What's the consensus on one-legged squats?

[Toadvine]

Are they as bad for the knees as some people say or are they a viable exercise to throw into your routine (especially if you don't have access to a squat rack)?

[vollric]

Are they as bad for the knees as some people say or are they a viable exercise to throw into your routine (especially if you don't have access to a squat rack)?

Sounds like a pretty dumb idea.... not sure if your srs but regardless. Why??

[SuffolkPunch]

It takes some strength to do them which is a good thing - but I consider them a bit like doing 'stability work' on bosu balls and the like - you expend a lot of effort staying balanced. Perhaps once you are used to them, they would work as a strength / mass exericise...

The acid test is: can you do a one legged squat with half the total weight of a 2 legged (say) front squat? If not then the balance/instability part is detracting from it's effectiveness.

The usual solution to no squat rack is to power clean and front squat a barbell. There are other alternatives too like hack squat.

[chazzy1864]

They're reported as being bad for the knees?

[adamdavidson47]

I had to do one leg squats while rehabbing my knee. Hardest exercise I've ever done. I'm not sure how'd they'd be considered hard on the knees compared to other squat exercises.

[thisonefoo]

If you have uneven leg size/strength, then I would do single legged squats. If not, then do the traditional squat. No reason to do single legged other than that

[Concat]

I love em. Check out the Piston Squat. If you can beast mode those, you'll get an awesome leg workout, and have great balance.

The acid test is: can you do a one legged squat with half the total weight of a 2 legged (say) front squat? If not then the balance/instability part is detracting from it's effectiveness.

Nope. Keep in mind you're also adding half your body weight to one leg.

Ex.
200lbs dude does squat with 200lbs. Total weight per leg = 200lbs.
200lbs dude does one-legged squat with 50lbs DBs in each arm. Total weight on leg = 300 lbs.

And aside from balance and stabilizer muscles, the muscle mechanics change because your centre of gravity has moved.

[adamdavidson47]

I love em. Check out the Piston Squat. If you can beast mode those, you'll get an awesome leg workout, and have great balance.



Nope. Keep in mind you're also adding half your body weight to one leg.

Ex.
200lbs dude does squat with 200lbs. Total weight per leg = 200lbs.
200lbs dude does one-legged squat with 50lbs DBs in each arm. Total weight on leg = 300 lbs.

And aside from balance and stabilizer muscles, the muscle mechanics change because your centre of gravity has moved.

?? Wouldn't you still be squatting your entire body weight?

[Concat]

I don't understand your question. With a regular squat, your body weight is spread out over two legs. With a one legged squat, it's all on one leg. It's double the body weight per leg. It just means you have to devote more time to the exercise because you have to work each leg individually.

Did my example not make sense..? :s

[samcol]

if you're talking barbell lunges I would say they are awesome. eric cressey had a great article about why but i cant find it. basically the thought is you can 1 rep squat like 315, then you could do a lunge with about 165 for a few reps or more. you can increase the load each leg is receiving by doing single leg.

here are some examples of good single leg exercises though.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...eleg_exercises

[chazzy1864]

I love em. Check out the Piston Squat. If you can beast mode those, you'll get an awesome leg workout, and have great balance.

You mean the pistol squat?
+ Pistols are actually rather easy, IMO. Balance is the only challenging part of them.


Also, your example is completely pointless. Who says the guy who squats 200 total pounds with a back squat will automatically be able to do pistols with a 50lb db in each arm?

[IDrinkBloodLOL]

I like them. My knees are fine.

[Engineer_Guy]

Unilateral squats are a good assistance exercise. They are particularly good at hitting the glutes.

[Concat]

You mean the pistol squat?
+ Pistols are actually rather easy, IMO. Balance is the only challenging part of them.


Also, your example is completely pointless. Who says the guy who squats 200 total pounds with a back squat will automatically be able to do pistols with a 50lb db in each arm?

What? No. Ugh, that wasn't my point with the example.

It was in response to SuffolkPunch's post where he essentially implied you should be able to one-legged squat half of what you can squat normally. I'm saying that's not true because you have to consider that when you squat normally your body weight is spread out over two legs. When you one-legged squat, all your body weight is on one leg.

I'm actually saying that if 200lbs is your max squat, you probably CAN'T one legged squat with 50 lbs in each arm, depending on your body weight.

I honestly don't know how to explain it any better. You have to look at the total weight transferred to each leg (body weight PLUS weights). You can't ignore body weight and just half the weight you would normally squat with.

I always thought they were PISTON not PISTOL. Googling both gives me the same exercise. I dunno. I'm obviously not the only one who mucks that up. :P

[chazzy1864]

What? No. Ugh, that wasn't my point with the example.

It was in response to SuffolkPunch's post where he essentially implied you should be able to one-legged squat half of what you can squat normally. I'm saying that's not true because you have to consider that when you squat normally your body weight is spread out over two legs. When you one-legged squat, all your body weight is on one leg.

I'm actually saying that if 200lbs is your max squat, you probably CAN'T one legged squat with 50 lbs in each arm, depending on your body weight.

I honestly don't know how to explain it any better. You have to look at the total weight transferred to each leg (body weight PLUS weights). You can't ignore body weight and just half the weight you would normally squat with.

And I dunno why you question me on suggesting piston squats, since the OP wanted to know about one legged squats. I find weighted piston squats give my legs a great workout, but I'm a lanky bish so I dunno. Do lunges then, or front squats, or hack squats.

AHh I gotcha. I see what you mean now.

+ I questioned the term "piston squat". Is that something other than "pistol squat" which is the name for the typical single leg, BW squat that people do.

Pistol squat:


But my statement about their ease wasn't necessarily at you, just in general. Many BW advocates will talk about their difficulty and that most can't do them. It wasn't until I was bored in a hotel room and tried them and realized they were actually rather easy (squatting is not a strong suit of mine, either). Maintaining balance was the largest challenge posed towards me.

[Concat]

Hehe, I tried to ninja edit my post. I actually had no idea you said pistol and I said piston. Ah well.

You can do weighted pistol squats too, of course. I actually have only done them with DBs... never just BW.

[Engineer_Guy]

I would do Bulgarian split squats over pistol squats.

[BombDonald]

Definitely a good exercise, not going to put a ton of mass on your legs, but they require flexibility and can build some endurance.

[RichieS]

I love one-legged squats, one of the best strength-building exercises there is. Throwing one-legged jumps in with them and one legged calf-raises will give you a pretty great workout.

[ironwill2008]

Are they as bad for the knees as some people say or are they a viable exercise to throw into your routine (especially if you don't have access to a squat rack)?

If they're among your only options then use them.

[mobikwa]

She seems to be doing alright.

[Tillday]

They're great for poor rackless people like myself, you can use much lighter weights which opens the door to using dumbbells instead of a bar / back squat for a lot of people.