How to do the Pistol Squat Progression
Step by step
- Stand on one leg near a box or door frame you can hold for support.
- Extend the other leg out in front of you.
- Lower slowly on the standing leg, using the support for balance and help.
- Descend only as far as you can control, keeping the heel down.
- Press back up through the standing foot, then switch legs.
The thing people get wrong
Earn depth gradually and never crash into the bottom - use the support as much as needed while you build control.
Coaching cue
Keep your standing heel flat on the floor; if it lifts, you have gone deeper than you can control.
Stay safe
Hold something fixed like a door frame, not a rolling or light object that moves when you pull on it.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Sit down to a box on one leg and stand back up, starting with a high box.
- Harder: Use less help from your hands, then lower to a shorter box.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Quads, Glutes
- Secondary: Core, Hips
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.