Single Leg Squat And Pull Up – Is This All You Need?
Aug 14th, 2011 | By Todd Bowman | Category: Exercises, Training How To
Have you ever tried doing a single leg squat? Did you know that with just a simple exercise, you’ll be able to get your heart rate going and it will help you lose weight?
Single leg squats really help to assist the body to create stronger tendons, ligaments, and secondary stabilizer muscles around the knee and knee caps. Not only that but they help to isolate more of your quadriceps muscle so you can build bigger and more powerful thigh muscles. You balance, coordination and timing will all be improved as well. Not to mention that the increase in muscle mass from building stronger legs will help you build more muscle all over your body along with helping to lose weight all throughout your body.
In this video, Craig Ballantyne shows us how to do the single leg squat, along with the pull ups. Don’t worry. If you’re a beginner, it also shows how you can work your way up to performing a perfect one legged squat and a perfect pull up.
From my own personal experience I had a hard time with doing pull ups and squats. It’s weird, when I did pull ups I felt like I was too skinny or didn’t have enough strength in my upper body and back, to lift myself up. I felt as though my legs were too heavy.
Then on squats, I thought my legs were to skinny to lift any weight. Funny I think it all boils down to mental blocks. Now I’m able to do weighted pull ups and squat 225 pounds with no problem and no strain.
With the single leg squat, obviously you’ll start standing on one leg. Bend the other knee and keep your hands in front for balance. Drop as low as you can using proper form. Make sure your back is in straight alignment and you don’t roll your spine or your shoulders down like having a hunchback (kyphosis). If you can get halfway down, come back up by pushing and powering through your ankles like you’re punching a hole in the floor. On the ascension it’s all about raw explosive power.
If you’re stronger and more capable or flexible in your hip flexors, you should be able to go all the way down until your calf muscles touch your thighs. When you push back up, you’re really concentrating on your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps.
Also focus on your stabilizing abdominal muscles. If you focus on them, when lifting yourself up you’ll notice a nice slow burn.
For beginners, you can make use of a band to help you with going up. Simply wrap a band around a strong support. This should help you balance your body as you push back up. If this also is too hard for you, then you can always start with the split squat.
Really try to avoid having to resort to the split squat if you can help it as you will double your progress if you’re able to stick with this exercise first.
Now for the next exercise is the pull up exercise. If you’re strong enough, you should work your way up to 12 repetitions. The real challenge is to finish 12 as fast as you can using proper form. Make sure you pull your chest up to the bar.
If you can’t do pull ups, you’ll need to start with assisted pull ups. However, you’ll be needing a bar and a squat rack so you can set up the bar at head height. Using an overhand grip and slightly wider than shoulder width, squat down and then pull yourself up using as much of your upper body as possible. In time, you’ll be able to increase your strength to be able to do unassisted pull ups.
If you have a trainer available or really anybody around, ask them to hold your ankles on the lift. Your knees will be bent at a 90 degree angle and they can hold the tops of your feet or ankles while you’re lifting yourself up.
So if you want to lose that weight, go ahead and do those pull up and single leg squat exercises.
I strongly suggest you watch the video below to learn more. Then click on the link below that for a completely done for you workout system that you can download immediately and start putting into practice right away!
Click Here To Learn More About How Turbulence Training By Craig Ballantyne Can Transform Your Body
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