Pistol Squats Can Make You a Faster, Better Runner — Triathlete

Deanne Ross has been a runner for a long time, but recently started training for something else intense: a swim/run race across 26 islands in Sweden, which involves running 40 miles, swimming 10.5 miles, and 47 different transitions from land to water.

“You swim with your shoes on, and the race takes about 14 hours,” the 56-year-old Ross, who lives outside San Diego, proclaims proudly.

To get ready, she’s been running and swimming a lot, of course. But she’s also been tackling another seemingly daunting challenge: doing pistol squats.

These single-leg exercises make you look like a gymnast on a balance beam, holding one leg out in front of you while squatting basically all the way to the ground and then standing back up again. They aren’t easy, and experts say just like running a marathon (or a 50-plus-mile swim/run), you shouldn’t just jump into trying one.

But a gradual approach to training to do a pistol squat can bring immense benefits for runners – strengthening the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core while improving balance and mobility.

When Ross’s coach suggested she work on them to prepare for her race, at first she wasn’t convinced.

“I’m a horrible squatter,” she says. Her coach asked her to use an app to do exercises to build up to a pistol squat, and slowly she progressed.

“Even though I can’t do a full pistol squat yet, my balance is so much better and the strength in my glutes in the last couple of months is unbelievable,” she says, highlighting the steep learning curve around a concept that seems simple enough.

Ross says she never used to do much lower-body work because she worried about being sore for her runs, but now she does these strength exercises midweek to space them out from her runs. And once she started the progression, she immediately noticed a difference in her running.

“I feel so much stronger. I run a lot of rocky trails, and I can pick my feet up higher now instead of nicking rocks and going flying,” she says. “In November, during a swim/run race in Austin, I fell four times on trails, bad falls. I haven’t fallen since I started working on this. Even when I hit a rock, I can recover more quickly. I’m more aware of the strength in my glutes.”

What is a pistol squat?

First, the definition: A pistol squat is a full-depth, single-leg squat where you’re standing on one leg and using every stabilizer in your body to squat, says Tom Clifford, a coach and owner of North Carolina-based coaching and endurance events company Without Limits.

When you do a pistol squat, one foot stays flat on the ground, the other leg is held straight out in front, and you go as low as you can without collapsing or losing balance.

Then you try to come back up on the same leg.

“Most people don’t struggle with the way down, they struggle with stopping their body weight and returning back up without their leg collapsing inward,” Clifford says.

For a runner who’s never seen one, it’s like sitting into a deep squat while the other leg floats straight out in front, then driving back up without falling over.

Why they’re so hard

Many experienced runners think they can knock out 10 pistol squats and then find they can’t even do one, Clifford says. That’s for several reasons.

“If your ankles and Achilles are stiff, you’ll struggle getting into position and staying balanced,” he says. “You need strong quads and strong glutes, which many runners lack.”

Balance is another factor.

“Runners’ stabilizer muscles are often fatigued from mileage, but you also need coordination under fatigue,” Clifford says. “As your center of mass shifts going down and coming back up, you need to control it.”

A failed attempt at a pistol squat can point to weaknesses in running, he adds.

For example, if your knee collapses inward during the squat, that suggests weak hips, especially external rotators and abductors.

“That’s very common in distance runners,” Clifford says. “When hips are weak, the knee rolls inward and can lead to IT band issues or other pain. People often blame the IT band and roll it [with a foam roller], but the real issue is weak hips.”

If your pelvis drops, that’s another sign – losing balance indicates weak lateral hip stabilizers and poor core strength, he says.

Why triathletes should do pistol squats

Like Ross, many triathletes are at first skeptical about attempting such a tricky strength exercise, but coaches and fitness experts say the benefits stack up.

“Running is a series of one-legged hops, you push off from one leg and land on the other one, 180 times a minute,” says Brian Maiorano, a coach and owner of Triathlon Lifestyle Coaching. “It demands strength and balance, and any muscular and flexibility imbalances can manifest themselves in early fatigue or chronic injury.”

Running demands strength in large muscle groups – the glutes, core, quads, hamstrings, and calves – and smaller muscles like hip flexors. Pistol squats address all of those areas.

Specifically, a pistol squat strengthens one leg at a time and prepares both legs to be equally strong for long-distance running, Clifford adds.

“If you think about running, it’s a series of controlled leg landings. You’re always on one leg at a time,” he says. “People don’t realize you absorb about two to three times your body weight when you run, sometimes more depending on how much you oscillate up and down. That’s why injury is common, because there’s so much force absorption happening.”

When you’re running, your hip has to stabilize, your knee has to track straight, your ankle has to stay somewhat stiff, and then you have to produce force back into the ground. When your foot hits, you absorb energy and then push back up.

“A pistol squat exaggerates that movement,” Clifford says. “You go down, stop yourself, and return back up. You’re not going into a deep squat when you run, but if you can handle a pistol squat, you’re strengthening your legs significantly.”

Basically, everything required in a pistol squat – hip stability, ankle mobility, knee control, trunk alignment – is required in distance running.

Don’t jump right in

Just like you wouldn’t go out and race an Ironman with no base, you shouldn’t just immediately try a pistol squat. Instead, you can work up to one with a series of exercises. And that progression has big benefits, Maiorano says.

“While a goal of 10 pistol squats is an admirable goal, the journey to get there can vastly improve an athlete’s running speed, endurance, and durability, even if the end goal is never reached,” he says.

While there are a lot of pistol squat progression plans online, Maiorano says most seem to be geared toward gym rats who are accustomed to strength training.

He recommends the app Thenics, which takes you through a series of exercises to build your strength before attempting a pistol squat.

For example, it begins with having you do a series of deep squats, then builds to Bulgarian squats (with one leg resting on a block or step), then archer squats, and then assisted pistol squats where you support some of your weight by holding onto a chair.

“A good progression plan will also incorporate targeting stretching, hip flexors, lower back, and hamstrings,” Maiorano says. “And it will build ankle and hip mobility by getting you ‘Ass to Grass’ in a resting and relaxed position before you attempt to get there on one leg.”

Clifford recommends using a mirror to make sure you have the correct form. A picture-perfect pistol squat should have your head neutral, ribcage stacked over pelvis, neutral spine, heel flat on the ground, knee tracking over the second or third toe, no heel lift, and the opposite leg extended in front. There should be no wobbling, no collapse, no panic on the way up.

“Full control throughout,” he says.

Not for everybody

Some people will never be able to do a full pistol squat, especially those with active runner’s knee or pain even during modified versions.

Also, Clifford advises not starting pistol squat progressions in the middle of marathon training, and instead doing it in the off-season.

“Be cautious with meniscus injuries, Achilles pain, or lower back and SI joint issues,” he says.

If you never get to a full pistol squat, that’s OK, Mairoano stresses. You’ll still get a lot of benefit from doing the exercises.

“Runners who have gone through a progression toward pistol squats report noticeable gains in their running,” he says. “A common response is, ‘I feel more solid when I land, and feel like I get a stronger push off, especially on uphills.’”

He says runners feel more stable, in control, and better able to balance each time they land.