#7 SINGLE-LEG SQUAT
There is a huge achievement gap between squatting on both legs and squatting on one leg. The former requires squatting half of your body weight on each leg with a larger base of support and two points of contact. The latter requires squatting all of your body weight on one leg with a smaller base of support and only one point of contact. It’s a night-and-day difference for the muscles of your lower body (and your nervous system), and that’s why a system of smart exercise progressions to bridge this ginormousstrength and stability gap is a must.
Single-Leg Squats are so beneficial because they train all of your lower-body muscles in three planes of motion. As your body performs the movement up and down, it must fight lateral and rotational forces. Standing on one leg requires all of the muscles on the inside and outside of your hips and thighs to activate to stabilize your knees and your core muscles to kick in to stabilize your spine. If you really think about it, a Single-Leg Squat is basically a Standing Plank on one leg.
Most of what we do throughout the day or during athletic activities like walking and running takes place one leg at a time. That’s why it’s critical to practice both Squats on two legs and Squats on one leg.
All of us have strength and flexibility imbalances between sides. If all you do is Squats on two legs, you’ll proliferate these imbalances, which leads to dysfunctional movement, and increased risk of injury. The better you get at squatting on one leg, the better you’ll get at squatting on two. In general, perform 2 to 3 sets on your weak leg for every set you perform on your strong leg to help quickly correct an imbalance between sides.
The SINGLE-LEG SQUAT Progression
Level 1 Ground Zero: SINGLE-LEG WALL SIT
Level 2 Beginner: STEPUP
Level 3 Intermediate: STAGGERED SQUAT
Level 4 Advanced: LUNGE
Level 5 Superhero: SINGLE-LEG SQUAT
Level 1: Ground Zero
SINGLE-LEG WALL SIT
The Single-Leg Wall Sit is an exercise that anybody can do, especially when modifying the range of motion by raising the hips above knee level as much as needed. It’s a safe, stable, and low-skill way to set up in a Single-Leg Squat position with perfect posture. The upright and vertical trunk position shifts a greater emphasis to your quads, helping you build up all of the muscles surrounding your knee to ensure that your patella tracks properly. This is especially important for people with a history of knee pain. Isometric holds are also easier on your joints than dynamic full-range-of-motion repetitions. Though this move is categorized as an entry-level exercise, it can continue to be used by more advanced trainees for warmups, active recovery or endurance work. Plus, if you sink low enough so that your hips are below knee level, this move will challenge anyone.
Your Goal
You should be able to hold a Single-Leg Wall Sit for multiple sets of 60 seconds on each leg with your hips below knee level before moving to the next level.
How to Do It
Starting Position
• Stand with your back to a wall with your feet about hip-width apart or closer and arms extended. Your heels should be about 2 feet from the wall.
• Establish tripod foot position with your feet together.
• Sit into a Squat position with your hips making a 90-degree angle and your hips, upper back, and head in full contact with the wall.
• It’s easier keeping your hips above the working knee.
• Your head, back, and hips should touch the wall.
Perfect Execution
• Slowly shift your weight to the working leg as you pick up your nonworking leg.
• Sit as tall as possible and hold this position for time while keeping your hips and shoulders square for the full duration.
• If you fatigue before time is up, simply decrease the range of motion as much as needed midset to keep going.
• After 60 seconds, repeat on the other leg.
• Keep your shin vertical.
• Raise your foot off the floor.
• The lower you go, the harder the move.
Regressions
MAKE IT EASIER: Perform an alternating Wall Sit March, switching legs every few seconds.
EVEN EASIER: Decrease the range of motion so that your hips are higher than knee level as shown directly above.
EASIEST: Place the toes of your nonworking leg on the floor for added support and assistance.
Progressions
MAKE IT HARDER: Increase the range of motion so that your hips are lower than knee level.
EVEN HARDER: Employ an overhead arms progression by first crossing your arms and resting your hands on your shoulders (or holding your arms at chest level with your hands in prayer position). From there, place your hands behind your head (prisoner position). Next, fully extend both arms overhead.
HARDEST: Immediately follow a Single-Leg Wall Sit with a Double-Leg Wall Sit to fully fry your thighs beyond your wildest dreams. The other leg can provide just enough assistance to keep you going to further boost muscle growth and endurance.
Level 2: Beginner
STEPUP
Stepups should be a staple of your lower-body training because going up and down stairs and stepping on and off curbs is a motion we perform every day and hope to do for a long lifetime. The Stepup is basically a reverse Single-Leg Squat with a much shorter learning curve—you start in the bottom of a Single-Leg Squat position with a little bit of support and assistance from your trailing leg. It’s also one of the best butt-building exercises in existence and serves as a great diagnostic tool to assess your single-leg strength, stability, and balance. If you can’t properly perform Stepups with a slow and controlled tempo through a pain-free full range of motion, then you have no business lunging, single-leg squatting, or running and jumping, for that matter.
Your Goal
You should be able to do multiple sets of 10 reps on each leg with your hip below knee level before moving to the next level.
How to Do It
Starting Position
• Place one foot on a sturdy box or step with your weight placed on the center of your foot (right in front of your anklebone).
• Establish tripod foot position for a natural foot arch with the knuckles of your big toe and little toe and your heel in contact with the ground.
• Your stepping leg should be elevated on a surface high enough that your knee is higher than your hip.
• Keep your lower leg vertical.
• The higher the step, the harder the exercise.
• Hinge back at your hips.
• Use only the bent leg to raise yourself.
Perfect Execution
• First, push your hips back and then stand straight up, squeezing the glute of your supporting leg at the top of the movement.
• Hold this top position briefly while keeping your hips and shoulders square as your body fights the tilting and turning forces.
• Push your hips back again and slowly lower your trailing foot to the ground, taking at least 3 seconds on the way back down to the starting position.
• Keep your trunk upright.
• Squeeze the glute of the working leg.
• Don’t drop into the starting position; descend slowly.
Regressions
MAKE IT EASIER: Use a lower box or step.
EVEN EASIER: Place your hands on a wall or another stable object for assistance.
EASIEST: Perform a Stepup Hold with the foot of your trailing leg hovering just above the floor (or as close to the floor as you can get it based on the height of the step).
Progressions
MAKE IT HARDER: Do an overhead arms progression by crossing your arms and resting your hands on your shoulders (or holding your arms at chest level with your hands in prayer position). From there, place your hands behind your head (prisoner position). Next, fully extend both arms overhead.
EVEN HARDER: Perform Stepup Jumps, adding a jump at the top of each rep and landing softly into the starting position. You can perform all of your reps on the same leg or switch legs midair.
HARDEST: Perform Deep Stepups using a box high enough so that the hamstring of your working leg rests on top of your calf in the starting position. The higher the box, the more you need to hinge at your hips to properly execute the movement.
Level 3: Intermediate
STAGGERED SQUAT
In sports you rarely use a perfectly parallel and symmetrical stance. More often your feet are staggered. That’s why it’s important to perform Squat variations with a staggered stance. Staggered Squats are a great stepping-stone exercise to the Single-Leg Squat plus they are easier on your back than regular Squats.
Special note: Understand the difference between a staggered stance and a split stance. A staggered stance has the toes of your trailing leg aligned with the heel of your leading leg and makes your quads and calves work harder. A split stance has the toes of your trailing leg placed farther behind your body (well past your hips) as if performing a stationary Lunge and makes your hips and hamstrings work harder. So a split stance is basically an extended staggered stance. It’s best to start with Staggered Squats before progressing to Split Squats.
Your Goal
You should be able to do multiple sets of 10 reps on each leg with your hips below knee level before moving to the next level.
How to Do It
Starting Position
• Establish tripod foot position with your leading leg for a natural foot arch.
• With your feet hip-width apart, place the toes of your trailing leg on the floor so they are aligned with the heel of your leading leg.
• Keep most of your weight on the leading leg and treat the toes of the trailing leg like the kickstand of a bike that provides just enough support and assistance to stay upright.
• Lift your heel.
• Staggered stance
Perfect Execution
• First, push your butt back and then sink your hips as low as you can until the hamstring of your leading leg rests on your calf.
• Hold this bottom position briefly and then stand up, being sure to fully extend your hips and squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.
• Perform all of your reps on the same side before switching sides, always starting with your weak leg as the leading leg.
• You can stop here to make it easier.
• Align the toes of your back foot with the heel of your front foot.
• Keep your back flat.
• Squat until your hips dip below your leading leg.
• HARDER
Regressions
MAKE IT EASIER: Squat only to the point where your hip crease is slightly beneath your knee crease.
EVEN EASIER: Only squat as far as you can go in a pain-free range of motion.
EASIEST: Perform Self-Assisted Staggered Squats where your hands hold on to a TRX (or another suspension trainer) or a stable support system like a pole, railing, or ledge. This will allow you to use as much upper-body assistance as necessary to perform the movement pain free through a full range of motion.
Progressions
MAKE IT HARDER: Perform a Split Squat by moving from a staggered stance to a split stance. In the bottom position, there should be 90-degree angles at both knees and hips, with the knee of your trailing leg hovering just above the floor. Keep your torso fully upright, and squeeze the glute of your trailing leg and brace your core for full hip extension.
• This shows the start of the Split Squat.
EVEN HARDER: Perform Rear-Foot-Elevated Split Squats (or Bulgarian Split Squats) by elevating your trailing leg on a stable box or chair at knee level. You can also elevate the trailing leg by securing it into the foot cradle of a suspension trainer to open up the hip flexor muscles of your trailing leg.
HARDEST: Perform a Front- and Rear-Foot-Elevated Split Squat by also elevating your front foot on a low box or weight plate.
Level 4: Advanced
LUNGE
Next to regular Squats, Lunges are probably the most popular bodyweight exercise for the lower body. But most people do them before they are ready for the challenge. Lunges are advanced exercises that require dynamic stability because you are changing the position of your feet and altering your base of support. Lots of Lunges will build wheels of steel, bulletproof your knees, and prepare your body for the demands of explosive movements like running and jumping. A longer Lunge step will make your hips and hamstrings work harder, whereas a shorter Lunge step will make your quads and calves work harder. Note that it’s easier to perform all of your reps on one leg and then switch sides than it is to alternate legs every rep.
Your Goal
You should be able to multiple sets of 10 reps on each leg before moving to the next level.
How to Do It
Starting Position
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart or closer.
• Establish tripod foot position for a natural foot arch.
• Keep your weight placed on the center of your foot (right in front of your ankle-bone) and your toes pointing straight ahead.
Perfect Execution
• Step back with one leg until your toes touch the ground, and then slowly pull your hips into the bottom of the Lunge.
• Hold this bottom position briefly with 90-degree angles at both knees and hips and with the knee of your trailing leg hovering just above the floor. There should be a straight line from the knee and hip of your trailing leg through your shoulders.
• Now pull your hips forward as you come back to full standing.
• Visualize balancing a glass of water on your head.
• Keep your back flat throughout the exercise.
• Lower until your knee hovers an inch above the ground.
Regressions
MAKE IT EASIER: Lunge only as far as you can in a pain-free range of motion in a stepping manner.
EVEN EASIER: Take a smaller step backward to gain more stability and assistance from your trailing leg.
EASIEST: Perform Self-Assisted Lunges where your hands hold on to a suspension trainer or a stable support system like a pole, railing, or ledge. This will allow you to use as much upper-body assistance as necessary to perform the movement pain-free through a full range of motion.
Progressions
MAKE IT HARDER: Perform a Front-Foot-Elevated Reverse Lunge by placing your front foot on a low step or box to enhance the stretch.
EVEN HARDER: Perform Sliding Lunges by placing the foot of your back leg onto a Valslide, a towel, or a paper plate that will slide on a slick floor. Slide the foot back as you sink into the bottom position, then pull your hips forward to the starting position. Your back foot stays on the floor throughout.
HARDEST: Perform a Levitating Lunge. Lunge back until your knee, shin, and top of foot touch the ground (a). Progress further by lunging back until only your back knee touches and your leg is bent 90 degrees, foot off the floor (b).
Level 5: Superhero
SINGLE-LEG SQUAT
It’s important to note the difference between a Single-Leg Squat and a Pistol Squat. The former is any Squat on one leg to a depth where your hip crease is just above your knee crease. It doesn’t matter what you do with your nonworking leg, though it is typically held behind your body, with your knee bent at a 90-degree angle. A Pistol Squat is a rock-bottom Squat on one leg where your working leg hamstring rests on your calf in the bottom position. The nonworking leg is fully extended in front of your body (requiring a great deal of hamstring flexibility), which is why your body resembles a pistol at the bottom of the move. Though your ultimate goal is to be able to gradually build up to a perfect Pistol Squat, keep in mind that this takes a lot of work, especially for larger and taller individuals. It also requires the hip and ankle mobility of a mutant and full pain-free flexion of the knee. That’s why most people will do best with the Self-Assisted Pistol Squat variations or Pistol Box Squats on a low box or step. The bottom line is that a Single-Leg Squat provides 80 percent of the benefits of a perfect Pistol Squat, so don’t sweat it if you feel like you’re light-years away from the real deal.
Your Goal
Once you can do multiple sets of 10 reps on each leg with your hips below knee level, you can call yourself a master of the Single-Leg Squat!
How to Do It
Starting Position
• Stand on one leg and extend your other leg in front of your body.
• Establish tripod foot position. Keep your weight placed on the center of your foot (right in front of your anklebone).
• Hold a light weight with both hands for counterbalance with your arms extended in front of you.
• Use a dumbbell as a counterbalance.
• Push your hips back.
• Single-Leg Squat depth
Perfect Execution
• Push your hips and hamstrings back as far as you can (as if closing a door with your butt). Bend at the knee, and slowly lower yourself.
• Go as low as you can without overly rounding your lower back. If you can’t get all the way down so that your hamstring rests on your calf, try to get at least low enough that your hip crease is slightly beneath your knee crease.
• Briefly pause in the bottom position and then extend your working leg and push your hips forward to come to full standing.
• Your hamstring rests on your calf.
• Pistol Squat depth
• Keep your chest up.
• Extend your leg.
Regressions
MAKE IT EASIER: Perform a Single-Leg Box Squat where you sit down on a stable box. Your nonworking leg should be fully extended in front of your body as with a Pistol Squat. This variation fixes your form and makes you rely more on your hips and hamstrings to take pressure off of your knees. Progressively decrease the height of the box.
EVEN EASIER: Perform a Single-Leg Squat off a box with your working leg on a stable box. It’s like a Deep Stepup with your nonworking leg dangling off to the side. Progressively increase the height of the box.
EASIEST: Perform Self-Assisted Single-Leg Squats where your hands hold on to a suspension trainer or a stable support. This will allow you to use as much upper-body assistance as necessary.
Progressions
MAKE IT HARDER: Eliminate the counterbalance by getting rid of the light weight held in your hands, This is one of the few times where less weight means greater difficulty.
EVEN HARDER: Do an overhead arms progression by crossing your arms with your hands resting on your shoulders (or holding your arms at chest level with your hands in prayer position). From there, place your hands behind your head (prisoner position). Next, fully extend both arms overhead.
HARDEST: Place your hands behind your body with the backs of your hands resting on the small of your lower back.
Variations
1. Lateral Squat
Start with a superwide stance with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing straight ahead. First, push your butt back and then to the side as you sink your hips down and shift your weight to your leading leg (a). The ideal range of motion has the hamstring resting on the calf of the working leg as if in the bottom of a Pistol Squat, which is why I tend to call it a Lateral Pistol Squat (b). However, you can modify the motion by sinking down only to the point where your hip crease is slightly beneath your knee crease. Notice how the toes of your trailing leg point upward when you reach the bottom position. Keep your hips and shoulders square throughout the movement.
• Stance should be 2 times wider than your shoulders.
• Place your thumbs together.
• Lateral Pistol Squat
Variations
2. Single-Leg Box Squat
Sit on a stable box while on one leg. Your nonworking leg should be fully extended in front of your body as with a Pistol Squat. This variation fixes your form and makes you rely more on your hips and hamstrings to get the job done to take pressure off of your knees. Progressively decrease the height of the box until it’s only a couple inches off of the floor or you achieve full Pistol Squat range of motion.
• Hinge as you lower onto the box.
• Place your working leg heel next to the step.
• From here, hinge forward before standing.
Variations
3. Single-Leg Squat off Box
Stand on a high box or step while on one leg. Hinge your hips and bend your knee until your working leg thigh is almost parallel to the floor. This setup is easier than a Pistol Squat because you don’t need the hamstring flexibility and hip flexor strength to extend the nonworking leg in front of your body. Increase the height of the box until you can get full depth without letting the foot of your nonworking leg touch the floor.
• Hinge back at the hips.
• The lower you go, the more your ankle will bend and your knee will come forward. This is fine as long as your foot remains flat on the box!
Variations
4. Extended Range of Motion Split Squat Series
First, perform Front-Foot-Elevated Split Squats (a) by elevating your front foot on a low box or step. Then, progress to Rear-Foot-Elevated Split Squats (or Bulgarian Split Squats[b]) by elevating your back leg on a stable box, step, or chair at or just below knee level. You can also elevate the trailing leg by securing it into the foot cradle of a suspension trainer. Finally, combine both options (c). This will allow your hips to sink as deep as they do with a Staggered Squat, with the added difficulty of a split stance.
Previous Page ----- Next Page ----- INDEX