Squat progression

Overview: Squats are a compound exercise which will work your entire lower body. They primarily target the muscles in your butt (gluteus  maximus), the front of your legs (quadriceps) and the back of your legs (hamstrings). But they also engage some stabilizing muscles: your lower back (erector spinae), the outside of your thighs and bum (abductors), your inner thighs (adductors) and your calves (gastrocnemius and soleus).

Form: Squats are performed with your thighs at least parallel with the floor, but going lower through the whole range of motion will constitute 'deep squats'. The heels of your feet should remain in contact with the floor at all times. Most trainers recommend that your knees should not track past your toes. It might help to think of squatting as sitting down rather than lowering yourself down.
When performing squats, you should ensure that your back remains in a neutral position, and that you head stays aligned with your body. Make sure to engage your core. Your knees should also remain in alignment with your toes at all times.

Notes: When performing one legged squats, it is very hard not to let your knees track past your toes and not to round your back in order to keep your balance. This in itself should not be an issue as the exercise is not performed under load, as it would be in the case of weighted dips. Futhermore, letting your knees track past your toes is also a contentious issue, with some trainers making the point that not doing so may emphasize the stress on your back.

Flexibility for deep squats and one legged squats: see this article.

About the progression: The following progression will take you to advanced versions of the one legged squat (also known as a pistol squat) and shrimp squats.

Choose one of the following variations as a starting point and perform 3 sets of between 4 and 8 repetitions with periods of between 1 and 2 min of rest between each set. When you can do 3 sets of 8, move on to the next exercise in the progression.

 1. Assisted squats. Rest your hands on the back of a chair in front you. Lower yourself till your thighs are parallel with the floor, and come back up, using the chair as a support.
 2. Deep assisted squats. Same as above, but squat through the full range of motion.
 3. Squats. Without any help, lower yourself till your thighs are parallel with the floor, and come back up.
 4. Deep squats. Same as above, but squat through the full range of motion.
 5. Bulgarian split squats. Rest your back foot on an elevated platform, with the sole pointing up. Keep your weight over your front leg as you lower yourself.
airborne lunges
 6. Beginner shrimp squats (also known as airborne lunges). Lower yourself on one leg until the knee and toes of the leg that was bent under you touch the floor at the same time. This must be a slow controlled movement. Then come back up, trying to lift your knee and toes at the same time.
 7. Assisted one legged squats. Performed with a bench or a chair next to you, extend one leg straight in front of you, and lower yourself all the way down, till your butt touches your heel. The heel must remain on the floor however. Help yourself back up by pushing on the chair.
 8. Balance assisted one legged squats. Same as above, but using a door, door frame, or any vertical structure, mainly for support and balance.
 9. Weighted one legged squats. This is somewhat counter-intuitive, but weighted one legged squats are actually easier than standard ones, as the object you hold in front of you acts as a counter-weight. You can use dumbbells if you have some, but any heavy object such as a dictionary will do. Start with a 5kg weight and move down in weight progressively in 1 kg increments until you can do unassisted pistols.
pistol squats
 10. One-legged squats (a.k.a. pistol squats). Same as above, but without any assitance.
 11. Renegade pistols. Lower yourself on one leg; then switch legs at the bottom (bring the extended leg back next to the other one,into a full squat position), before coming back up. Video demonstration.
12. Intermediate shrimps. Same as shrimp squats, but your back foot must come off the floor before you come back up. This variation shifts the emphasis of the exercise to your quadriceps.
13. Advanced shrimps. Hold your back foot in your hand throughout the exercise. Your knee must touch the floor in a controlled manner.







Alternative progression: box pistols

Once you have managed bulgarian split squats, you can also try this alternative progression, consisting in performing a one legged squat by lowering yourself onto gradually lower and lower objects. Again, this is better thought of as sitting down onto the object, rather than lowering yourself down.

48 comments:

  1. 11. Renegade pistols. Lower yourself on one leg; then switch legs at the bottom before coming back up.

    How do you switch legs?

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    1. Bring the extended leg back next to the other one (into a full squat position), then extend the other one in front of you.
      I'll amend the description to reflect that... Would a video be useful?

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    2. Yes thank you, videos showing proper form would be immensely helpful as I'm always wondering if I'm doing it wrong. Thanks for your advice as always.

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    3. plz can you provide me with video link

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    4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx7-ywBEIQM

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  2. Hi, I seem to be lacking the flexibility for deep squats, meaning that my ankle wont bend enough and i fall backwards. I found that i have no troubles with weighted deep squats, similar to no 9 here using 3kgs but I can't get the weight further down as my ankles wont allow for it. Any suggestions how to progress? Just keep doing more repetitions + stretching?

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    1. Basically, yes. More practice + stretching. I am going to do a post on ankle mobility/flexibility for one legged squats in the forthcoming weeks, so watch out for that.

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  3. Hi,

    I started running about 6 weeks before I started your bodyweight program - which is great by the way. I plan on running a marathon in the next 1-2 years depending how comfortable I feel after a few months building up my base mileage.

    Are squats a good addition to a running program for building strength? If so, when should I be doing the squats? (I've broken up your workouts into upper body and core workouts to save time on a daily basis). Currently I do the squats on the easier days. Alternatively, should I not be doing squats at all since I may overdo it and risk injury?

    Thanks. This is a really great program, I travel a ton so it's something I can do anywhere without needing a gym. Thanks!

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    1. Well, as an ex sub-2H25 marathoner myself I can tell you one thing: I wish I had done squats when I was running. I battled for a few years with chronic achilles tendonitis, and it effectively put an end to my running career. Since doing one legged squats, I have noticed greatly increased achilles tendon flexibility and a host of benefits.
      There is, in my opinion, no risk of overdoing it by adding squats to your current training. I would add them to your programme every other day, on easier days. If done with correct form, this will actually help prevent injury (but make sure to do the flexibility exercises as well)

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    2. Thanks for the input and for answering so quickly.

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  4. What about shrimp squat on a ledge so you can get deeper and make it harder?

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  5. Hello! Is there a reason why you choose not to include more lower body progressions, such as lunges and glute bridges?

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    Replies
    1. yes: they are hard to progress; and they target similar muscle groups (I've been trying to keep the program balanced). What the routine is missing is a posterior chain hip hinge exercise, which is why I advocate deadlifts if you have access to a barbell...

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  6. Hey, I've got a problem.

    I seem to be stuck on bulgarian squats, as my legs/knees aren't strong enough for the beginner squats. Should I skip it and try assisted pistol squats?

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    1. Do you touch the floor with your knee when you do Bulgarian split squats?

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    2. Hi, I'm also stuck on the Bulgarian squats.

      I've done it with a bag full of books as well, and make sure to go as deep as possible without my knee touching the floor.

      When I try the shrimp squats, I can't go deep enough for my knee and toes to touch the floor. I can go a little bit more than half-way, but no more.

      Should I keep at it until I can reach that depth?
      Thanks for the progressions by the way.

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    3. I'd have to see a video of what you're doing... Surely, you can let your knee drop to the floor with beginner shrimps: there's no great flexibility required, just allow your torso to lean forward. The last part of the movement might not be totally under control, but this will come with time.

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    4. Hi,
      Just want to clarify. If I'm having trouble with the shrimp squats should I go back to Bulgarian and go deep enough for my knee to touch the floor?

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  7. First of all, thank you so much for this website. I am a 26 years old fella leaving in Germany and I have never looked as great as I do now and each time I see myself in the mirror I am proud of the accomplishment, and all of it because of you. I had tried thousands of training programs but it was either too hard or too easy, fancy equipments... but yours fits my lifestyle and my needs perfectly.

    I started mid November last year and I train 3 times a week. I finish the squat progression (any suggestions?), pull ups (bit stuck at 877 with neutral grip though should I just be patient on this one and keep on trying?), wall hand stand push ups, hanging bent leg V raises (kind of feeling my shoulders sometimes...), one arm push ups, legs forward dips , tuck knees front lever row (took me a while after finishing the one leg elevated to be able to do tuck knees so I just kept on doing the inverted row leg elevated adding 15 kg weight on my chest) and since yesterday dragon flags, L sit (but struggling with tuck knees). and I usually do then 15 minutes of different abs exercises.

    thanks again and keep up the good job, your spreading happiness.

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    Replies
    1. First of all, I hope you don't mind, I featured your post as a testimonial on this page: http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/about-start-bodyweight-program.html
      With regards to finishing the squat progression: unfortunately, there's not much else you can go with bodyweight only at this stage. You could do plyometrics pistol squat box jumps, but I wouldn't advice to do this more than once a week... The other route is to get dumbbells or a barbell, and start working on weighted squats.
      If you're stuck on pull ups, look into the 'grease the groove' method of training.
      Thank you for sharing your experiences.

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  8. Just looking to start out, I find this program facinating, but I have one point of confusion. Is the program 3 sets of 8 reps of 1 exercise in each progression then advance as you can? For example, do you do the assisted squat for a few weeks then when you feel it's not challenging substitute the deep assisted squat?

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    Replies
    1. Read this page: http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/start-bodyweight-basic-routine.html

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  9. Quick question about the one legged squats (and all your one limbed exercise variations), how am I supposed to count my sets? Is one set of eight supposed to mean 4 for each leg (alternating legs each time) or eight reps for each leg (essentially doing a "right set" and a "left set")? Thank you very much in advance

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  10. Hi,

    I wanted to follow you using fitocracy, problem is many of these exercises are not on there, assisted shrimp or airborne lunge, deep squat etc... makes it kinda hard. Guess Ill just use pen and paper.

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    Replies
    1. I just log the whole thing as a 'bootcamp' session on Fitocracy.

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  11. el diablo, i've gone past split bulgarians. im doing the box pistol progression. i tried also the shrimp progression. i love both. can i do both progressions?

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    Replies
    1. There's only one progression here. Getting a one legged squat will help you achieve shrimps later on. You'll just be limiting your progress if you attempt advanced shrimps too soon.

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  12. oh. okay thanks!

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  13. i can easily do 3 sets of 20 normal squats, but i'm having a lot of trouble keeping my balance doing deep squats. should i move back up to assisted deep squats or break it down to something like 10 sets of 1 deep squats

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    Replies
    1. Why are you doing 20 squats? The progression calls for 8.
      Here's what you should do: use the same principle as in the box pistol progression, at the very end of the article... Take a pile of books, and squat down till your bum rests on the books. Then gradually, over time, take away the books, one after the other.

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  14. Hi!
    I'm at number 8 - balance assisted one-legged squats. I can easily do three (even four, actually) sets of 8 assisted squats, so I figure it's about time to move on. I've encountered two problems though.
    First of all - I can't seem to keep my balance using a door or my dip station, and I don't have a staircase nor a doorframe which would allow me to exercise my left leg (the joys of living in a small flat). I've winged it by simply putting my hand against a wall. Will it do? Or is it crucial that I don't have perfect support from one side?
    The other problem is - my right knee handles 3 sets of 4 reps just fine, but my left knee got quite painful. Can you advise me on form or warmup to alleviate that?

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    1. Use a door itself: have the door half open and place your hands on both sidesof the door, palms flat. The friction from your hands on the door panel should allow you to keep your balance.
      I'm not sure why your knee would be painful: make sure your knee remains in perfect line with your toes, and try not to bring your knee too far forward past your toes as you go down.
      There's no reason for this exercise to be painful, so if it remains so, you should probably go and see a physio.

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    2. Hey! Thanks for Your reply! It was really helpful.
      As a follow-up: during my last few workouts I've carefully made sure that my toes and knee were in line at all times. I have also done two warm-up sets of regular deep squats, one set being fast, the next very slow. The pain receded gradually and after five or six workouts disappeared completely.

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  15. I'm on step 7 and having trouble keeping my heel on the ground while getting low enough. I feel like that results in me leaning to the side and having to use more support. Any suggestions?

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    Replies
    1. Try posting your questions through the new reddit group: http://www.reddit.com/r/startbodyweight/
      Work on your flexibility: http://www.startbodyweight.com/2013/12/flexibility-for-deep-squats-and-one.html

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  16. Hi,

    I've got Bulgarian squats down pat, but beginner shrimps are very difficult. I can physically lift and lower myself, but balancing, especially on my right leg (which seems to be weaker as well) is making the exercise far more difficult than it would be if I weren't constantly tipping over. Any suggestions?

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  17. For Some Reason, I Can Fulfill The Progression For Advanced Shrimps But Not For One Legged Squats. Do You Know Why?

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  18. So ive been following your progressions for a little while assuming I'd need to start relatively low skill wise (I largely focused on lifting weights and wrestling the last two years) but I found out that I can already do weighted one legged pistol squats, so can I start the progressions at that level?

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  19. Firstly, dude GREAT information here.

    Glute-ham raises are amazing for the posterior chain. They can be scaled (regressed or progressed) too.

    I like how you are very explicit when you stress the #1 training principle that governs all our training endeavors (natural athletes more-so) - PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. That is, as long as you are progressing (in the long run) in terms of sets/reps/time/distance etc. - then nothing else matters. Regarding training, the means justify the ends: if what you are doing is working, keep doing it. If not, switch it. Explore, have fun and reap the fruit of your labor.

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  20. Hello,
    Thank you for the great blog. What would you recommend for more advanced bodyweight leg training? I am currently doing elevated shrimp squats and plyo pistol squats, but I would love to progress more without using weights.
    Thanks.

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  21. Hi!

    Have you been doing pistols for a long time? I think it´s bad for the knees, what's your opinion?

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  22. I personally like a pistol squat combined with heavy handed shrimp squat. Mostly I find that my boxed split Bulgarian is incorporated with a semi-lifted lunge at the apex of bend. Perhaps, I'm initiating the movement with a whole different progression with obviously the incorrect form but, then I don't like to think that anything I do is incorrect.

    Any advice that can inform me to the point where the problem is I have much appreciation for.

    No Haters need reply !

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  23. Hi Nick,

    I have a question for you regarding bulgarian split squats. I've noticed that when coming to the top of the movement my knees make a clunking noise and it feels as if I can feel something moving under my kneecap. It doesn't hurt at all so I'm not sure if it's something I should be concerned about or not. Any input?

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    1. My Physio always told me that if clicks and clunks don't hurt then don't worry. Saying that sometimes too much clicking does end up hurting. You're not hyper extending at the top are you? Ie over straightening your leg? If I really focus on keeping my glutes engaged this seems to lessen any knee clicking. But I'm no expert so feel free to ignore!

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