Pistol Squat Translate to Normal Squat (WEIRD)

[Tommy8Trial]

My weighted pistol squat PR is 135lbs for left leg and 125lbs for right leg while my bodyweight is 150lbs, but my Normal squat is only 170lbs... (Yes, it is not kg)

I know that it is not because of my legs, because I can Leg Press 340kg.

My Deadlift also sucks, at 130kg.

I am not a guy that only train lower body, I also train Weighted one arm pull ups (Right Arm: 12.5kg Left Arm:6kg)

I almost certain that it is because of my back, but I feel good, no pain in the back, also got 26in waist (I am 170cm in height) with nearly 8 pack abs.


Does anyone has the same issue as me?

[WolfRose7]

My weighted pistol squat PR is 135lbs for left leg and 125lbs for right leg while my bodyweight is 150lbs, but my Normal squat is only 170lbs... (Yes, it is not kg)

I know that it is not because of my legs, because I can Leg Press 340kg.

My Deadlift also sucks, at 130kg.

I am not a guy that only train lower body, I also train Weighted one arm pull ups (Right Arm: 12.5kg Left Arm:6kg)

I almost certain that it is because of my back, but I feel good, no pain in the back, also got 26in waist (I am 170cm in height) with nearly 8 pack abs.


Does anyone has the same issue as me?

You probably just need to squat and deadlift more often, with more volume and variations.

Leg press numbers are pretty meaningless, all sorts of ways to cheat the weight and all the machines are different so the weight is inconsistent.

You being insanely skinny probably has a large impact on your squat too

[OldFartTom]

Many times I've seen people ask and had conversations in real life (non forum ) where people are trying to see equivalence between pistol and barbell squat. But this is the first time I've seen it this way round!

It's almost always someone asking... So I can squat high bar to depth with a bar weighing my own bodyweight - I should be able pistol, right? (No, not even close). I can squat 1.5 times bodyweight, should I be able to pistol now? (No).

Pistol has some very specific skills and strengths. You may have very strong legs, but just like being able to pistol takes practicing pistol, being able to squat more takes practicing squatting more.

I'd expect you to make very rapid progress on squat to 1.5 bw (then slower from then onwards) as at first you're converting/adapting existing strength not having to grow any new muscle

[Sherniee]

I know that it is not because of my legs, because I can Leg Press 340kg.

Try placing your feet low on the sled and bringing your calves to your hams. Only stop when your back is coming off the pad or heels coming off the sled.

Really, the leg press is so notorious for ankle benders that most people don't realize what full ROM looks like.

[etet1919]

My weighted pistol squat PR is 135lbs for left leg and 125lbs for right leg while my bodyweight is 150lbs, but my Normal squat is only 170lbs... (Yes, it is not kg)

I know that it is not because of my legs, because I can Leg Press 340kg.

My Deadlift also sucks, at 130kg.

I am not a guy that only train lower body, I also train Weighted one arm pull ups (Right Arm: 12.5kg Left Arm:6kg)

I almost certain that it is because of my back, but I feel good, no pain in the back, also got 26in waist (I am 170cm in height) with nearly 8 pack abs.


Does anyone has the same issue as me?

Your issue does seem different to me. I have experience in performing sets of 75 lb.pistol squats at 115 lbs. You need a strong lower body to do this. If you can pistol squat most of your bodyweight, you will usually be able to BB squat 2x ( or more) your bodyweight. And conventional deadlift at least 2.5x (or more) your bodyweight. Your leg press would be over 810 lbs.for reps, IMO. You'd also be training upper body heavy, in addition.

[Tommy8Trial]

You probably just need to squat and deadlift more often, with more volume and variations.

Leg press numbers are pretty meaningless, all sorts of ways to cheat the weight and all the machines are different so the weight is inconsistent.

You being insanely skinny probably has a large impact on your squat too

Yeah I am being insanely skinny, when I do barbell squat, it feels like the bar is crushing into my back, the feeling isnt good at all, I have no fat or many muscles in my back to act as a cushion when i do that.

When I do deadlifts, I didn't raised my ass before my torso, because I want to train in a correct form to avoid injuries, but it just doesn't feel right and I cannot even feel muscle soreness at all, just not being able to lift heavier.

[Tommy8Trial]

Many times I've seen people ask and had conversations in real life (non forum ) where people are trying to see equivalence between pistol and barbell squat. But this is the first time I've seen it this way round!

It's almost always someone asking... So I can squat high bar to depth with a bar weighing my own bodyweight - I should be able pistol, right? (No, not even close). I can squat 1.5 times bodyweight, should I be able to pistol now? (No).

Pistol has some very specific skills and strengths. You may have very strong legs, but just like being able to pistol takes practicing pistol, being able to squat more takes practicing squatting more.

I'd expect you to make very rapid progress on squat to 1.5 bw (then slower from then onwards) as at first you're converting/adapting existing strength not having to grow any new muscle

It is not about balance i think, I can do zercher squat heavier than backsquat.

[Tommy8Trial]

Try placing your feet low on the sled and bringing your calves to your hams. Only stop when your back is coming off the pad or heels coming off the sled.

Really, the leg press is so notorious for ankle benders that most people don't realize what full ROM looks like.

I do leg press to 90 degrees, I definitely dont extend my legs to straight because thats super dangerous.

I stick my whole back to the pad at all time

[John Prophet]

u simply havent worked at squatting enough. you've obviously worked at pistols more.

its like saying "im great at guitar...i dunno y my piano sucks so bad"

[Tommy8Trial]

Your issue does seem different to me. I have experience in performing sets of 75 lb.pistol squats at 115 lbs. You need a strong lower body to do this. If you can pistol squat most of your bodyweight, you will usually be able to BB squat 2x ( or more) your bodyweight. And conventional deadlift at least 2.5x (or more) your bodyweight. Your leg press would be over 810 lbs.for reps, IMO. You'd also be training upper body heavy, in addition.

Are you a girl? You are strong! 75lbs pistol squat while weighing 115lbs.

nah, 810lbs is INSANE!! My legpress 1rm is 770lbs only, and thats already 5x my bodyweight!!! (810lbs will be 5.4x)

175kg deadlift! oh no, I can only do 140kg in my max i guess.

I just started Weight Lifting, to improve my jump height on my bike. I suck at it, I cannot even do clean and jerk, i can put bar on my front deltoid, but it is painful.
So mostly I just do Snatching because only this exercise relates to biketrial, i can only do 60kg snatch... i will keep improving, because thats definitely not my 1rm, i can snatch it for 10 reps in a row but scared to go heavier.

[etet1919]

Are you a girl? You are strong! 75lbs pistol squat while weighing 115lbs.

nah, 810lbs is INSANE!! My legpress 1rm is 770lbs only, and thats already 5x my bodyweight!!! (810lbs will be 5.4x)

175kg deadlift! oh no, I can only do 140kg in my max i guess.

I just started Weight Lifting, to improve my jump height on my bike. I suck at it, I cannot even do clean and jerk, i can put bar on my front deltoid, but it is painful.
So mostly I just do Snatching because only this exercise relates to biketrial, i can only do 60kg snatch... i will keep improving, because thats definitely not my 1rm, i can snatch it for 10 reps in a row but scared to go heavier.

Yes, I'm a woman! Thank you for the compliment...I've been practicing the weighted pistols a few years now. So, I can relate. But You may be doing a record or something...135 lb. pistols at 150 lbs?? Insane!!

I only estimated your sled leg press because mine is currently 770 lb., as well. Therefore, you will be able to move up to 810 lbs. with consistency. You just started weight training!!

If you need to increase your vertical jump, try depth jumps (off a low box), squat jumps with DBs, split squat jumps with DBs...explosive plyo. And continue practicing BB squatting to adequate depth (below parallel, but not necessarily ATG).

[WolfRose7]

Try placing your feet low on the sled and bringing your calves to your hams. Only stop when your back is coming off the pad or heels coming off the sled.

Really, the leg press is so notorious for ankle benders that most people don't realize what full ROM looks like.

Agreed.
My leg press has been consistently on par or less than my low bar squat

[Sherniee]

Agreed.
My leg press has been consistently on par or less than my low bar squat

It really is humbling yea. I went from doing 6 plates per side to 2, idk how I was so blind to it at first.

[Sherniee]

I do leg press to 90 degrees, I definitely dont extend my legs to straight because thats super dangerous.

I stick my whole back to the pad at all time

Yea dude if it's that heavy you definitely shouldn't be fully extending your legs. Thing is it doesn't matter if you stop shy of full extension because you're already in that very mechanically advantageous position, you're not getting much extra work by fully extending.

On the flip side, you're getting much more volume in the deeper you can go on the leg press because of the mechanical disadvantage. I think it should look more or less like your squat depth, maybe even deeper since your feet are out in front of you.

I don't squat ATG either, but you have to admit it's kind of ridiculous you're leg pressing 5x your squat.

[etet1919]

^^ I've done 5-6 plates (from what I remember) with my feet placed lower on the platform, so it's not ridiculous. In fact, I'm going to try that again today! The platform was built large for a reason...so people could place their feet higher and target glutes, as well.

Hope your Thanksgiving was good guys!

[SuffolkPunch]

It's difficult to use leg press as a comparison because different machines have different leverage rates. Just because you load it with X amount of kg, doesn't mean you are actually shifting those X kg through the same distance that your feet move.

If you have strong legs, practicing back squat regularly will result in very fast progress in the back squat... If you don't get very fast progress, perhaps your legs are not as strong as you thought.

[Tommy8Trial]

^^ I've done 5-6 plates (from what I remember) with my feet placed lower on the platform, so it's not ridiculous. In fact, I'm going to try that again today! The platform was built large for a reason...so people could place their feet higher and target glutes, as well.

Hope your Thanksgiving was good guys!

Ummm...

Guys, i am finally back XD

Now I can backsquat over 200kg, and I found out the reason why I couldnt deadlift that much before also - i didn't load my hamstring properly.

now I can deadlift 180kg ^_^

I am also working towards over bodyweight weighted pistol squat, my bodyweight is 152lbs at the moment, but my pistol squat 1rm has already gone up by a lot, now my 1rm is 145lbs, I did 154lbs almost 90 degrees pistol last month, but it wasn't ass to grass.

[Junsuiakai]

Geez mad respect on those pistol squats, my max is 40x3 atm lol

[OldFartTom]

Rep +1, although might not be visible while your posts are so low