We all know that squats cannot be skipped when we are trying to target the lower body muscles. The gains may vary from person to person, but squats can make you achieve any goal related to leg or butt fitness.
If you are a fan of squatting exercises, here is one of the best variables that you may be ignoring because I rarely see someone doing it.
Today we will talk about the Shrimp squat, which mainly focuses on the quadriceps muscles. It is a very advanced type of squatting exercise and it is not possible to imagine how it targets your muscles and works to strengthen them.
Today we will go through the shrimp squat guide, you learn exactly how to do it like a pro and safely, and also you will learn about the mistakes that you must avoid in order to avoid injury and undesirable results, and we will also learn about the benefits that you get if you get used to doing this type of exercise.
Let’s continue together!
What is a shrimp squat ?
Shrimp squat is a variant of the well-known squat, it is a slightly advanced type that is somewhat similar to the pistol squat, but in the shrimp squat the movement of your foot is the opposite of the pistol squat so that you hold your foot behind your glutes and squat on one leg.
The shrimp squats create more movement at the level of the muscles of the hips and ankles, and also target the quadriceps muscles mainly, as it is the muscle that is subjected to the greatest pressure.
Shrimp squats are bodyweight exercises that do not require any kind of equipment because they are rather complicated and it is difficult to add some challenges to them, but this does not mean that this is not possible, but you can add a resistance band, for example, as a kind of challenge, but first you must master it it and get used to it before moving on to an advanced level.
- Utility : Auxiliary
- Mechanics : Compound
- Force : Push
Shrimp squat muscle worked
The Shrimp squat is just like the rest of the squatting exercises and works with the same efficiency. It is also one of the compound exercises for the lower body, and this means that it occupies more than one joint, and therefore it targets a group of muscles, the most important of which is the quadriceps muscles.
But ExRx gave us the target muscles during performing all one leg squats exercises.
Target :
- Quadriceps
Synergists:
- Gluteus Maximus
- Adductors Magnus
- Soleus (Calves)
Stabilizers:
- Gluteus Minimus
- Gluteus Medius
- Erector Spinae
- Quadratus Lumborum
- Obliques
How to practice for shrimp squat
If you have never dealt with this type of exercise before, you need to practice doing it first before moving on to the actual movement, which is holding the foot backwards and doing squats on one leg.
The first thing you have to worry about is how to stay balanced while standing on one foot, that is, you should do a few rounds of standing on one foot without squatting or anything, just hold your foot behind your glutes and try to stay balanced in that position.
Secondly, after you set the problem of imbalance and get rid of it, you should move on to trying to do a squat on one foot, but without holding your leg on the butt muscles, luck will not help you in your first attempt, but that is normal, do not let it frustrate you.
If you are a complete beginner, try to record the depth that you can reach in each exercise session, make this a challenge for you, as I mentioned earlier, you may not be able to squat on one foot from your first attempt, you will stumble as soon as you make a few drops down, and this is due to several Reasons.
You must build lower body muscle strength, how will you do this?
You should do split squats on a regular basis, it will help you build good leg strength and your muscles will get used to carrying your body weight after gaining the necessary fitness.
After you’ve gained some fitness it might be time for your first successful squat shrimp, follow along as we walk you through the steps to doing them correctly.
How do you do a shrimp squat
The Shrimp squat is an easy and not complicated movement, but it requires some flexibility at the level of the knee muscles and some strength.
You must do it safely in order not to suffer an injury at the level of the knee joint, so you must practice it well before performing the movement completely, and you must follow exactly what is here.
We will start with the advanced shrimp squat guide and then we will add another guide to the squat shrimp for beginners.
How to do an advanced squat properly:
- First, stand up straight and work your muscles well, and you must have done some knee extension exercises and gained some flexibility before proceeding with the actual movement.
- You have the choice to hold your foot behind the glutes, or to keep it free, but without putting it on the ground. This option may be available to people who find it really difficult to keep the body balanced, so you can use both hands to throw the weight forward.
- Hold one of your feet behind your butt, keeping your other arm straight in front of you.
- Start by squatting down slowly, trying to keep your bent knee perpendicular to the ground the entire time.
- Bend your back forward while you are on your way to squatting, but do not overdo it, only the limit that helps you gain better balance.
- Go with your knee forward and also use your toes as a form of support in order to stay balanced, but do not overdo it. Try not to have the weight of your body completely on your ankle.
- When your knee touches the ground, squeeze your thigh muscles and slowly raise your hips in the same path until you stand up straight and take the previous position.
Make it harder :
The challenges can multiply when you feel able to do the shrimp squat comfortably and easily.
You can squat over a high box in order to get more depth, that is, your knee will go deeper than your foot above the box or bench, also this makes the thigh muscles get a greater range of stretching.
You can also add resistance bands to your training.
Press the band under your heel and wrap it around your neck, this will add more pressure to the quadriceps and make the exercise more challenging and powerful.
Beginner shrimp squat guide:
There are some ways to make Shrimp squats easy and they can be done easily, but they are not that effective that we are looking for, but this will be a start that may be the key to doing advanced Shrimp squats professionally.
First method:
- You can start doing the shrimp squat from the end point, that is, from that point where your knee touches the ground.
- You kneel on one of your knees, so that your leg is extended backward parallel to the ground.
- Keep your arms straight in front of you for balance.
- Do some lunges forward and try to lift your kneeling knee off the ground, press your thigh muscles and try to stand on one foot.
- Slowly lower again and try to touch the ground with your knee again, it is better to keep your knee at an obtuse angle in order to reach the ground easily.
Second method:
- I think this method will encourage you more and will motivate you to do squats professionally.
- First, bring a box about 30 or 40 centimeters high.
- Take the same position we talked about in the advanced squat.
- Start lowering until your knee touches the box, then raise your hips again until you are in the previous position.
- You can reduce the height of the box over time, try to lower it from 40 to 30 centimeters and then to 20 until you feel that you can reach the ground directly.
Third method:
This method may make the exercise very easy for you, try to hold on to a stable iron bar and do a squat shrimp. Try to support yourself with your hand, but try not to rely on your arm too much because that makes you cheat in the movement sometimes and therefore you do not benefit from the exercise well.
Try to keep some tension on the thigh muscles.
Pro tip to improve your performance with the shrimp squat
Well, we must be clear on this issue. First, we must know that the Shrimp squat, as well as the pistol squat, are among the most difficult exercises even for professional athletes. It is not as easy as you think, but if you go with it gradually and safely, I guarantee you that you will improve your performance. With the passage of time.
So if you are a complete beginner or have some previous experience with regular squats, the matter is different with this exercise, so it is necessary to use any kind of upper body assistance because the body is in constipation, use anything that helps to keep you consistent and more in control of the path of your movement .
In terms of performance, there is an important thing that you should take care of, is to keep your supporting knee to the same direction as the foot during the movement. This makes you manage your body weight and not throw a heavy weight on your ankle.
The range of motion will also be improved with the increase in leg strength and gluteal flexibility.
Shrimp squat common mistakes
Making mistakes inevitably leads to injury most of the time, especially with exercises that require some flexibility and strength.
- The first mistake is to control the arch of the back, try to keep your back straight with any kind of squatting exercises in order to keep your lower back from injury.
- Keep your knee in the same direction with your foot, because doing a squat shrimp with an ankle twisted to one side can inevitably lead to injury.
- Do not go with this exercise if you are having problems with keeping the body balanced, you must learn balance techniques and stand on one foot, this is one of the biggest problems people face with this exercise.
Shrimp squat benefits
Here are some of the benefits that you can get if you get into the habit of doing shrimp squats regularly:
- It will improve the flexibility of the knee joints and this will make it difficult to suffer a knee injury.
- Joint movement will improve and you will feel stronger.
- It targets the quadriceps muscles and stretches them strongly, making them more solid and flexible, and this can also stimulate them to grow with weight exercises.
- Helps improve lower body strength and fitness.
- Improve your performance with other squat variants.
- Make you more balanced and stable.
2 Best alternatives to do instead of the shrimp squat
There are some alternatives that you can rely on and get the same results as well as targeting the same muscles, you may have to resort to alternatives for several reasons, you may not be able to do squats, or you suffer from knee problems or something else, but this does not prevent you from doing exercises similar.
Bulgarian split squat:
The split squat is one of the most powerful exercises that works in almost the same way, but it is different from the shrimp, so that you put one of your feet back on the bench and squat vertically down.
The split squat can help you build lower body strength. It is a compound exercise and targets a group of muscles allowing you to target the hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps and even the calves. It is an exercise that can be very reliable as a main exercise for the lower body muscles.
Sissy squat:
This exercise is also one of the strongest variants of the squat, which mainly targets the quadriceps muscles of the thigh. Sissy squats can be relied upon to stretch the thigh muscles on a larger scale.
Sissy squatting is one of the exercises that will make you feel the muscles tearing on the first try because it is designed for this purpose, so that there are some ways to do it, but the most famous of them is standing on the toes and doing a back bowing and keeping your body from the top of your knees in a straight shape.
We can consider sissy squatting as one of the difficult exercises, but it also needs some practice and going with it gradually and safely.
Useful Links
If you are looking for more squats and lower body exercises, these links will help you learn some exercises that will help you build the lower body as well as strengthen the muscles and stimulate them to grow. Click on the links for more exercise guides.
If you can provide a kettlebell then you can get the most powerful exercises at home
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Kettlebell hack squat guide for beginners, learn how to master it now
