Strong for Summer 5 Day Workout Challenge [Workout #4]

This week we’re getting strong for Summer with the Strong for Summer 5 Day Workout Challenge. Today is workout #4!

Today we’ll be looking at one of my favorite leg exercises of all time: pistols. A lot of people think of pistols or one legged squats as something only people with super human strength can do—but just like anything else, they take time and practice, but they’re NOT impossible.

Check out today’s short video or take a look at the instructions below to join in:

Today’s Exercise Focus: Pistols

We’ll be looking at three variations of the pistol today:

One legged bench squats

Stand in front of a bench or a sturdy surface with a similar height. Straighten your opposite leg out in front of you, push your hips back and sit down, keeping your opposite leg as straight as possible. Squeeze your core and butt muscles and make sure to pull your shoulders back as you try to lift yourself back up.

If you need assistance from this position, tap the toes of your opposite foot to the ground and lightly use them to help balance you as you stand up.

Negatives

Negatives help you get used to the movement of pistols and increase your strength and flexibility as you continue to do them.

Hold your arms out in front of you, then stand on one leg with your free leg held straight out in front. Push your hips back and slowly lower down so that your butt is almost touching the ground. Set your other leg down, then stand up with two legs.

Full pistols

When you’re ready to try a full pistol, start by holding your arms out in front of you, then stand on one leg with your free leg held straight out in front. Push your hips back and sit down as far as you can so that your butt is almost touching the ground. It’s fine if you need to learn forward slightly to get there. Once you hit the bottom position, raise yourself back up to standing.

Today’s Workout:

For today’s workout, you’ll need a plyo box, bench, or something sturdy to step onto.

Set your timer to 18 rounds of 10 and 30 second intervals. You’ll be resting on the :10 ones and going through the following exercises on the :30 ones:

1. Tuck jumps
2. Elevated push ups
3. Step ups
4. Pistols
5. Burpees
6. Elevated knee touches

Don’t hold back you guys! You’ve got this.

Don’t forget, for a chance to win some really cool #noexcuses wristbands and enter in the Strong for Summer workout challenge raffle, take a photo or video of yourself during or after today’s workout and tag #summerstrong on Twitter or Instagram.

And make sure to subscribe to the 12 Minute Athlete YouTube channel to get all the videos for the challenge.

Summer strong!

Did you do today’s #summerstrong workout? Tweet It!