@marathigoodboy I have a massive strength imbalance in my legs too, I think it might have come from years of snowboarding. Kinda sucks because I don't wanna push my right leg whilst my leg leg is so much weaker.
@suzz 0) put one foot on a tallish box, heel down and bend the knee. Your ankle will dorsiflex and you can adjust flex as desired. Try to flex as much as possible.
1) go into a deep two legged squat with heels down and stay there for a bit.
2) deep two legged squat heel down and shift weight to one side then the other.
3) same as above but rest a weight on your knee (hold it in your hands so it doesn't fall.)
also: do deficit calf stretches so heel is lower than toes with leg straight.
@suzz Pistols are mostly just good for maintaining strength whilst travelling/away from the gym imo. Front foot elevated Bulgarian split squats will get you much stronger and still isolate the quads/allow for unilateral loading. Back foot elevated will bring in more glutes. Elevation of only about 6 inches either way.
For dorsiflexion (ankle flexibility), go up to a wall with your right toes touching, left leg back for balance. Lean forward with your knee until it touches the wall. Keep edging your right foot away from the wall (keep toes pointing towards it) until you can no longer touch it with your knee. Slowly and gently pulse your knee towards the wall or hold it for time. You will feel a stretch down the back of your ankle. Do not let your ankle roll inwards whilst doing this. Only let your knee go forward as long as the ankle doesn’t roll in. If it wants to roll in a lot, do slow ankle rolls in both directions until your ankle starts to fatigue - do two types, one type you lie on your back with legs held at a 90 degree angle (hips and knees both at 90, ankles should be out in front of you with calves parallel to floor). Another type you do standing with a little bit of weight on the foot you are rolling, kind of like a slow calf raise going in a circle, make sure to lift your toes up as well to complete the circle. For good measure and to prevent injury do a set of single leg calf raises (1-2 reps short of failure) followed by a single leg calf stretch for every set of the wall stretch you do. Repeat both sides. Lmk if you have any questions.
Unfortunately I can't really do a rear foot elevated bulgarian squat, as I've sort of recently had to surgically remove my big toe toenails, and they're still growing so can't put pressure on them yet. But front foot elevated bulgarian squat might be great, thanks !
My (ultimate) goal though is to be able to do weighted pistols squats, besides being unilateral they're great to target stabiliser muscles and keep flexibility on point, so again thanks for the tips!
@marathigoodboy Huge congrats! I started training the pistol squat mid December. I can do 30 negatives on each leg (3 sets of 10), but am still not quite able to get out of the hole. I am using a little push off of the floor with one hand to get back up. I am now holding a 15 lb weight and sitting on a low stool and standing up on one leg to get stronger so I can get out of the hole. I figure if I keep lowering the stool each workout by a few inches, I'll soon be to the floor and able to do a full pistol. I hope I'll be celebrating with you next month!
@marathigoodboy Pistol squat has been a goal of mine for a while- recently hit it on the right leg! left is still a work in progress but it’s an awesome feeling!
@marathigoodboy Are pistol squats the one legged squats when you hold out your other one in a straight line and try to keep it there? Weird you never do see anyone do them in gym, I thought it was cause they arent that good of an exercise but I guess they are?
@marathigoodboy Congratulations. I went on a similar journey. I am a long distance hiker. So I have pretty strong legs. But when I started pistol Squats I learned that there is a huge imbalance in left and right legs. I was able to get right leg pistol Squats (5) within a month but boy i couldn't do a single on left. So I paused progressing with right leg and started to get left leg in par with right it took me around.
Did assisted pistol Squats for 3 months on left leg before I got first pistol Squat on left leg. Then it took another 3 months to get the rep range in par with right leg.
Now I can do 7 consecutive pistol Squats from each leg. I am taking it slow with left and increase the rep range 12-15 range within next 3 months.
I know I can get my right leg faster. But it's good to get the both to 15.
@novelist1000 For me there was a strength imbalance, but my pelvis was the bigger issue.
My pelvis didn’t move around freely, and my right leg was in an easier positions while my left was always unstable. The instability would cause my weight to shift, which would throw my balance off and RIP pistols.
After I do some hip mobility work they become much easier!
