One-Leg Squats

Squatting on one leg is arguably more functional than bilateral squats. If you consider most of human lower body movement - walking, running, climbing stairs - almost all of this involves one leg to work harder than the other!

One-Leg Squats take this fundamental human movement and scale it through our entire range of motion.

Not only will this build strength, muscle, and mobility through our ENTIRE lower body, it’ll also keep our joints healthy, strong, and moving for years to come.

As with all calisthenics moves, build up to this progressively. If your joints hurt from doing this movement, experiment with some easier variations instead.

Congratulations on reaching this step!

Standards

LEVEL 1: 2 Sets of 5 (Both Sides)
LEVEL 2: 2 Sets of 9 (Both Sides)
LEVEL 3: 2 Sets of 12 (Both Sides)

Do 2 Sets of as many as you can. The levels above are standards you can use to measure your progress. Rest 2-3 minutes between Sets. Doing 2 Sets Per Side means 4 sets total (2 focusing on your left leg, and 2 focusing on your right leg). Start with your weak leg first.

If you struggle to hit Level 1 after a few weeks of trying, try using a few of the Regressions shown below.

Once you can do 2 Sets of 12 (Level 3) on both sides with GOOD FORM, you are ready to move on to a harder Squat variation.

Form Cues

  • This exercise is particularly difficult in the bottom range. As a result, you may be tempted to “bounce” out of the bottom. To build strength in this weak point, resist this urge and maintain a brief pause at the bottom.

  • As you do more reps, it may be hard to maintain your balance sometimes. Do these by a wall and lightly touch it to maintain your balance when necessary.

  • Try to resist your knees “collapsing inward.” Our knees are hinge joints are don’t resist sideways pressure well. A good rule of thumb is to have your knee go over your second toe (next to your big toe).

  • One-Leg Squats look better with your assisting leg straight and parallel with the ground at the bottom of the movement. While this is a good workout for your hip flexors, it’s not necessary to get started. Try to keep it off to the ground, and work on getting your leg straighter and more mobile over time.

  • Work one side at a time during a set. This train your working muscles to operate under constant tension.

  • Try to keep your back neutral throughout the exercise. This means don’t arch or round your back. This may take some work if you’re not used to it, but you should make progress over time. Your lower back may round at the very bottom. This is usually fine.

  • Film yourself and watch back between sets

  • As we are building up progressively, it is okay for your knees to go over your toes. Doing this with an exercise we can competently handle will strengthen our joints in tandem with our muscles.

Tutorial

  1. Stand in a safe area.

  2. Raise one leg off the ground. Both legs should be straight. Use your arms to balance however you choose.

  3. Squat down slowly on one leg until your hamstrings are pressed firmly against your calves.

  4. Pause for 1 Second.

  5. Slowly come back up.

  6. Pause for 1 Second.

  7. Repeat 3-6.

Progression & Regression

To make this exercise easier: Not squatting all the way down will make this exercise easier. As you get stronger, you can go lower! It may help you to use your hands pressing on the ground to assist yourself out of the bottom portion. This will build unassisted strength through most of your range while still training the bottom!

To make this exercise harder: Build up plenty of repetitions (20+) with this exercise before trying to make it more difficult. Then you can explore variety in your training rather than scaling this particular exercise. Try reverse Nordic curls, Nordic curls, sissy squats, and more! If you love One-Leg Squats and just want to scale the difficulty, you can try holding a dumbbell while doing them. I personally find this a bit boring, though.