One key to strength training and building muscle is to make sure that your muscles are being challenged. If you never change the stimuli (weight, reps, sets, exercises), your muscles will adapt and eventually stop growing and getting stronger. Because our glutes are the biggest muscle group in our body (our quadriceps and hamstrings also top that list), it's important to have an arsenal of ways to work them.
Squats [1] are great for improving your lower-body strength and one of my favourite variations [2] is the pistol squat. It's a unilateral exercise [3] (a single-leg movement) that will help strengthen both sides of your body equally (goodbye, imbalances) and it will improve your strength and stability.
How to Do a TRX Pistol Squat
- Start facing the anchor point with the straps at mid-length and your hands on the handles.
- Step back so that there's no slack on the suspension trainer.
- With your feet about hips-width apart, lift your right leg off the ground.
- With your arms fully extended and tension on the suspension trainer, lower down into a squat. Be sure to keep your weight shifted back on your heels while maintaining a neutral spine. Your arms should be extended throughout the entire movement.
- Drive your left heel through the ground as you come into a standing position. There should be a slight bend at your left knee. Be sure not to pull yourself up with your arms. Instead, push yourself up with your leg. This completes one rep.
- Complete three sets of eight to 10 reps on each leg.