I’m new to the site and havent gotten a chance to read all of the post and articles but I wanted to get some information on single-legged squats. Has there been a post on the proper technique? I’ve been doing them assisted recently (using a rail to go up and down) should I have the same form as say a back-squat?
yeah, you can do what I did and search for single legged squats.
I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but it would be much easier for you to see the pictures than read the description.
Best,
–T.
Stand on one leg, with the other leg off the ground in front of you. Push your butt back, folding at the hips and pulling yourself down into the squat with all your weight on your heel. Make the negative slow - if you go fast, you will find yourself rocking up onto your midfoot or toes. Pause briefly at the bottom to avoid rocking forward out of the squat, and rise by contracting your glutes and hamstrings - push your heel through the floor.
At no point during the exercise should your heel ever come off the ground.
Hip flexor flexibility is often the limiting factor. Performing pistols while holding onto a pole in front of you and pushing your butt back as far as possible can be a good way to develop the requisite flexibility for this movement. Heavier guys have also had some success with holding a weight to counterbalance their bodyweight and slowly working down to bodyweight. If you find the quads of your airborn leg cramping up while you are squatting, stretch your hip flexors between sets.
When performing weighted pistols, strive to make the shoulders and hips rise at the same rate; letting your hips rise prematurely as you come up out of the squat in order to let your back handle more of the load pretty much defeats the purpose of the exercise.
In conclusion, the form of the pistol is more or less identical to that of the back squat, with one difference: Don’t worry about rounding your back at the bottom of the pistol.
Thanks for the insight…i also found a website with a visual of the proper form.