Methods for gaining muscle and losing fat

Have any of you guys ever done pistol squats? They are now my principal upper leg exercise. (The only other upper leg exercise I do is weighted sissy squats.) I had stopped doing barbell squats well over 5 years ago, focusing on leg presses, extensions and curls. When I saw pistols in a bodyweight workout book about a month or so ago, and then on Youtube, I had to try it. It took me a couple of weeks to be able to do them without holding onto something for balance. Now I can do 15 reps with strict form holding a 20-lb dumbell in each hand. Whereas I used to do full-set barbell squats with a bit less than double my bodyweight, and leg presses with 4 times my body weight, the latter of which I had been doing up until about a month ago, and both to a 90-degree angle (all in all not too bad for a middle-aged weekend warrior), weighted pistols take the very stuffing out of me.

 

I'm taking in a bit more protein and my regularity is not what it was. Do you guys experience that and if so, anything you use and recommend.

TIA

 

Thus far, my knees are the only joints that have not ever given me any trouble. And, I must admit that my upper leg work involving squats and presses had only been to the 90-degree mark, beyond which I didn't think it was worth the risk. However, my knees don't seem to mind the pistol squats, although it may be too soon to tell, seeing as how I only started them about a month ago.

They key is to keep the heel on the floor and to make sure that the knee does not move forward beyond the toes at the bottom of the movement. Also, the down move should be done carefully while the up move can be either slow or explosive. I prefer slow both ways. The tough part is getting the balance part, kind of like learning to ride a bicycle. Also, unless you've done it before, you've really got to limber up. I always precede the leg routine with about 5 minues of mostly lower body (leg) stretching. And legs are the first thing I do in my full-body routine.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be surprised how much even light weights can make a difference in the number of reps you can do. Perhaps I'll change my mind one day, but for now I can't see wanting to go back to barbell squats (which I abandoned over 5 years ago) or leg presses.

 

You'll never gain any real muscle size or leg strength doing "pistols". Pistols are ghey.For that need heavy barbell squats and leg presses

 

Yeah, let me know when you try them and we'll see who's "ghey." I have never sweated as much during a leg workout as I have with weighted pistols. And, as with barbell squats and leg presses, you can increase the resistance, but using far less weight for significant effect because you're only working one leg at a time. That's a welcome safety feature. One of the advantages of free weights over machines is that you use muscle and effort to maintain proper balance. Well, that effect is further heightened during pistols.

 

The balance issues are too great with the "pistol". YoYa they feel "hard" but y'll never get any significant stimulation. Waste of time. Like these idiots that do dumbell bench presses while lying on a big inflated gym ball (the name of this ball escapes me now).

For real muscle tension, and therefore muscular growth need a stable base, pistols cannot give that. You're wasting your time.

 

Have you tried them? Can you do them? Unless your answer is yes, you're just making noise. Once you get the balance down, it's not like the gym ball stuff. I have no use for gym ball exercises, so I know what you mean by that remark.

 

yes, i have.