305pelusa
Level 6 Valued Member
Been experimenting with a fairly simple-but-not-easy one-legged squat routine. It goes as:
5 sets of 6-8 Pistol Squats. The tempo is 31X1 (3 secs to lower, 1 sec hold at bottom, concentric as fast as possible, etc). You do all the reps on one leg, and immediately do them all on the other leg. Once both legs are done, rest 90 seconds and go for another set. You should hold onto the free leg with your hand.
I enjoy quite a few things about it:
1) The slightly higher reps places it at the ideal muscle building level. Pistols don't build a ton of mass, but done with higher reps, they definitely build up the muscle.
2) The short rest period is mainly to support that anabolic response. However, because the Pistol involves so many muscles, and you're effectively doing two sets at a time, expect this to tax your conditioning heavily. Try to normalize your breathing as fast as possible while you rest.
3) Holding onto the free leg is a little "hack" I started working with. It takes a lot of effort to hold that free leg by itself. Doing this lets you take a set a bit further and really fatigue the working leg. Not to mention, the free leg will be "fresher" for its set instead of pre-fatigued.
4) It takes very little time. Unlike ladders and GTG, you can do this Pistol workout in 15 minutes, once a week, and get great results (more reps each time, excellent pump, etc).
It's fairly difficult and painful. But the feeling and pump afterwards is satisfying.
Thought I should share for the masochists in the forum who want to use the Pistol for some hypertrophy and conditioning work.
5 sets of 6-8 Pistol Squats. The tempo is 31X1 (3 secs to lower, 1 sec hold at bottom, concentric as fast as possible, etc). You do all the reps on one leg, and immediately do them all on the other leg. Once both legs are done, rest 90 seconds and go for another set. You should hold onto the free leg with your hand.
I enjoy quite a few things about it:
1) The slightly higher reps places it at the ideal muscle building level. Pistols don't build a ton of mass, but done with higher reps, they definitely build up the muscle.
2) The short rest period is mainly to support that anabolic response. However, because the Pistol involves so many muscles, and you're effectively doing two sets at a time, expect this to tax your conditioning heavily. Try to normalize your breathing as fast as possible while you rest.
3) Holding onto the free leg is a little "hack" I started working with. It takes a lot of effort to hold that free leg by itself. Doing this lets you take a set a bit further and really fatigue the working leg. Not to mention, the free leg will be "fresher" for its set instead of pre-fatigued.
4) It takes very little time. Unlike ladders and GTG, you can do this Pistol workout in 15 minutes, once a week, and get great results (more reps each time, excellent pump, etc).
It's fairly difficult and painful. But the feeling and pump afterwards is satisfying.
Thought I should share for the masochists in the forum who want to use the Pistol for some hypertrophy and conditioning work.