Zirbo
Level 4 Valued Member
Dear all,
I've read in quite a few places that although pistols and barbell squats train the same muscles and make the legs strong in a similar way, there is limited carryover among the two. This is the most extreme among the resources that I've stepped into:
Unilateral Movements Make You Weak | T Nation
I am quite curious about the opinion of Strongfirst on this, although that's not my main question.
In May I restarted playing basketball in a team after 10 years of only pickup (I just turned 29, btw). I've been doing unweighted pistols since years (for bouldering) und occasionally also double KB front squats, so my legs were not weak, but I could barely reach the backboard. Since July I started doing gradually heavier weighted pistols, 3 sets of 3-6 reps, 2-3 times a week. I am now using 10 kilos for sets of 3-4, and I can again grab the rim, which is a nice start, but I would like to improve much more.
Now, my question: do you think this increase is also due to the weighted pistols, or it is just the more frequent jumping practice which woke up my jumping technique? More directly: does it make sense to keep doing weighted pistols, or is it just a waste of time?
I am aware that heavy barbell exercises work amazingly (that's what the pros are doing, after all ;D and also what I did as a springy teenager) but I don't have the time to play/practice 3 days a week AND go to a gym, while my time-friendly home-training sessions [pistols+pullups+pushups (or C&Ps)+KB snatches] are over in 40' and I can even cook meanwhile
Buying equipment other than the 2 KBs I already have is also out of the question, my flat is too small...
I've read in quite a few places that although pistols and barbell squats train the same muscles and make the legs strong in a similar way, there is limited carryover among the two. This is the most extreme among the resources that I've stepped into:
Unilateral Movements Make You Weak | T Nation
I am quite curious about the opinion of Strongfirst on this, although that's not my main question.
In May I restarted playing basketball in a team after 10 years of only pickup (I just turned 29, btw). I've been doing unweighted pistols since years (for bouldering) und occasionally also double KB front squats, so my legs were not weak, but I could barely reach the backboard. Since July I started doing gradually heavier weighted pistols, 3 sets of 3-6 reps, 2-3 times a week. I am now using 10 kilos for sets of 3-4, and I can again grab the rim, which is a nice start, but I would like to improve much more.
Now, my question: do you think this increase is also due to the weighted pistols, or it is just the more frequent jumping practice which woke up my jumping technique? More directly: does it make sense to keep doing weighted pistols, or is it just a waste of time?
I am aware that heavy barbell exercises work amazingly (that's what the pros are doing, after all ;D and also what I did as a springy teenager) but I don't have the time to play/practice 3 days a week AND go to a gym, while my time-friendly home-training sessions [pistols+pullups+pushups (or C&Ps)+KB snatches] are over in 40' and I can even cook meanwhile
Buying equipment other than the 2 KBs I already have is also out of the question, my flat is too small...