Box Pistol Squat

The box pistol squat is the pistol with a target to sit to. It removes the balance problem at the bottom and lets you train the exact depth you can currently control, then lower the box as you get stronger. This is the progression that actually works, and it is the one most people skip on their way to failing at full pistols for six months.

How to Perform

1. Stand in front of a box or bench with your back to it, balanced on one leg, the other leg extended forward.
2. Sit back and down under control until your glutes touch the box. Do not drop onto it.
3. Keep the free leg off the floor and your standing heel flat.
4. Touch lightly, keep tension, then drive through the foot and stand back up on the same leg.
5. Complete all reps on one side before switching, or alternate if the plan calls for it.

Tips

• Lower the box by a couple of inches only when you can do eight clean reps per side at the current height.
• Touch and go, do not sit and rest. Losing tension at the bottom removes most of the benefit.
• Push your knee out over your middle toes. A knee that caves in on a single leg squat is a knee asking for trouble.