I am new to CrossFit training and so far loving it. I keep hearing about "Pistols", but I can't find it listed on the exercise page. Can anyone describe what this is and what a good beginning routine would be for that exercise?

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,
A pistol is a squat performed on one leg with the non-working leg sticking out straight in front of you. It's typically done as a bodyweight exercise, but some people do hold weights when they perform them.
If you follow CrossFit and develop good front and overhead squats, the pistol will definitely come along.

Tyler

Almost forgot, here is a good article on pistols: http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/pistols.htm
The author of that article, Steve Cotter, is absolutely incredible when it comes to both weighted and bodyweight pistols.

Tyler

Tyler,
Thanks! That is a great article. I look forward to working on this exercise.

Dan

Ihate to post with inacurate times but I too must have caught the clock watch virus. I forgot to start my watch till after the 1st sets of 21. the second sets of 15 & 9 reps took 11:47 & I think the 1st sets of 21 were @ least 7= minutes ...so @ least 18 to 20 minutes today & also I used 105 lbsTheres a lot of room for improvement here also my rings arent here yet so I used the bar for dips.

No C2 so replaced with 120, 90 and 60 seconds of Sumo Deadlift High Pulls respectivly and did 40, 30, 20 bar dips in place of ring dips. (Forgot them)

Time = 12:22

14:14.30

Workout as designated. I was really feeling under the weather this morning and considered taking the day off...but I went anyway. I would probably have done better had I felt 100%.

17:50 - 65# hang squat cleans

This wasn't one of my better workouts. No "git up and go" in my legs this morning - I couldn't seem to generate any power. Also had to back way down on the squat clean weight; my traps and lower back are screaming for a break. At least the clean's depth and speed were good. Ring dips were the only redeeming part of today's trio. All completed easily with no breaks.

Stretching and pistol balance work after the WOD. I finally managed to do a one minute right leg eyes closed stand without touching down, a small victory for this balance challenged person.

Had never done the power hang/squats before. Had to adjust weight in between sets (felt like a wuss). Figured lighter weight lifter faster with better tech. would be better. Had to sub reg. dips for ring dips. C2 still busted. Rowed for approximate timeframes to make up for the prescribed distances.

21 hang squats: 6 (115#--too heavy), 8,7 (65#)
15 " "(5,5,5)
9 " "(3,3,3)
Rowed 5 min (for 1000m) 21 dips
Rowed 4 min (750m) 15 dips
Rowed 3 min (9 dips)

19:20

Did more sets of cleans and worked with a stick to try and improve technique. Ran 1.5 miles, 200 abs, bi's and tri's at the end. Pissed off.

Night Clerk

If the rower at your gym is on a different floor from the weights, is it better to use a replacement exercise or is having a little bit of transportation time (not more than 15 seconds) okay?

23:08

Gordon - I have to hussle about 30 secs from the rowers to the squat rack in my gym. Therefore in theory, my time would be more like 22 min for this WOD. Though I try to be somewhat safe (and not take out the cute girls on the step machines), this ususually ends up being "active rest" for me. I would prefer the equipment was closer, but I believe for a WOD like today that it is better to use the right equipment. As well, I am pretty sure my gym would frown upon taking an olympic bar over to the cardio area...

Emphathizing with Matt and Kelly here - I had no ummph today. No rower so I used 100, 75, and 50 SDHPs with a 45# as a replacement. Rest of workout as designated. Breaks in just about everything except the last sets of HSC and ring dips.

Time was 16:32.

14:15

I have been nursing a lower back injury that was caused by me. Going on a week now, which is the reason for my hit and miss posts. I have been working out daily still, but sometimes there are so many substitutions, it doesn't seem worth posting.

Today was no exception, but decided to post anyway. So I had to do half SDLHPs for the rowing, 75 lbs for the cleans and regular dips.

21 min

New guy but still trying.
22:45 mins w/ 65 lb bar. & box dips. Enjoying the variety and the rest days.

hey,
I am new to crossfit and trying to learn some of the exercies, but when I click on the video of some of them all I get is a page of aski code and no video...what am I doing wrong? Can anyone piont me in the direction of a writen discription of the exercises? Thanks

For time:
100 SUMO high-pulls, 40# barbell
Hang squat clean 95#, 21 reps
21 Bar dips
75 SUMO high-pulls, 40# barbell
Hang squat clean 95#, 15 reps
15 Bar dips
50 SUMO high-pulls, 40# barbell
Hang squat clean 95#, 9 reps
9 dips

TOTAL TIME=25:30

High-pulls took *much* longer than the corresponding row... disappointed that I wasn't able to do the 115# cleans - even the 95's were hurting today! And I have to get rings soon...

Did first two rounds in 19:56

Used 50# dumbbells with 2.5" handles for powercleans, Concept II for rowing, and ring dips.

21:10

Brutal, tough to gauge pace. First 1k @ 2k pace then much slower during 2nd and 3rd rounds. hsc technique poor, very little squat involved. Broken ring dip sets. I found this sequence very difficult.

17:07

27:16
Took it a little easy today. Did SDLHP for row, 115# for HSC, ring dips. Focused on form: full front SQ on HSC, full range on ring dips. Sometimes it's better for me to back off a little.

24:25.

Sometimes the WOD wins. Felt weak on the HSCs today; I seem to be losing weight. Finished w/Janda Sit-ups and hanging leg raises.

This does not have anyting to do with the WOD. But does anyone know the web site for the work out until you puke club. 60 pullups 60 dips 60 squats.

17m

didn't have enough juice to go for time. did all exercises, but didn't worry about duration except on C2.
HSC 10 @ 95#, 10 @ 115#, 6 x 5 @ 135#
bar dips 5 x 21
rowing 2500m 10:17

added OH squats & deadlifts. whole thing took ~ 45 min. feeling out of gas lately.

21:25, Solid row, 1:55 on the last 500m, good ring dips, need technique improvement on the hsc's.

27:32

Very humbling. Rows were strong, but hsc's did me in.

23:07
55# HSCs
asst. bar dips (6)

proud to be a crossfit post-er, just to raise everyone else's self-esteem! :)

Finished in 17:48.

This workout was a demanding combo which seemed to never end. Decided to take it easy on the rows and smash through the HSC's. That was until I got to the cleans. A very humbling workout.

28 mins, bar dips (no rings at the gym). i had to change machines a few times due to crowd, setup rack twice for cleans, etc. i figure ~23mins without all of that. some of these times amaze me (sub 16 mins...). no matter hard/fast i row on C2 i still go ~250 meter/min. (32 strokes per min up to 39; doens't seem to matter). broken sets on cleans and dips (sore from 2 days ago).

20:19
65# HSC's (thanks Kelly for not making me do 80!). Only broke the first set of HSCs (at 9/12).

This followed 3 mi PT run this afternoon, a couple of muscle-ups, and an HTR event (Hostage Toad Rescue) - had a wayward toad in the garage, being molested by my mighty hunter cat.

Ended with making sweat angels on my new horse-stall flooring.

Quite the w/o
Did 17:52 with the Sumo Deadlifts and HSC at 95#, and did regular dips intead of the ring dips.

20 minutes or so
Did 1600/800/400 meter runs
100 LB HSCs (recovering from lower back sprain)

Pulled the plug at 30 minutes
Ran .75 mile, 115# hang squat clean for 21 resps, 21 bar dips, ran .5 miles, 115# hang squat clean for 15 reps, 15 bar dips, run .25 mile.

32:00 with interruptions from the daughters asking what they should work on next and complaints of "I'm bored!"
HSC were 95# and the squat was no more than 90 degrees as the left knee is still shakey from the squat work last week. Rows were PR's all under 2min/500m.
Bar dips were broken until last set.
Finished off punishing myself with overhead squats, glut/ham sit ups and dead hang pull ups to improve my pathetic pull up count.

16:42...seemed like I was going faster, but I guess not.

rowing and dips ok
the hang clean squats not so good- used 90#
getting better though

19:20

44:58

gAS IS MY BIGGEST PROBLEM. I have to rest a lot in order to complete the entire workout. Split the hang-squat cleans into groups of 7, 5 and 3
Dips were no problem and done in no more than 2 sets each round. Hopefully one day my times will go dow n to about 20 minutes so I can hang in the same playground all you guys do

25:30

100lb barbell. Knocked the clock off the wall getting up from the rower after the 500m round at just after 15 mins. Finished the rest of the workout without breaks in about a minute (CD player used for time). Rounded my time up to 16:30 as the best guess.