Strengthening Your Knees: How To Get Your First Pistol Squat

Pistol squats are a great strengthening/mobility exercise, but they’re hard at first, because they require ankle mobility, hip mobility, and strength, all at once.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t be added one by one:

Bit by bit…

In particular, you will need:

• Ankle dorsiflexion: so your knee can travel forwards and keep your balance; without it, you either get stuck or fall backwards
• Knee flexion: thigh and calf need to close together, requiring quad flexibility
• Hip flexion: your torso and thigh need to fold together, requiring glute flexibility
• Lifted leg hip flexion: hamstring flexibility and hip flexor strength keep the leg extended in front
• Internal hip rotation: crucial but rarely discussed; it keeps your pelvis level, balance aligned, and knee tracking over toes
• Strength: throughout, but especially your quads and glutes must be strong in a stretched position, since muscles are weaker when lengthened

You can add these things one-by-one by progressing as follows:

1. Deep bodyweight squats
2. Kickstand box squats
3. Eccentric-only box squats
4. Shrimp squats
5. Single-leg box squats
6. Hand-assisted pistol squats
7. Band-assisted pistol squats
8. Full pistol squats

As for how to do each of those, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

The Secret To Better Squats: Foot, Knee, & Ankle Mobility

Take care!