: Squat progression to one-legged/pistol squats I'm doing the startbodyweight.com routine. In the squat progression I find everything up to and including deep squats, close squats and beginner shrimp squats easy and I can do

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Here is a story about pistol squats. One day a week, I take an adult ballet class ("adult" means we aren't very good). The instructor is a young guy and great dancer in a local company. After class I asked him if he could do a pistol squat. He proceeded to do a great pistol squat right there. He didn't even warmup. Another male ballet dancer in the company was walking by, and he proceeded to also do a pistol squat right there. I was blown away. These two guys are not muscular guys. They told me that it is all in the flexibility of their Achilles tendon.

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You want something unilateral but hopefully something that doesn't require too much balance?

I'd give Bulgarian split squats a try. They'll challenge your legs individually. Single leg deadlifts are good to challenge your balance though a different movement from single leg squats.

What I find interesting is that shrimp squats are not a challenge but pistol squats are. IMO, shrimp squats need more quad strength so this could be a balance issue entirely. You could try doing a sort of boxed-pistol-squat. Find a bench or chair and sit into the chair while doing a pistol squat. You can progress that by getting lower platforms as well. That should help you get the hang of the descent.

I think you may also be sitting back into the squat too far. Keep your back a bit straighter and chest out. It might help to hold the door from the sides instead of the knob.