Simple Progressions to Improve Your Pistol Squats for CrossFit

Pistol squats are often a lot trickier than they seem for a lot of people. Even many top pros have had to spend long hours developing the necessary mobility to be able to comfortably and effectively perform this exercise. So don’t feel bad if you are still struggling! 

Tips from CrossFit3. All demo videos at the bottom of the article.

PISTOL SQUATS OPTION A: Behind – two styles (foot down or foot wrap)

✔️Both styles require less ankle flexion bc leg is behind your body instead of in front

Start w foot down & successfully balance for 10 pistols on each leg.

Then try the foot wrap. Goal is slow & balanced. Try for 10 on each leg

OPTION B (swipe left): In front – two styles

✔️Chair pistol

This requires a ton of balance but you can see you may not go as deep as a full pistol, so it requires less ankle flexion…it’s a great scaling option to work towards pistols.

✔️Sliding pistol

This requires more flexibility but a little less balance than a traditional pistol. You can see the squat can go much deeper than the chair pistol option. We love this because it stretches the hamstring of the sliding leg too.

Try a total of 15 to 20 on each leg & see how many you do without losing balance (out of those 15 to 20)

OPTION C (swipe left): Candlestick Pistol

➖ Points of performance

✔️Hollow body in candlestick (no pike at the waits – take every chance you can to master body position)
✔️Heel drives to butt as you roll forward
✔️Chest tall and slight lean forward at bottom of pistol
✔️weight is mid foot

The benefit of using a controlled momentum: Helps drive the weight slightly forward for balance & “forces” ankle flexion necessary for this skill

Work on 10 successful pistol on each leg

🤳 @cfgymnastics | PISTOLS & their progressions ————————————- ▪️There are many benefits to one-legged squats, as they require a great amount of balance and flexibility, but they also fire up some smaller muscle groups in your legs. – ▪️At the #cfgcourse we discuss and demo many scaling variations to the pistol but wanted to give you a preview … ————————————- ▪️OPTION A: Behind ➖two styles (foot down or foot wrap) ✔️Both styles require less ankle flexion bc leg is behind your body instead of in front 🔺Start w foot down & successfully balance for 10 pistols on each leg. 🔺Then try the foot wrap. Goal is slow & balanced. Try for 10 on each leg ————————————- ▪️OPTION B (swipe left): In front ➖two styles ✔️Chair pistol 🔺This requires a ton of balance but you can see you may not go as deep as a full pistol, so it requires less ankle flexion…it’s a great scaling option to work towards pistols. – ✔️Sliding pistol 🔺This requires more flexibility but a little less balance than a traditional pistol. You can see the squat can go much deeper than the chair pistol option. We love this because it stretches the hamstring of the sliding leg too #allthestretching – 🔺Try a total of 15 to 20 on each leg & see how many you do without losing balance (out of those 15 to 20) ————————————- ▪️OPTION C (swipe left): Candlestick Pistol ➖ Points of performance ✔️Hollow body in candlestick (no pike at the waits – take every chance you can to master body position) ✔️Heel drives to butt as you roll forward ✔️Chest tall and slight lean forward at bottom of pistol ✔️weight is mid foot 🔺The benefit of using a controlled momentum: Helps drive the weight slightly forward for balance & “forces” ankle flexion necessary for this skill 🔺Work on 10 successful pistol on each leg – Demo'd by #cfgcoach @pamelagnon 📹@rising crossfit – Want to know more?… come learn scaling/progressions/programming & more when you join us for a weekend course! Click link in bio or training.crossfit.com/gymnastics

A post shared by CrossFit (@crossfit) on Oct 14, 2017 at 1:28pm PDT

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