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Bodyweight Pistol squat hypertrophy

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Nickwba

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Quick question regarding pistol squats and hypertrophy (hypertrophy isn't a goal of mine personally in training pistols, this is more out of physiological curiosity)

I was curious as to why pistols are regarded as not particularly capable of building mass for the legs? Pavel states (I think in the naked warrior but I may have read it elsewhere) that pistols build strong legs that 'do not chafe'. Surely given proper programming, load on the working leg (through e.g. holding a kettlebell) and diet, they would build muscle effectively?

So just wondering why this seems to be the case? What biomechanical/physiological reasons could be behind this purported lack of mass building?

Cheers,

Nick
 
As someone who went through a phase (as we all do to some extent I believe) when I was maybe 16/17 of wanting to build mass, I went from GTG pistols as in the Naked Warrior to a more bodybuilding-type routine with them (if I recall correctly, I was doing several sets of 3-5 having been inspired by the Bear from PTTP), and I put some serious mass on my legs. Pistols done like this plus lots of peanut butter on brown toast took me from about 150lbs to 165lbs in about 7/8 months. However, more than an ideal amount of this mass was fat, and I felt less fit in general, so have since abandoned all forms of mass building training/dieting; now down to a lean 143ish lbs. Nevertheless, my legs were like tree trunks compared to the rest of me so there was plenty of muscle there.

I believe what Pavel means by pistols developing legs that 'do not chafe' is that when done GTG style (which I personally believe is the best way to train them), they do exactly that - form rock solid strong legs without building muscle. This type of training makes the CNS better at generating tension, rather than relying on mass, to build strength.

Hope this helps somewhat.
 
You need more volume with a higher load to stimulate hypertrophy. The barbell is the supreme tool of choice as it is easy to achieve both in a short time. As a beginner one might be able to squat 50 or 60 kg in the first training and within two or three months that weight can be a increased to 100 kg and more. The barbell back squat in particular has a very strong hormonal effect and it has been proven again and again over the last six or seven decades that a man can gain quickly mass by working hard on the back squat and eating well.

Now this been said there is obviously a spectrum, but given the problem of loading the pistol with weight it is not nearly as efficient as the barbell back squat for hypertrophy.

And whether you achieve hypertrophy or work on relative strength (w/o mass gain) depends on the reps and overall volume. That is if you do back squats with 2 - 3 reps per set you will increase your relative strength but not your bodyweight.
 
Try working up to pistols while holding a 72K kettle-bell in each arm. That may help build some mass.
 
Volume, is main driving force of muscle growth, also the time under tension in routines that are GTG or things like easy strength are low cos...volume is low. So to hyperthropy the legs with pistols you need :
->volume
->time under tension
-> stress (like chemical - like doing amrap with bdw squats after set of pistols )

Hypertrophy - 60 75 % of max 8-12 reps pers set, how many sets? You need to find your maximum recover. volume so it should be increasing:

week one - 3 x 10 - PER ONE LEG NOT ALT.
week two - 3 x 12
week three - 4 x 12
week four - 3 x 10 - tempo 4010 and add one set of 100 squats bdw
week five - 3 x 10 + add weight , tempo 4010
week six - 4 x 10 + add weight + tempo
etc

or increase only weight and leave volume constant, or increase both ;) many ways to do that.

Pistol does not load the spine - so the hormonal response is less, as there is less muscles involved
 
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