I recently tried the Dragon Squat and it was way harder than i thought! Despite my experience with other advanced leg exercises, the Dragon Squat pushed me to my limits. In this article, I’ll share my journey and provide a step-by-step guide on how you can take on the Dragon Squat too.
What you will learn in this article:
How I learned the Dragon Squat
The Dragon Squat is one of the hardest calisthenics leg exercises and requires an exceptional amount of strength, balance and mobility!
Despite being able to do other advanced leg exercises like pistol and shrimp squats with ease, I still felt like a beginner when I tried the Dragon Squat for the first time! The hardest and most unusual part of this exercise was to keep my lower leg off the ground while finding the right center of gravity to balance myself correctly.
To get better at these specific parts I did exercises that helped me improve these weak links.
Ok after I was done with these more mobility focused exercises I made the dragon squat itself easier, by holding on to something. At first I supported myself with my hands, taking off a lot of weight from my legs. Over time I tried to decrease the amount of support from my hands, so that the legs had to work more and more.
Every now and then I also did some leg supported Dragon Squats as well as elevated Dragon squats. That was how I learned the Dragon Squat, but of course I know that some of you need more beginner friendly steps to learn this move. So here is how you can learn this exercise too, no matter at which point you’re right now.
How you can learn it too
Dragon Squat: Basic Progressions
First of all, I have to show you the basic progressions. Like in every exercise you can break down the movement into easier steps and work yourself up until you are able to do the Full Dragon Squat. However it might still happen that you are stuck at a certain point or progression because you have some specific weak points that are holding you back.
Weak Point: Strength
If strength is your weak point, I suggest learning pistol squats before even trying the Dragon Squat. You can start with elevated pistols or do assisted Pistols on a Door Frame.
If you can do at least 3 Pistol Squats you should be strong enough for serious Dragon Squat Training.
Weak Point: Mobility
If mobility is your weak point, improve your deep squat and work with kneeling flows & lunge variations for your ankle mobility as well as the figure 4 stand up and switch and the shaolin sit leg raise to improve your hip mobility.
You can also combine mobility, strength and some balance work, which is also an important part of the movement by doing elevated dragon squats in addition to some regular balancing work.
Always train both sides
What’s also very important is to always train with both sides, even if you only want to learn it on one side. The weaker side might be demotivating for you, but it’s important for avoiding imbalances and even for improving on the stronger side.
Research has actually shown that strengthening one arm or leg can lead to improvements in strength in the limb on the other side of the body.
All right guys if you enjoy this article, make sure to check our step by step workout programs on calimove.com. Especially the mobility program helps you to master the dragon squat and of course many other mobility focused exercises like the L-Sit and Visits, The Press to handstand and others.
Watch the video “I Tried the Hardest Calisthenics Leg Exercise” to know more!
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