Kettlebell Pistol Squat

How to do it

1. Hold a kettlebell at your chest with both hands as a counterweight.
2. Stand on one leg with the other held out in front of you.
3. Push the hips back and squat down on the standing leg, keeping the heel flat.
4. Let the free leg travel forward as you descend.
5. Go as deep as the position holds, then drive back up through the standing foot.
6. Finish the side before swapping.

Common mistakes

• Treating the bell as load. Held at the chest it is a counterweight that makes the balance possible — the leg is the limiting factor, and a heavier bell often makes a pistol easier rather than harder.
• Letting the standing heel lift. A heel coming up is ankle range running out, and a small heel raise is the usual answer.
• Letting the free leg touch down. It stays off the floor for the whole repetition, or this is a very awkward two-legged squat.
• Attempting it before a box version is controlled. Squatting to a high box on one leg is the step, and lowering the box is the progression.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Quads

Secondary

• Calves
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Shoulders