Dragon Squat

What is Dragon Squat:

The Dragon Squat is an advanced unilateral bodyweight exercise that demands high degrees of strength, balance, and mobility. It involves lowering your body into a squat position on one leg while the other leg wraps behind the squatting leg, similar to the movement of a dragon's tail. The Dragon Squat targets the quadriceps and glutes while requiring significant core and stabilizer muscle engagement for balance. This squat variation is often used by advanced athletes to develop single-leg strength and improve athletic performance.

Key Benefits:

  • Size and Strength: Works the quadriceps and glutes, promoting muscle growth and strength improvement.
  • Insane Lower Body Mobility: Enhances hip, knee, and ankle mobility, contributing to better movement performance in daily activities and sports.
  • Core and Lower Back Stability: Activates and strengthens the core muscles, especially the obliques and spinal erectors, to maintain balance and stability throughout the movement.
  • Balance and Coordination: Develops stability and control, especially for single-leg strength.
  • Functional Strength: Improves leg extension strength, hip extension strength, core stability, hip mobility, ankle mobility, and overall fitness, improving performance in daily activities and sports.
  • Convenience: This exercise can be performed virtually anywhere without equipment, making it accessible and convenient for most individuals.

Variations:

  • Bodyweight Lunge: A bodyweight unilateral exercise that primarily targets the quadriceps, performed by stepping one leg forward while the other stays behind for support.
  • Cossack Squat: A squat variation that targets the hip adductors (inner thighs). It is performed by adopting a wide stance and lowering the body to one side at a time, keeping the opposite leg straight.
  • Pistol Squat: A single-leg squat variation performed by squatting on one leg while keeping the other leg fully extended and flexed at the hips.

How to perform Dragon Squats:

  • Starting Position: Stand on one leg, keeping your chest upright and core engaged. Extend the opposite leg out in front of you and just off the ground with your toes pointed forward.
  • Execution: Slowly bring your non-squatting leg behind your standing leg, crossing it behind in a diagonal position. While keeping your balance, bend the knee of your standing leg and lower your body as far as your mobility allows, making sure to keep your torso upright. The crossed leg should be extended and hovering just above the ground. Hold this position briefly, then push through your heel to return to the starting position, keeping control throughout the movement.
  • Repetition: Repeat the movement on the same legs for your desired number of repetitions, or do it with the other leg in an alternating manner.

Breathing Technique:

Proper breathing is crucial for maximizing performance and maintaining stamina throughout the exercise. Experiment with what you're comfortable with and let you perform your best. For starters, you can try the following:

  • Inhale: Inhale at the starting position or as you lower your body.
  • Exhale: Exhale after returning to the starting position.
  • Knees Alignment: Make sure your knee is facing the same direction as your foot to avoid unnecessary pressure on your knees.
  • Mobility Issue: When training for this movement, give a good portion of your attention to strengthening your hip muscles, particularly the hip adductors/inner thigh, since this is a common limiting factor in the movement.
    •

    Additional Information:

    Ways to make it easier:

    • Focusing only on the Concentric or Eccentric phase
    • Decreasing the Range of Motion - partial reps, only go as far as you can handle
    • Holding onto something for support
    • Regressing to an easier variation/exercise

    Ways to make it harder:

    • Playing with the Tempo & adding an Isometric phase (pause/hold)
    • Keeping the non-working leg straight
    • Adding resistance - wearing a weighted vest or holding a dumbbell/barbell
    • Progressing to a harder variation/exercise