Pistols are one of those crazy hard bodyweight exercises that require extreme levels of strength, balance, mobility, and coordination, making them tough for people of all fitness levels.
So in today’s video, I’m going to show you how to get better at pistols by practicing your candlestick pistol rolls.
You’ll want to start by first practicing a basic candlestick roll, so that you can get a sense of how the movement should feel before transitioning into pistol candlestick rolls. This will help you figure out the movement and the momentum needed to get yourself up off the ground back onto your feet.
Watch the short video tutorial:
Practicing candlestick rolls to get better at pistols
To do a basic candlestick roll, start out by squatting down, then roll back so that you’re on your upper back/shoulders with your feet straight above your hips (it’s ok if they point slightly towards your head). Quickly roll back up on both feet.
There are two important points to keep in mind when doing candlestick rolls:
#1: Make sure that when you’re rolling back, your feet go straight to the sky, never past your head. Yes, it’s ok if they point slightly towards your head as mine do in the video.
#2: As you come forward out of the roll, try and drive your heels to your butt as fast as possible. The closer you can get your feet to your butt, the more efficient (i.e. easier) the movement becomes.
Practice the basic candlestick roll a few times, then once you’re comfortable with it, give a candlestick pistol roll a shot!
To do a candlestick pistol roll, you’re going to do the same exact thing, except instead of getting up with both feet, you’ll stick one out in front of you and use a single leg to get yourself up off of the ground.
Don’t worry if you’re slightly off balance or need to use your opposite hand to steady yourself at first when you get off of the ground—these will get easier with time, I promise.
Practice these often, and you’ll be well on your way to mastering pistols!
I’m not sure why it does this in certain browsers/email programs… I’ll try to look into it and figure it out. Sorry about that!
Thanks Krista,
great tip for pistols now I feel like I might be able to do them!
Excellent video Krista. This is a great way to get your pistols on point. Thanks for sharing!
I tried doing these to train pistols awhile ago, but I rolled the crap outta my spine! How do you do these without hurting your spine?
Thanks for the exercise tip (Candlestick roll). I will try it.