Friday, May 01, 2009

Bottom position of the Airborne Lunge...(above^)

Bottom position of the Single leg Squat...(above^)
I know it looks like my heel is touching but it isn't.

As you can see there is a big difference between these two movements - airborne lunge a shorter movement but might lend itself to an aggressive shin angle and strong push off - Single leg squat a full range of motion (and it is this deep hip position that actually fires off the glute) and a pretty cool looking move.  One of the keys is to maintain tension at the bottom and not to "sink" all the way down  by relaxing (not a good idea).  

1 comment:

John D Wilson said...

Just my take on the "functionality" of the pistol.

I use an alternative one-legged squat using a stool, bench, low table, or such.

This is a functional move.

I have an 800 foot hill behind my desert house in La Quinta. On occasion I work my way to the top of the hill.

It's very rocky - some rocks bigger than I am. The trek presents multiple opportunities and options for getting over the bigger rocks.

A frequent choice is to step up (the elegant method) on perhaps a 2 to 3 foot high rock or use hands and knees (swing the knee up, bring up the other knee, etc.)

Same choice going down plus you can sit on your fanny & hop down (good for young children).

My choice is to train using step ups & step downs. I favor extending my down foot for these maneuvers since that's what comes naturally. In the real world I'll use momentum on the step up.

For practice I usually start at the top of the bench and lower myself with strict form til I can just tap the ground and then push back up. I do this for reps. You can adjust the height by stacking books or magazines on the floor for the tapping. I don't rush these - want to get all those stabilizers involved.

This seems to me to fire the glutes given a sufficiently high step. Of course it does not engage the hip-flexors to the same degree as a pistol.

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