Tell me they get easier (single leg squats)

firef1y72
firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
edited November 18 in Fitness and Exercise
My PT has started teaching me single leg squats and OMG they are hard. We were using the TRX yesterday and my "homework" is to practice, practice, practice holding on to something for balance.
I love to squat and if I say so myself am pretty good at them, but wow single leg are hard. I can barely do more than bob down a quarter atm and I'm really feeling it in the leg I'm holding up.
I'm trying to remember that there was a learning curve to bodyweight squats and I didn't get full range straight away, but still these are HARD and it's going to take me a good few months

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Keep practicing, they will get easier.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    They ARE hard, which is why I like them. If I'm not being challenged then I get bored.

    I'm still using the TRX for single leg squats but there's a good description of how to gradually progress to doing them without assistance in the "You Are Your Own Gym" book, or I bet you can find it online.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.
  • Niki_Fitz
    Niki_Fitz Posts: 951 Member
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.

    So interesting - any thoughts as to why? Is this a specific muscle balance issue anyone has insight into? I can only do them on the left and am working to balance this out.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    I use to backsquat a lot in college, lifted pretty heavy. Could never do a single leg squat...
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
    wellnesschaser wrote: »
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.

    So interesting - any thoughts as to why? Is this a specific muscle balance issue anyone has insight into? I can only do them on the left and am working to balance this out.

    I think it's physiognomy. Some peoples body structure is more suited than others. I can squat up to 245 with a barbell but can't single leg squat to save my life.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    wellnesschaser wrote: »
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.

    So interesting - any thoughts as to why? Is this a specific muscle balance issue anyone has insight into? I can only do them on the left and am working to balance this out.

    Are you doing pistols or skater/shrimp squats? While there is a strength component to both, pistols add a mobility dimension to being able to perform them.
    I have never seen someone capable of banging out single leg versions that didn't have a decent weighted squat. But I have seen people who could squat a lot, struggle with single leg.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    They are hard. I am not very strong (lift numbers wise) but I am pretty good at anything on one side that requires balance and single-leg strength. I am working on pistol squats, and it's just about practice.. strength, mobility, core strength and balance. I find my right leg I can pump out a few reps no problem, left side.. still a little wobbly.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    Are these the same as Bulgarian split squats? Or are those different? (rear foot elevated on bench). Regardless, I hate any day that they are on my workout list. Maybe every other week or so, so not all that frequent, but I have been doing them for over a year (increasing the weight but not as much as with other squats) but they still suck. I try to get to parallel with every rep but sometimes slack off and do just above parallel.
  • Salecca
    Salecca Posts: 7 Member
    I wouldn't recommend them unless you have a solid strength base, otherwise they're damaging to your knees. Are you able to squat your bodyweight with two legs yet?
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    Salecca wrote: »
    I wouldn't recommend them unless you have a solid strength base, otherwise they're damaging to your knees. Are you able to squat your bodyweight with two legs yet?

    I'm just under bodyweight. I weigh 76kg and my (tested) 1rpm is 74kg. Could probably manage the 76kg but have been concentrating on my deadlift the last few cycles and only taking squats up a couple of kg a cycle. I also do a lot of bodyweight squats in various stances along with mastered the third world squat to the point where i can sit in the squat almost indefinitely.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.

    I replied to this once but it vanished in to the ether.
    So do you think it's worth me putting the effort in to try and master them. My PT is supposed to help with either my lifting or running so I guess the PT has some reason to get me to do them (other than just torturing me).
    I'm pretty stubborn so if I decide to go for it then I'm unlikely to let them best me, even if it takes me a year.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    French_Peasant wrote: »
    Are these the same as Bulgarian split squats? Or are those different? (rear foot elevated on bench). Regardless, I hate any day that they are on my workout list. Maybe every other week or so, so not all that frequent, but I have been doing them for over a year (increasing the weight but not as much as with other squats) but they still suck. I try to get to parallel with every rep but sometimes slack off and do just above parallel.

    I don't think they're the same. I'm not adding any weight, hold one leg out in front and then squat on the other. Feels very different to knocking out back squats or even front squats
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    They are hard. I am not very strong (lift numbers wise) but I am pretty good at anything on one side that requires balance and single-leg strength. I am working on pistol squats, and it's just about practice.. strength, mobility, core strength and balance. I find my right leg I can pump out a few reps no problem, left side.. still a little wobbly.

    Mobility is the biggest reason people with strong back squats struggle with them. My flexibility is not great so I currently have to do them standing on something elevated so that my lifted leg can hang down some.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    French_Peasant wrote: »
    Are these the same as Bulgarian split squats? Or are those different? (rear foot elevated on bench). Regardless, I hate any day that they are on my workout list. Maybe every other week or so, so not all that frequent, but I have been doing them for over a year (increasing the weight but not as much as with other squats) but they still suck. I try to get to parallel with every rep but sometimes slack off and do just above parallel.

    I don't think they're the same. I'm not adding any weight, hold one leg out in front and then squat on the other. Feels very different to knocking out back squats or even front squats

    Ugh, those are even less fun! At least with the Bulgarians you are putting some weight/balance on the back leg. As the poster above notes, I think I've heard those as pistil squats or squat-to-bench, and it shows up exactly once in my 6 week program...and yes, those are the squats that make me grateful for the days I do the Bulgarians! :D
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    they are hard, and take a lot of strength. They never got easier for me, and i'm pretty strong , so i don't even do them. I've done them with the TRX just for fun, thats about as much as i'll do.

    Pretty much same here. I've also seen people who aren't strong at weighted squats bang these out without much difficulty. I don't think there is much carryover between the two.

    I replied to this once but it vanished in to the ether.
    So do you think it's worth me putting the effort in to try and master them. My PT is supposed to help with either my lifting or running so I guess the PT has some reason to get me to do them (other than just torturing me).
    I'm pretty stubborn so if I decide to go for it then I'm unlikely to let them best me, even if it takes me a year.

    I would ask your trainer why he/she has you doing them. I don't do them because they won't get me where I'm going but your trainer may have a solid reason for recommending them.
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