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Bodyweight Weighted pistol squats or leg size?

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Opiaswing

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Are weighted pistol squats a good mass builder for the legs; specifically the glutes?

I have been hammering down on heavy kettlebell front squats but get a bit obsessive regarding symmetry so wanted to incorporate some unilateral leg work to rectify any imbalances.

Is this a good exercise? Is it safe for the knees?
 
Hello,

@Opiaswing
Yes they will work, but regular squat with an heavier load would work even better. Indeed, the only fact of working on a single leg oblige to dedicate energy to balance and stabilization. This amount of energy can not be used for a load then. When you use regular squat, you do not have to worry that much about balance so you can use far heavier loads.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Deep squatting is very beneficial for the knees. It is shallow Squats that cause the sheering force on the knees.

You may be familiar with the sight of many "bros" in the gym poor executing squats with incredibly limited range of motion. These are the biggest culprits for getting injured by the squat. They spend an excessive period of time in the range of motion where the sheering force is at its highest.

A deep pistol squat will see you sitting even deeper than you will be when performing a regular front squat (mobility and technical proficiency dependent). Moving through this long range of motion will have a powerful effect on hypertrophy for your quads and glutes.

But if your main focus right now is to increase glute size then there may be better options. Like deadlift variations, heavy swings and heavy hip thrust variations.

It would be hard to give more detailed advise without knowing a little more about how your daily and weekly training is structured.
 
Hello,

Deep squatting is very beneficial for the knees. It is shallow Squats that cause the sheering force on the knees.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
google weighted airborne lunge. I am pretty sure they are listed as a progression in the Naked Warrior book. The pistol squat has a much higher learning curve and presents mobility issues to some people. Walking lunges as well. You could do twice as many reps on one side as the other.
 
Hello,



Kind regards,

Pet'

The end message from that article is 1, match up your squatting to your sporting needs and 2, even squatting ATG will lead to injury if you use poor form.
 
I would have thought the amount of shearing force/stress on the knee joint is dependent entirely on form/mobility rather than squat depth. Do you have a study you can link to? @kennycro@@aol.com Thoughts?

Mobility can definitely play a massive role especially in dictating what the bottom position can be.

But do you honestly know too many people in the gym who can't achieve a squat below parallel (regardless of how far beyond parallel)?

The answer is you don't know any. But you probably know a lot that do shallow squats and leg presses. Many of them will end up with a serious knee issues because of it.

I cannot link studies. I do not rate them too highly. I have seen too many small and weak people trying to get big and strong tell me how I should train based on a study done by "experienced trainees".

I beleive strongly in anecdote and observation.

Although I am aware that there are good studies out there as well. But me personally I am not too skilled at reading them.
 
But do you honestly know too many people in the gym who can't achieve a squat below parallel (regardless of how far beyond parallel)?

The answer is you don't know any. But you probably know a lot that do shallow squats and leg presses. Many of them will end up with a serious knee issues because of it.

As it happens I lift in a gym devoted to Olympic lifting so most people there are squatting ATG, but I take your point.
 
I would have thought the amount of shearing force/stress on the knee joint is dependent entirely on form/mobility rather than squat depth. Do you have a study you can link to? @kennycro@@aol.com Thoughts?
Mark Rippetoe makes an argument in Starting Strength that goes like this:
"During the top part of the squat, the quads are the dominant muscle group, pulling on the knee joint in a given direction. It isn't until you hit below parallel that the hamstring begins to be stretched out somewhat (which is part of what causes back rounding deep in the squat). The tension on the hamstring due to stretching pulls on the knee joint in the other direction. This produces more even forces about the knee joint."

Perhaps there's something to that. My personal guess is that by not doing a full squat, you can load more weight on the bar. Much more weight. I wouldn't be surprised this confounding variable leads to squat injuries also.
 
As it happens I lift in a gym devoted to Olympic lifting so most people there are squatting ATG, but I take your point.

A rarity. Most gyms I've been to have people half and quarter repping their squats. As well as being leg press warriors.

I would love to train in a weightlifting gym but it is not popular at all in the UK. I am only aware of 1 actual weightlifting gym in even remotely close to where I live.
 
A rarity. Most gyms I've been to have people half and quarter repping their squats. As well as being leg press warriors.

I would love to train in a weightlifting gym but it is not popular at all in the UK. I am only aware of 1 actual weightlifting gym in even remotely close to where I live.

I was commuting to my gym. It was worth the two hour journey there and back.
 
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