The Definitive Article on Fixing the Pistol: Part 1 Mobility

The Pistol – World’s Dumbest Exercise?

I’ve got a little secret.  I used to absolutely hate pistols.  I used to watch people who are good at them and just get mad.  How the heck do they make it look so easy?  At the time I was 170lbs and able to take 400lbs for a deep squat but couldn’t manage to complete 1 stupid pistol?

It’s frustrating.  Everytime I’d go try to go down to the bottom of a pistol it would look like bambi on ice and I’d either fail miserably on my depth or fall backwards on my butt.  I mean, it was really bad.

Over the years I’ve slowly become a little more proficient in the pistol.  I’ve put in several years worth of knowledge, mobility, practice and accessory work to make them both look and feel a bit better.  I wanted to share this knowledge with you.

First off, for proficiency in the pistol you’re going to need enough mobility in 3 basic places:

To test to see if you’ve got the mobility for it you’ll need to be able to squat comfortably with your feet together.  It’s an easy test:

1) Ankle Dorsiflexion Problems

Don’t have it?  Time to see where things fall apart.  First check the ankles:

Failed the test?  Better get to work:

2) Hip Flexion Problems

Pass the ankle mobility test but still can’t squat with the feet together?  Must be either a hip or lumbar spine issue.  You can check hip mobility by seeing if you or your athlete can lie on their back and pull their knees to their chest without their lower back rolling off the floor (Part of the SFMA deep squat breakout).  To be strict try and keep …read more

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