Pistol squats are an awesome bodyweight exercise. This advanced exercise requires a lot of controlled mobility through the hips, knees, and ankles, a lot of strength in the lower body, and also balance.
If you can’t do pistol squats quite yet, here is a very useful blog post that will help you learn how to perform this exercise.
To be clear, avoid pistol squats if they bother your knees or any other part of your body. Instead, try out skater squats or step-downs.
Regular Pistol Squats
Here is how you perform regular pistol squats. Make sure you can perform regular pistol squats very proficiently before you attempt any of these advanced variations.
Coaching Tips:
- Stand on one foot, and have a slight bend in your knee. As for the non-working leg, extend your knee, contract your quads, and plantarflex your foot (point it away from you).
- Form a tripod base by placing your weight on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. Pretend you are suctioning your foot to the floor.
- Extend both of your arms, and make fists (this will help you keep your torso and upper body in a more stable position).
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Perform a pistol squat. Once you hit a range where you are able to maintain proper form, press away from the floor and return to the starting position.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
Here are 5 advanced pistol squat variations you might not have tried before.
#1) Dragon Pistol Squats
This advanced pistol squat variation is one of the toughest you’ll try. If you cannot perform this exercise without your foot on the non-squatting side striking the floor, you may modify by elevating your foot on a box, step, or other surface.The lower the surface, the more challenging the exercise will be.
Coaching Tips:
- Stand on one foot, and have a slight bend in your knee. As for the non-working leg, keep it bent and close to the midline of your body. Contract your hamstrings and glutes on this side.
- Form a tripod base by placing your weight on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. These parts of your foot should remain in contact with the floor for the duration of the exercise. Pretend you are suctioning or screwing your foot to the floor.
- Extend both of your arms, and make fists (this will help you keep your torso and upper body in a more stable position).
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Perform a pistol squat. When you are performing the squat, unlike during regular pistol squat variations, you want to lean to the side. So if you are squatting using your left leg, you want to lean your body to the right.
- Once you are about halfway to the bottom position, bring the knee on the opposite side to the outside of your working leg, and fully extend this leg so you are now in the bottom pistol squat.
- Once you hit a range where you are able to maintain proper form, press away from the floor, perform the reverse movements, and return to the starting position.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
#2) Pistol Skater Squat Combo
Here is an awesome pistol squat variation you can try. I combined pistol squats with skater squats.
Coaching Tips:
- Stand on one foot, and have a slight bend in your knee. As for the non-working leg, extend your knee, contract your quads, and plantarflex your foot (point it away from you).
- Form a tripod base by placing your weight on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. Pretend you are suctioning your foot to the floor.
- Extend both of your arms, and make fists (this will help you keep your torso and upper body in a more stable position).
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Perform a pistol squat. Once you hit a range where you are able to maintain proper form, press away from the floor and return to the starting position.
- Then perform a skater squat. When you are doing so, keep the non-working leg bent and contract your hamstrings and glutes on this side.
- Return to the top position, and then do a pistol squat.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
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#3) 180 Pistol Squat From Knees (and regression)
This pistol squat is somewhat of a circus trick, but it requires a lot of power, controlled mobility, stability, and coordination. Perform the first exercise before you attempt the 180, which is significantly more advanced.
Coaching Tips (for the 180 pistol squat):
- Get into a tall kneeling position. Your head, torso and hips should be in a stacked position, and the tops of your feet should be flat on the floor.
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Now explode off the floor, do a 180, grab onto your foot, and land in a pistol squat position. Use your arms to help propel your body.
- When you land, make sure you have a tripod base. Your weight should be on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. Pretend you are suctioning your foot to the floor.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
#4) Pistol Squat + Hip Mobility AND Trick
This exercise improves lower body strength, hip controlled mobility, balance, and coordination.
Coaching Tips:
- Set up several rolls of toilet paper (or another object) on the outside of your non-working leg.
- Hold a roll of toilet paper on your foot. You will need to dorsiflex your foot (point your foot towards you) to keep the roll in place.
- Stand on one foot, and have a slight bend in your knee. As for the non-working leg, extend your knee, contract your quads, and plantarflex your foot (point it away from you).
- Form a tripod base by placing your weight on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. Pretend you are suctioning your foot to the floor.
- Extend both of your arms, and make fists (this will help you keep your torso and upper body in a more stable position).
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Perform a pistol squat. Once you hit a range where you are able to maintain proper form, pause in the bottom position. Then lift your leg laterally over the rolls, and then back to the bottom position.
- Then press away from the floor and return to the starting position.
- Optional: Once you are in the top position, you can flip the roll to your hands.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
#5) Negative 1.5 Rep Pistol Squats
In this pistol squat variation, you will make the exercise more challenging by using a negative 1.5 tempo.
Coaching Tips:
- Stand on one foot, and have a slight bend in your knee. As for the non-working leg, extend your knee, contract your quads, and plantarflex your foot (point it away from you).
- Form a tripod base by placing your weight on the back portion of your foot, and the base of your big and baby toes. These parts of your foot should remain in contact with the floor for the duration of the exercise. Pretend you are suctioning or screwing your foot to the floor.
- Extend both of your arms, and make fists (this will help you keep your torso and upper body in a more stable position).
- Before each rep, take a deep breath in (360 degrees of air around your spine), and brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine).
- Perform a pistol squat and take 3-5 seconds to perform the lowering/eccentric component. Once you hit a range where you are able to maintain proper form, stand halfway up, squat back down to the bottom position using a regular tempo, then press away from the floor and return to the starting position. This is one rep.
- For the duration of the exercise, do not allow your lower back to hyperextend, excessively round, or flex laterally, ribcage to flare, or torso, spine, or hips to rotate.
- Do not allow your knee to fall inside or outside of your foot.
- Maintain control at all times.
- In terms of breathing, do what works and feels best for you.
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