Kickstand Squats For Great Leg Exercise Variety

Kickstand Squats

Kickstand squats are becoming a hot item of late and they deserve some scrutiny for effectiveness. In general, single leg exercises are hard to perform for many people, which is why they don’t do them much. This isn’t just for the skinny guys either. Many hardcore lifters simply ignore single leg work because they believe the benefits are minimal as they don’t allow heavy weights to be piled on.

Well this kickstand exercise is interesting because it gets results not just in terms of leg size and strength, but is also functional in terms of athletic endeavors. It marries the two worlds, allowing various benefits not seen with traditional exercises, such as another range of motion helping to prevent overuse injuries, while still allowing heavier weights to be used.

But don’t be fooled because the support strength required for a single leg exercise is different than a normal squat and can set your loads back quite a bit. Case in point is the Bulgarian Split Squat, which has humbled many an advanced lifter.

How they’re done

Basically, with this type of squat, you use the assisting leg as a support (kickstand) for the load bearing leg (which is on top of a small box or a couple of plates). The support leg is there to help, but not to do a lot of pushing.

So start up on your toe on the assisting leg and come down as you would in a normal squat, while doing as much lifting of the weight (bar or dumbbells) as possible with the load bearing leg. You can test this weight distribution by lifting the assisting leg while standing straight. If you can’t pick this foot off the ground, you are using too much weight.

The reason for the plates or box is that is negates too much knee bend on the assisting leg. And don’t worry about the knee on this leg coming over the toe because as stated, it is only assisting the lift and so this becomes much less of a concern because you’re not driving that much weight down into it.

So why do this type of squat? It allows for greater flexibility through the hips, knees and ankles, while focusing on one side of your lower body musculature through a full range of motion. It also helps in weeding out weaknesses in either side of the lower body and assists in squat mechanics.

The amount of weight you use is determined by feel, balance, confidence and as previously stated, being able to lift the balancing leg while standing up straight. Start slow until you get confident in this movement, then add weight over time. It’s a great way to work on the all important single leg strength while still being able to move a fairly decent amount of weight.

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