WODdoc Episode 147 Project365: Pistol Box Squat Setup Progression & Peel Back

November 27, 2014 4:58 am

I love using the pistol box squats as a strength builder for full pistols. This is a movement that we need to do regularly if we expect progression. A good rule of thumb is to perform consistently 3-4x/week for 4-6 weeks (make sure to use yesterday’s formula for your rep scheme… check back one episode if you missed it).

There are 2 common faults I see all the time when performing these.

1. We change this movement into a box step-up – athletes tend to allow their back foot to land well behind their heel of their foot on the box. This turns the movement into nothing more than a box step-up (which I am not against but it’s just not what we are doing) To fix this pick a corner of the box and align both feet to the edge (either heel or toe). Concentrate on having your foot land parallel with the other (like mama said “put it back where you took it from”).

2. We loose our torso angle – If the movement is difficult we tend to rock forward and stick our butt up in the air first. This is bad for a plethora or reasons, all of which can be discussed at another time. We have two fixes here. We either add a band to lean against or a visual target (tonight it was a rack but could be anything… push the box close to a wall) to stay away from.