"The one legged squat is employed more often as a feat of strength than it is as a training exercise."

John Grimek, on the pistol

The pistol squat is more of a stunt than an exercise. The Dragon Door folks are completely out to lunch on this one.

For one thing it is a weird and unnatural movement, not "functional" at all, yet a lot of the people that praise the pistol will tell you how important functional exercise is. This exercise is proof that bodyweight exercises are not necessarily functional. A squat with a barbell is far more functional.

The book "Naked Warrior" truthfully, misses a simple mechanical point: your center of gravity

1) is determined by individual proportions
2) has to be over your foot at all times

So depending on your individual proportions, getting into that bottom position is going to take some severe compensations. Making these twists and torques with the knee fully flexed and fully loaded is a disaster.

Some of the proportions problems that will knuckle your efforts to do pistols:

• having a gut
• having an ass
• having hamstrings big enough that your knee opens when your heel touches your ass*
• not having short stumpy legs
• not having narrow hips

The book goes through this whole focacta explanation of how the right way to do this exercise is pushing through your heel, like in a real squat, which is pretty much impossible for average proportions. People stick with it and learn to do it with the heel down, but only by making all kinds of ridiculous compensations.

Holding a good sized weight out in front of you at arms length as a counterbalance will change your center of gravity back to front and overcome some of the issues - but holding a 45 out there is a significant bump in weight for one foot. .

But seriously, it is a stunt. If you want something like a pistol but not goofy, do one legged squats Paul Anderson style, off a high box or table. I couldn’t find a good picture of this. You can do these with the off leg behind the box or to the side of the box. The foot either doesn’t reach the ground or just barely touches it, it doesn’t push off the ground. Pavel mentions them in the book, I think he had Maxwell doing them off a picnic table.
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FROM CCROW ON THE POWER AND BULK FORUM

http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36499

Don’t miss what me the best strength and conditioning workshop of the year! Go HERE and sign up NOW!

When: October 25-26 (Saturday and Sunday)

Where: Las Vegas, NV

Bonus: Free DVD of the workshop, free Lifeline USA Power Pushup 2 and Jungle Gym,  Retail value $259.95! Yours free for attending the workshop. Moreover 10% of your registration fee will go to help kids with cancer.

This short video clip really drives home the point of the productive range of motion of the shoulders, spine, and hips. Vasily Ginko’s Olympic lifting background and his historic kettlebell lifting records are no doubt a product of hard work and being aware of specific body mechanics. 

Apparently this is a sport in some countries. The fitness effects kind of make it a "sprint" for the upper body.

Here are some Kettlebell records provided by Eric Liford. They were originally posted at the "dark place" IGX.

Kettlebell Sport Records:

Mill Press
16kg/35lb — 700 reps in 30 minutes

I stopped eating fruit and veggies 3 years ago. I’m 27 months into my Meat and Fat only diet and still going strong. Every 2-3 months I rotate a different cut of beef. Right now it’s sirloin and next month I switch to rib-eye , tenderloin, etc. Still following IF and eating only once a day usually around 8 at night. No supplements except multi vitamin and minerals. Zero Carbs.

 I’ve not had any "cheat foods" at all in 27 months. If I want more of something it’s meat or fat. Liquids consumed are black coffee ( the only way to drink it ) spring water, Fruit 2.0 water, and a diet soda every once in a while. Never, Ever, felt better. Might not be for all but "it" works for me. No need to fix what’s not broken.
–Eddie
" Once You’ve Walked Through The Fire Unscathed, Nothing Else Can Ever Burn "
USMC
Further notes on this training journey.

Here is an interview with Dr. Ellington Darden which covers quite a bit of old iron history. Even if you are not a high intensity fan, this interview is worth the read.

"Fireman" Tom Corrigan has done it again. His first DVD, " KBFire" provides an exhaustingly thorough look at what it takes to learn kettlebell basics,  apply them to a fitness routine, and then how to modify and train for "Blue Collar Fitness. You could hardly top that product for those of us who actually work for a living. Well, Tom decided that maybe simplicity was the height of cultivation. His professionally produced DVD could be too informational for his beginning workshop attendee’s. He decided to re-edit and extract only the most important beginner drills, make the instructional model flow, keep it under an hour and only charge 15 dollars for it! (plus shipping). I’ve reviewed it and I have to agree that Tom kept his promise of dynamite in a small package. His understanding of the fundamentals is profound and his coaching style is one based on friendship and not dictatorial. I’ve personally seen him compete and then run over to offer a team mate a few tips based on his highly defined observational skills. Tom has trained with every authority that he can find and now has a Master of Sport, Mikhail Marshak as his personal coach in Kettlebell training for Sport and for Fitness. This "insider insight" gives Tom a canvas by which comparison of teaching styles can be viewed without prejudice. His opinion is based on research and application. The value to cost rating of this DVD blows similar  "Basics" DVD’s off the market. Period.

If you would like to purchase Tom’s DVD, I’d suggest emailing him at kbfiremantom@yahoo.com . The cost is 15 dollars plus 5 for shipping and handling. Lots of bang per buck. Or buy it using Paypal at his site. http://bluecollarfitness.com/

3 Facts On Lats

Try this and see if it works.

1. Pullups to the Chest. 5X5. Do whatever you can to do this many or more. Assisted pullups, stepping in a Jumpstretch Band, partner assistance, etc. For many, this will be easy. For others real hard. If it is impossible, use a pulldown machine with the form that is explained above.

So there you have it. Pullup, Pullback, and Pullover. Three Facts on Lats.

If you are interested in a hard core fitness opinion that is delivered with a tongue in cheek style, I’d suggest you check out Scott Helsley’s Ration Fitness Blog.
His recent post on the use of Jumpstretch Bands for training included this photo.

It is not uncommon for athletes to dynamically load their bench press, squat, deadlift, or dips/chins, it was the angle of pull that was interesting. Scott choked the band to a kettlebell far back from his center of gravity. As most of you know, the lats have a wide range of movement. I primarily think of "down and back" when I think of using the lats. Other’s think of using a pulldown machine for endless "lean back pulls" with ridiculously light weights in their local Bally’s. Scott’s arrangement passed several simple tests for my ever inquiring mind. One, it looked challenging and different. Two, it was bare bones cheap. It also fit the "prison mentality" which is a huge component of my personal training philosophy.

On the first try, the answer was simple, … This is an incredible exercise. I think it provides a nice, anatomically sound, pulling movement. The pullups felt different than anything I had tried before. I kept the angle of pull exactly the same for every set, changing it remains as a neat variable for future workouts. The bonus part is when you can no longer pull yourself up. You have several choices. The first is to use a lighter band. The second, use NO band. The third, choke the band onto the chinning bar and step into it for assisted chinning. What about the fourth option? That option is the lat shrug. It is a simple motion that can occur when the arms can no longer bend ( the weakest link in the chin / pull up ). You simple contract the lats by pulling the shoulder blades down and back. In this case the band arrangement provides incredible resistance for the motion. Actually it feels almost perfect. It’s so good that you could actually use this as a separate exercise. That’s what legendary Mr. Olympia Larry Scott did. He learned the exercise from sword and sandals actor, Mark Forest (Lou Degni). Forest would actually put his wrists on the bar and not use his fingers. He felt this isolated the lats. I don’t personally think it makes a difference. If you choose to do it without doing the pullups first, use a heavier band, and really blast out the reps. You can move quickly since the band dampens momentum. I think higher volume in this case would be a nice change of pace from low reps and sets. Any numerical variation of sets and reps should work however. Be creative. The results could be stupendous. Look at Scott’s back.