Legs · Bodyweight
One Leg Squat
How to do the one leg squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand on one leg with the other extended in front of you. Push your hips back and bend the standing knee to lower as far as you can control while keeping your chest up and the raised leg off the floor. Drive through your heel to return to standing.
- 1Quad, glute, and hamstring of the working leg loading deep
- 2The knee tracking over your toes
- 3Your chest staying lifted and core braced
Common mistakes
- Letting the knee collapse inward
- Using momentum to bounce out of the bottom
- Rounding the back instead of hinging slightly
Muscles worked
The one leg squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, lower abs, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the one leg squat for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.