one legged squats

I don't do all of these in a single workout but here are some exercises in my leg workout arsenal:

bulgarian split squats
lunges
squats
deadlifts
romanian deadlifts
power clean
and the aforementioned single leg squat. I usually vary my arm position or extend my arms and use a 10 pound weight to increase the intensity.

Are you talking one-legged squats with the opposite leg going out in front or with the opposite leg on a chair behind you?  I just started doing the ones with my non-working leg propped on a chair behind me and using just bodyweight.  Going all the way down gets some good hammie work too.

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One_Legged_Squat2.jpg (47KB - 53 downloads)
pistol%20form.jpg (61KB - 56 downloads)

I try to practice Pistols, another name for the second pic Tupuppy posted, after workouts that aren't leg intensive. So freakin' hard. I can do a little more than a quarter squat before I go tumbling down. I'll have add the first one he posted in to work on strength without the balance issue messing me up

There's a good tutorial here.

Edited by kimj81 2008-01-15 1:28 PM

The one leg on the chair is a bulgarian split squat. The pistols are what I was talking about. The bulgarian split squats are a great exercise too! I usually take 10-15 pound dumbbells and hold them up above my head to add instability while I go down.

Careful, these put alot of stress on the knees. You will never flex that far in a triathlon so I don't think the benefits outweigh the risks.

i've been doing some one-legged squats (only so quad is parallel w/ground) while standing on a flat rubber disc that is filled with air that i have (i forget what they are actually called, but they are for exercise), and that really puts some balance into it, it is pretty tough!

Unilateral training increases muscle blood flow better than bilateral training does. This is important if you use amino acid feeding methods discovered by sports nutritionists. Taking an amino acid supplement after exercise speeds muscle growth. Scientists discovered that the method works better if you take the supplement before exercise because increased blood flow during the workout helps the amino acids reach the muscles better. Muscle blood flow can be at least 50 to 100% greater during unilateral training compared to bilateral training. The greater the blood flow, the more aminos delivered to the working muscle and the greater the degree of protein synthesis.

Unilateral training improves muscle symmetry. Use this technique to correct strength or mass differences between limbs. If you have an injury, unilateral training helps to bring the injured side back to speed so you can train to your potential.

Unilateral training creates more muscle involvement because of bilateral deficit. This means that the total weight you can lift with each limb working independently exceeds than two limbs working together. The leg press is an example of bilateral deficit. Adding up the weight you can lift with each leg will often be greater than the total weight you can lift with both legs. Because the weight you lift with both legs is less than each leg lifting independently, you have a strength deficit. You have also overloaded your muscles more than you could have using both legs at the same time. You can correct bilateral deficit by practicing unilateral training.

Unilateral training increases the strength of the inactive side. This is a little known fact of neurophysiology. If you do knee extensions with your right leg, your left leg gets a small training effect—without doing anything. Granted, the gains are minimal but they exist.

I've tried and failed miserably. So did everyone I work out with. Great job. There's a video on crossfit.com where I guy does them while holding weight. That blew me away.