Squat to press

When it comes to big bang exercises, the squat to press is as big as they come. When it comes to real world movement, the squat to press is the way to move weight from your shoulder to over head with as much capability as possible. This means you can lift more which equates to more calories burned and more muscle built. The squat to press will also train you evenly from head to toe and is variable. Meaning you can use a single bell, a barbell or one bell in each hand. You can also add some instability by standing on a BOSU ball or Airex pad. The squat to press will train your core, legs and upper body and drive your heart rate through the roof if you use enough weight!

Begin with the weight at shoulder level and squat down into your hips. Make sure to keep your feet flat on the ground and your back flat. I often see people roll their feet inward or outward as they sit down into the hips. It is also common to round your lower back if you go deeper than your hamstring flexibility will allow. As you sit down, try not to lean forward with the upper body, as you would in a bend and extend movement with the hips. Keep the upper body vertical to make the weight in your hand feel as light as possible.

As you stand out of your squat, stand through very flat feet and push as straight upward as possible. Try to accelerate gradually as you get further out of the squat and transfer that energy into the weight in your hand. As you get to standing, use the power from your legs to assist the overhead press.

The overhead position isn’t complete until you reach lockout. Lock the elbows and sink the shoulder blades down the back. The weight should be balanced and easy to maintain in this position. Carefully lower the weight back to the shoulder, and repeat the move.

You can add this exercise to any part of your workout, the pushing exercise by nature will be easy on the grip muscles, so feel free to deadlift, swing, row or pull up as a great complement to the squat to press in any circuit. Don’t underestimate the cardiovascular impact, using all of these muscles at once will be demanding and probably shouldn’t be done with wind sprints and battle ropes!

Thanks for joining me,
Peter Hirsh