How to Do a Leg Squat Lower Body Exercise

Video Transcript

"Hi , I'm Dr. Garrett Smith with Expert Village. In our progression through our one leg functional lower body training exercises, this exercise is the hardest. I learned this exercise, it was called the pistol. Other people know it as the one legged squat. Either way, it's an exercise that demands a lot of balance and a significant amount of strength. After you've gone through those other progressions leading up to this and you've made sure that you're able to do it, you can try this. In this exercise basics one leg is going to be off the ground, that's why it's a one leg exercise. You're going to reach forward as hard as you can while you're going down and this is what it's going to look like. It's easier for me to show you than it is to explain. I'm going to go down, see balance is very required on this, you want to grab your foot you can. But, that's the bottom position, and then you come up. Again, I'll just show you another one. Up, and one more. Important points during that. First of all, if you have really poor hamstring flexibility, you may not be able to go down like that and keep your leg up at the height it needs to be. Another thing is, when you go down, always important on any lower body exercise, is the knee you're going down with has to stay in line with the foot. You don't want your knee going out. What's more likely on pistols, is your knee will buckle in when you start getting tired. I'd highly suggest you stop before that starts happening too much. All that does is put a lot of strain on the inside of your knee. Again, pistols, full depth, one legged squat. It's not a full pistol if your hamstring doesn't touch your calf. Again, reaching forward for balance. If you don't reach forward, you will not make it down, you have to counter balance your body. See, when we're in this bottom position we've got a lot of weight on this back side so we got to reach forward so we can counter balance, and then we come up. That is one rep. You can do those, when you're starting out, you may want to alternate legs. You know, do one left, one right, and keep switching so you get some rest in between. Go ahead and give those a try. That's all the leg exercises we have for today. Thanks a lot for joining me. I'm Dr. Garrett Smith of doctorasteacher.com. If you want to learn more about these exercises and find someone who's trained in them, you'll want to look to to crossfit.com and find a local affiliate in your area. Thanks again for joining us. "