Legs · Bodyweight
Pistol Squat with Chair
How to do the pistol squat with chair, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand in front of a chair on one leg with the other leg extended out in front of you. Push your hips back and bend the standing knee to lower under control until your glutes lightly touch the chair, then drive through your heel to stand. The chair sets your depth and gives you a safety target.
- 1Feel your quad and glute of the standing leg control the descent and
- 2drive you up
- 3Tap the chair lightly without sitting and resting into it
- 4Keep your chest up and the non-working leg extended for balance
Common mistakes
- Don't let the standing knee cave inward
- Avoid crashing down onto the chair; control the lowering
- Don't round your back or lose your balance forward
Muscles worked
The pistol squat with chair mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, lower abs, calves, and hip flexors assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the pistol squat with chair 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.