hold a weight over our head, any fault in our body weight squat will be further accentuated. 

  So a great place to start is by perfecting your body weight air squat;

  • Place your feet at hip width or slightly wider.
  • Toes can be slightly turned out.
  • Raise your arms out in front to help maintain your balance.
  • Initiate the squat by sending your hips back and allowing your knees to travel forwards.
  • Keep your knees tracking over your toes throughout the movement.
  • Maintain your heels firmly on the floor.

  If you are unable to achieve these points of performance, check out How To Warm Up For Squats and our guides on mobility for squats; Ankle Mobility, Hip Mobility & Front Squat Mobility. 

  2.

  Strict Box Pistol Squat

  The strict box pistol squat is similar to the rocking version mentioned previously, but with some notable differences. 

  First, it has the non-dominant foot elevated from start to finish. Your knees will thank you later.

  If you can do a full-range split squat on both legs without losing your balance, you’re ready for the next progression!

  3.

  Snatch Grip Bottom Press

  The snatch grip bottom press is a great exercise for training pressing the barbell overhead from a static bottom of the squat position. Having the rings overhead will also not allow you to use your arms to help pull yourself up out of the bottom of your pistol squat — making the exercise too difficult for your legs.

If you can do the ring-assisted pistol squat with both legs, then move onto the next progression!

8.

Barbell Overhead Squat

The 7 exercises described in this article up to now will provide you with a very solid foundation of mobility and strength to be able to successfully overhead squat with the barbell. 

I would however highly recommend warming-up with a PVC pipe, then progressing to an empty barbell, before adding additional load.

Your knees will thank you later.

If you can do the rocking box pistol squat on both sides with your non-working foot off the floor throughout the exercise, you’re ready for the next progression!

6. Wushu Pistol Squat

The wushu pistol squat requires the lifter to grab and hold the foot of their non-working leg to lessen the strength demand of keeping that leg off the floor in the bottom of their pistol squat.

Further, the height at which the leg is held provides a slight counterbalance to make it easier for the lifter to stay balanced.

How to do it

• Start by standing tall
• Lift your non-dominant leg up in front of you with a straight knee
• Grab your foot and hold it throughout the exercise
• When ready, begin bending at the knee and hip of your working leg
• Lower slowly while keeping a firm grasp on your non-working foot
• Once you reach your bottom position, push the floor away to stand up
• Repeat for the same reps on the other side

Common Mistakes

• Not able to grab your foot.