Single leg squat easier than hawaiian squat?

This morning I've played around a bit with single leg squat and to my surprise I've found that I can perform a strict pistol squat with one leg extended. Not that many reps but I can perform the full movement. But I cannot do a single hawaiian squat; there's a point before reaching thigh parallel to the floor when I just fall backwards (suboptimal ankle flexibility I think). It seems to me that the pistol squat is actually easier than the hawaiian because of the counter weight of the extended leg. Isn't that the case? Or am I missing something?

Often elements ease or difficulty will be very individual, and depend on your unique set of strengths and weaknesses.

In general the program isn't completely linear, so don't worry too much if an earlier exercise seems harder then a later one.

In theory it should be easier strength wise because the non-working leg will help. However, in practice, everyone's different and has different issues to address. I found rocking SLS much harder than am now finding SLS.

Interesting. So in the hawaiian squat the leg that's not touching the floor is supposed to help pressing you up? I've never thought about it that way, I just had it resting above the other leg's knee. Have to try that.

Luzian said:

Interesting. So in the hawaiian squat the leg that's not touching the floor is supposed to help pressing you up? I've never thought about it that way, I just had it resting above the other leg's knee. Have to try that.

This isn't meant to be an assist; it's more that it's pretty much impossible not to press on it slightly. You are better off trying to minimise assistance, maximising stretch

I'm considering adding the shrimp squat at the end of my routine for the hawaiian squat.

The reason is I've kind of plateaued with the hawaiian squat, though I'm reluctant to proceed to SLS/SE2 without addressing this deficiency. My squatting leg comes to about 5-6 inches from being parallel and I just can't seem to get it lower than that.

I suspect that it's a combination of strength and mobility weaknesses, and I believe the shrimp squat would challenge me on those two fronts. I attempted the shrimp squat and discovered that I have the same 5-6 inches preventing me from executing a full range of motion shrimp squat. (Don't know if shrimp squat is covered in the course material of F2.)

The speed skater squat is basically a shrimp squat right? At least done perfectly. If strength is your problem I would go back to speed skater squats and make sure the back foot doesn't help at all, especially the bottom few inches. If it's (ankle) mobility Hawaiian squats and front split stretch courses is the way to go. Have you put up a form check? There may be something else holding you back, like the amount of lean.

Jason Dupree said:

The speed skater squat is basically a shrimp squat right? At least done perfectly. If strength is your problem I would go back to speed skater squats and make sure the back foot doesn't help at all, especially the bottom few inches. If it's (ankle) mobility Hawaiian squats and front split stretch courses is the way to go. Have you put up a form check? There may be something else holding you back, like the amount of lean.

The shrimp is an advanced form of the SSS and much harder—which is why I'd like to incorporate it for strength and mobility reasons.

I can do SSS without difficulty. My main problem in the hawaiian squat is getting the squatting leg parallel. I can do it, no problem, if I have a bench to sit on, etc., but I'm having difficulty when I have no support.

In my experience the Hawaiian Squat is no more demanding strength wise than the speed skater or SLS. It's the ankle and hip mobility which are limiting factors. The shrimp squat won't work the hip mobility, but it might work ankle depending on how you do it. But Hawaiians are really good for ankle mobility too. Not saying you shouldn't do shrimps, just that for what's holding you back, Hawaiians and supplementary mobility is probably what you need.

I'm using a band to help me with Cossack squats. I simply attach it to my pill up bar, it really lets me sink into the bottom position which I REALLY feel in my hips. It's easy to adjust the assistance by walking closer to the anchor point.