One martial arts legend has described the pistol as “a severe exercise used to promote great strength and flexibility in the leg and hip muscles.”
It is all that and much more. Weight trained athletes who have gone to the trouble of becoming skilled at the pistol report that they feel much more powerful, agile, and athletic in the game field or the ring than when they barbell squatted more twice their bodyweight—without the debilitating soreness and chafing thighs that accompany barbell squats.