This can be a difficult one to master, but it's likely to be much more valuable than two-legged, weighted squats as a training tool for sports because it forces you to maintain stability and balance. Couple of videos here showing how it's done and some tips for progressing. For most people it's going to be a while before they are easy enough that you need more than your own body weight, so the beauty of pistols is you can do them anywhere. This is my favourite hotel-room exercise.
Basic Pistols
Here's a video of Steve Maxwell making it look easy.
Assisted Pistols
There are a couple of ways you can do this - putting something under your behind...
...or holding onto something with your hands. Steve Maxwell is using something he rigged up here, but you could equally use any stable object at waist height to steady yourself, such as a bed.
Weighted Pistols
If you get good at pistols, maybe you would want to make things harder to bring the reps down. I think the best way is to use a weighted vest (or chains round your neck) - but you can also hold dumbbells or kettle bells in your hands. I am not good enough to have tried any - but here's someone who is...
I haven't done proper squats for a while, since I now focus on pistols to work my legs - however, here is a gratuitous video of a very strong guy squatting an awful lot of weight on a barbell.
Barbell Plate Partial Squats
I am not sure whether anyone else does these, so here is a video of me doing it. It's a great way to throw in a controlled set of partial squats at the end of a routine, simply to get the cardiovascular system working. I like the fact that the plates determine how far down you can go and that the centre of gravity is different from when holding dumbbells. The plates seem to stabilise the body more. I typically do 50-100 reps as a finisher with a 20kg or 25kg plate.
Swiss Ball Squats
I was told to do these by my physiotherapist while recovering from knee surgery - without the dumbbells initially. I think this variation puts less pressure on the knee because of the stability offered by the ball and the fact it allows you to lean back as you perform the movement.
Grab some dumbbells and carry them up and down the stairs. To get heavy enough to really tax yourself, you may need to use lifting straps or the grip will fail long before your legs or cardiovascular system. I like this because of the sequential effort. With stepping or box jumping there is always a point where you can rest. Stair climbing adds a new dimension to leg training - especially if you live on the 3rd floor, as I do!
The video shows this being done with a Swiss ball, but you can improvise - any method is fine if it allows you to keep your upper body stable and sufficient range of motion for the legs.
Jump up onto something, ideally a box. Then do it again. Box jumps are simple and can be done anywhere you can find a stable platform. They can be very demanding and challenging if you want them to be - just choose a height and rep pattern accordingly. As well as the basic jump, I had to include some videos of more incredible jumping feats!
No matter how much I get into bodyweight exercises, I cannot let go of deadlifts. They are just such a great all-body exercise. The videos show the different ways they can be done. It's one of the few exercises where I still use lifting straps on occasion.
Standard Deadlift
Stiff/Straight-Legged Deadlift
With this version, you keep the legs more or less entirely straight and make more use of the lower back. People often stand on a platform to get a greater stretch on the hamstrings.
I like that this guy does a standard deadlift for the first rep. This is a good approach, since it can be disproportionately hard to do that first rep with this variation - making it hard to have good form on the first rep if you are using a heavy weight. Another approach, if you have the necessary equipment, is to take the weight off a rack at waist height to start.
Romanian Deadlift
Some people seem to think the Romanian deadlift is basically the same as the stiff-legged. But there are some differences and this article explains them well. Essentially, you do not go as far down with the bar (i.e. do not stand on a platform) and therefore there is no rounding of the back at the bottom. You also bend the legs a little more.
23.09.10: I recently videoed myself doing RDLs, and found my form was not good. After dropping the weight, and trying again the week after, things are looking better:
This first video, of the basic burpee, shows how I tend to do these. Some people seem to think that a proper burpee includes a press-up - and I will post a video of this and other tequniques in due course.
This is a versatile exercise, in that you can do it almost anywhere and you can make it pretty tough if you want to. It's essentially the same movement as a box jump - except that you do it on some steps or stairs. The photo shows the seating in the sports hall at my gym, where there are three large steps and, conveniently, a set of smaller steps for jogging down or doing smaller jumps up.
Using stairs for jumping allows you, in effect, to do many consecutive box jumps, which can be pretty demanding if you find a long enough set of steps. You can try jumping multiple steps at a time to make each jump harder, or perhaps jump each step but do so as quickly as you can.
Jumping Jacks are basically an easier version of the star jump. I find the former too light to have any tangible impact on my cardiovascular system, but for that reason it can be useful for recovery sets during circuits.
