Pistol Squat - Unlocking Series
| Parts | Exercises | Sets | Reps/Duration | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-Up | Light Mobility - Joint # | 1 - 2 | 5 - 30 | none - 2 min |
| Warm-Up Set/s | 1 - 2 | 1 - 8 | 2 - 5 min | |
| Main Exercise | Pistol Squat Progression | 2 - 3 | 3 - 8 | 3 - 6 mins |
| Accessories | Limiting Factors | 1 - 2 | 5 - 20 | 1 - 3 mins |
| Parts | Exercises | Sets | Reps/Duration | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-Up | Light Mobility Drill | 1 | 10 - 20 | none - 2 min |
| Warm-Up Set | 1 | 1 - 8 | 2 - 5 mins | |
| Primary | Bodyweight Squat | 2 | 3 - 8 | 3 - 6 mins |
| Parts | Exercises | Sets | Reps/Duration | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-Up | Light Mobility Drill | 1 | 10 - 20 | none - 2 min |
| Warm-Up Set | 1 | 1 - 8 | 2 - 5 mins | |
| Main Exercise | Assisted Pistol Squats | 2 | 3 - 8 | 3 - 6 mins |
| Accessories | Glute Bridges | 1 | 4 - 8 | 2 - 3 mins |
| Seated Pike Compressions | 1 | 4 - 8 | 2 - 3 mins |
Routine Information:
Description:
The Pistol Squat is a great unilateral bodyweight leg exercise that requires a good degree of strength and balance. It involves squatting down on one leg while extending the other leg out in front of you, keeping it parallel to the ground. The primary muscle groups in this exercise are the quadriceps and gluteal muscles.
Workouts 1 and 2:
Workout 1 - designed to initiate pistol squat training from the ground up.
Workout 2 - a more challenging routine for individuals nearing the achievement of a full pistol squat.
Warm-Up:
To properly warm up for the Pistol Squat, you simply need to warm up the muscles around the hips, knees, and ankle joints by moving them around with intent or doing some named mobility movements. Then, do some warm-up sets for the main exercise. For example:
Light Mobility Drill: Hip Circles -> Standing Hip Openers -> Knee Circles -> Ankle Circles for a round or two with enough reps for you to feel them working.
Warm-Up Set/s: You can either do your main exercises or do some other relatively easy core exercise and do some reps or duration far from failure to use and warm up the same muscle groups.
Just make sure that whatever you do is just enough to work and warm up your muscles, not tire them, so you can perform your best in your working sets.
Pistol Squat Variation Selection:
Choose a lower-body exercise that has a similar movement pattern to that of the Pistol Squat that you can do near failure within the specified rep range. These can be lower-body exercises like Bodyweight Squats and Bodyweight Lunges.
You simply have to choose or modify an exercise for you to be able to do that within the specified rep range to build both strength and muscle mass on the main muscle groups involved.
Accessories:
Determine what your limiting factors are in your Pistol Squat training, and then choose exercises for those limitations. These typically include single-leg balancing, hip flexion strength for the extended leg, and lagging muscle groups like the quadriceps and gluteal muscles.
Proximity to Failure:
This routine is strength-specific for achieving your first Pistol Squat hold, so managing fatigue is highly important to get a reasonably high frequency of training for it. While limiting your proximity to failure in like 1 - 2 RIR is better, it's still good to go until task failure (0 RIR), considering you likely won't know what that feels like just yet, to avoid undertraining.
With this, you should compensate for it by ensuring other training variables are optimized for recovery, like nutrition, sleep, stress management, and overall training volume. But then, after getting the hang of the feeling of going until failure, it's better to stay in 1 - 2 RIR and use going until failure sparingly.
Training Frequency:
For strength training, it's best to limit fatigue as much as possible so you can get a relatively high training frequency. It can be every other day or 2-3 times a week. This makes it possible for you to get in as much practice as possible to maximize neural and physiological (structural) adaptations.
Progression:
There's not much to do aside from building size and strength by simply doing bodyweight squats and increasingly adjusting to single-leg squats like assisted pistol squats while addressing other limitations until you're finally able to do unassisted pistol squats. It is as straightforward as that. You simply need consistency and to make sure that you are properly doing everything in the training session and be able to fully recover every training session.
Short Guide: Customize it depending on your goals and needs
In choosing exercises, it's crucial to align your selection with your specific fitness goals, current fitness level, and individual preferences. Consider principles such as specificity and the ease of applying progressive overload. The more specific your exercises are to your goals, the better. Additionally, pay attention to your body's response to different exercises and adjust your selection to accommodate your strengths and limitations/weaknesses.
For strength training with weights, it's best to use the specific exercise you want to get strong in. For example, if you want to get strong at deadlifts, then do deadlifts. When it comes to training for a particular movement or bodyweight skill, use an immediate regression of that movement that you can do or an easier exercise that has a similar element or pattern. You can also break down a movement into different components and train them separately.
In hypertrophy training, opt for simple exercises with a high capacity to load the desired muscle group. While most compound exercises are effective for building muscle, consider other exercises that offer a higher degree of capacity to load a specific muscle group and more efficient when it comes to energy expenditure whenever possible. For instance, while deadlifts are good for gaining strength and muscle, other exercises may be more suitable for focused mass building in areas like the lats and quads.
In general, it's advisable to prioritize complex movements before moving on to simpler ones, as the former generally demands more energy and a fresh CNS for optimal performance. This typically means starting with compound exercises and then moving on to isolation exercises.
However, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. You should tailor your exercise order based on your goals and preferences. The order in which you perform exercises significantly impacts your results, as optimal performance is crucial for generating sufficient stimulus. In addition to doing complex movements first, you should also consider doing exercises where you want to improve in the most early in your workout sessions. Therefore, you don't have to follow compounds before isolation approach all the time.
For example, in a hypertrophy-focused workout prioritizing triceps, consider doing triceps isolation or bias exercises first, regardless of whether they are compounds or isolations. In a full-body session, while compounds are usually performed first, take into account the movement patterns or muscle groups you want to prioritize. For instance, if pull movements are a weak area you want to improve, start with pulls followed by pushes and leg exercises for example, and then followed by additional exercises as needed.
There are several ranges of repititions you can explore, like the following:
- 1 - 5
- 5 - 8
- 8 - 12
- 12 - 15
- 15+
Note that these repetition ranges are relative to intensity. It won't make sense to focus on a particular rep range that is not challenging enough.
The same idea applies to the hold time for isometric/static exercises. The key goal is to give your muscles sufficient stimulus. You can pretty much choose whatever rep range or duration based on your preferences alone and improve both strength and induce hypertrophy. However, each rep range has its advantages; for instance, higher rep ranges are often more manageable for loading target muscles in some exercises compared to lower rep ranges with higher intensity.
In strength training, where intensity is paramount for continuous strength adaptations, a lower rep range of 1 - 5 suffices while offering relatively less fatigue. For hypertrophy-focused training, the specific rep range matters less as each set is taken to or near failure, and weekly volume is equated. Therefore, choose a rep range or hold time that aligns with your preferences, allowing sufficient loading of muscles without overcomplicating your routine while avoiding the risk of undertraining and overtraining.
There are various methods you can employ based on your needs and preferences. However, in our workout routines, we primarily use straight sets. This method involves performing a specific number of sets for an exercise, taking rest between each set before moving on to the next exercise. Straight sets allow for sufficient rest between sets, promoting optimal performance and providing an effective stimulus.
While straight sets are the primary focus, feel free to explore different methods based on your preferences. For example, you might incorporate drop sets, where you start with a heavier load and immediately reduce the weight for subsequent sets without rest, or other similar short-rested methods. These variations can be useful when time is limited or for those looking to add intensity to their workouts. Additionally, you can combine multiple methods, such as incorporating a drop set (w/ partials) right after straight sets.
For optimal results, it's crucial to strike a balance between high frequency, reasonable intensity, and sufficient recovery time between sessions. In general, this balance often falls within the range of 2 to 3 workout sessions per week.
When considering workout frequency, your schedule and time availability become key factors. Adjust your workouts accordingly. For instance, if you can only dedicate time for 2 sessions a week, you might opt for more challenging and comprehensive workouts during those sessions. On the other hand, if you have the availability to train 3 to 5 times or more per week, then you can distribute your training volume more evenly, reducing fatigue build up and promoting a better overall recovery rate.
Typically, when an exercise begins to feel too easy or lacks the desired challenge, it serves as a clear indicator that it's time to apply progressive overload. This principle can take various forms, such as increasing resistance or weight, attempting a more challenging exercise variation, adding repetitions, duration, and improving execution techniques.
However, it's essential to approach the addition of weight or the transition to more challenging exercise variations with a solid foundation. Rushing into these changes can lead to frustration and potential setbacks. Ensure a gradual implementation to avoid overwhelming yourself and to sustain steady progress.
For example, when you find that you can comfortably perform more repetitions within your preferred rep range without compromising form, it's a signal to intensify your workout. This approach allows for continual advancement, keeping your fitness journey both challenging and rewarding.
A warm-up is a crucial preparatory phase that precedes a workout or physical activity. It involves engaging in light aerobic exercise and dynamic movements to gradually increase the heart rate, warm up the muscles, and enhance joint flexibility. The primary purpose of a warm-up is to prepare the body for more intense physical exertion, reducing the risk of injury and optimizing performance.
This is as straightforward as it can be, just a phase to warm up your body. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. It is often in the form of light cardio, light to moderate mobility drills for the joints involved, and warm-up sets for your main exercises. In some cases, you can omit the light cardio and even the mobility drills and just go directly with the warm-up sets for your main exercises.
For the warm-up sets, this means doing an easier variation of your main exercise or with lighter loading and staying far from failure. Since this is just a warm-up, you don't want to tire yourself. You just have to perform some reps that is far from tiring yourself and just enough to get the feel of the movement to prepare your mind and muscles for it.
There's no need to warm up a muscle group that won't be used in your main workout. For instance, if what you're gonna train is your upper body, then there's no point in warming up the lower body. Just be specific in what you need to avoid wasting energy than necessary.