Training guide
A shrimp squat is a single-leg squat with your other foot held behind you in your hand: you lower until your back knee touches the floor, then stand up without letting go. Holding the foot takes away your counterbalance, so it's a harder relative of the skater squat, and a different challenge from the pistol squat rather than just a harder one.
Nobody has studied the shrimp squat itself, so this guide uses research on single-leg squats: they lean on the knee, and the load on your kneecap rises with depth, which is why a pad under your back knee is your main dial.
It covers the steps on the 3D figure, the ladder from split squats and skater squats, how many to do, your knees, the shrimp against the pistol, skater and Bulgarian split squats, and who should wait.
Hold your back foot in the same-side hand, lower until that knee touches a pad on the floor, and stand up without letting go, as our move page teaches. It's the skater squat's shape with the foot held, which our skater squat guide says "removes the counterbalance and makes it harder".
We found no study of the shrimp squat. Single-leg squats with the free leg behind were knee-dominant and worked the glutes less on the way down than with the leg in front, in small lab studies.
One-leg squats loaded the joint behind the kneecap about twice as much as two-leg squats at the same knee angle, and a full single-leg squat was among the heaviest loads measured: 6.9 times body weight, against 4.4 to 60 degrees of knee bend. A pad under your back knee sets your depth, so start high.
One-leg squat strength didn't track one-leg balance in 42 young adults. Holding a support while you learn lets you train the strength while your balance catches up (our reading).
Split squats and step-downs, then the skater squat to a pad, then to the floor, then the shrimp holding a support, then the full shrimp. Our move page's dose: "3 to 5 single reps each leg (our editorial starting point), after learning it with the back foot free or a hand on a support." The ladder is coaching practice, and coaches disagree on whether the shrimp comes before or after the pistol.
Sore kneecaps (use a high pad and our knee rule), knee surgery or a knee that locks or gives way, poor balance or a high risk of falling (always hold a support), and pregnancy with pelvic girdle pain.
Stand on one leg, bend the other knee and hold that foot behind you with the same-side hand, reach your other arm forward, and lower slowly until your back knee touches a pad on the floor. Stand up without letting go or touching anything, as our move page's instructions say.
Some coaches use the name for the hands-free version, which our guides call the skater squat (Breaking Muscle's "shrimp" is a skater squat to the floor). Our naming: hands free is the skater squat; foot held is the shrimp.
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The quads and glutes of your standing leg do most of the work, with the hamstrings, calves and trunk steadying you. About half the work of any single-leg squat is done at the knee, and more with the free leg behind. The side-hip muscles work hard to stop your knee caving in. The held leg gets a stretch at the front of the thigh.
Small lab groups of young, healthy adults, most over one session. The single-leg squats they studied went to 60 to 82 degrees of knee bend, not to the floor.
Our move page's prerequisite is "Clean skater squats and comfortable full-range single-leg squats."
Holding the back foot takes away the arm and leg you'd use to balance. Our pistol squat guide's balance test: stand on one leg for 30 seconds without holding on.
A back knee that tolerates bending fully while you hold the foot, and a standing knee that tolerates deep bending under load (our reading).
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Enough ankle bend to keep your standing heel down, probably less than a pistol needs (our reading; no study has measured it). Our pistol squat guide covers ankle range.
Long thighs and a tall trunk need more forward lean to stay balanced (our reading, as in our skater squat guide). If stiff thighs make the back foot hard to reach, hold your sock, the back of your trousers or a short strap (our suggestion). Kneecap pain needs a higher pad.
From our shrimp squat move page and Breaking Muscle's cue to keep the standing foot flat. The pad, the support and the slow lowering are coaching practice, not tested in studies.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Shrimp squat
Move on at 8 controlled reps, our pistol squat guide's rule: a lower pad, then less support, then the next step. Split squats 3 sets of 8 to 12 each leg (our squat challenge); Patrick step-downs 3 × 8 slow each side and skater squats 3 × 5 to 8 each side with a pad (our pistol squat progression); Bulgarian split squats 3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg (optional); then the shrimp. The pistol squat is the sideways move. The assisted shrimp (one hand on a support) has no demo of its own.
3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoPatrick step-downIntermediate · A step
3D demoRear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat)Intermediate · A bench or box
3D demoSkater squatAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoShrimp squatExpert · No equipment
3D demoPistol squatAdvanced · No equipmentCoaching practice; doses from our workouts or the move page, or editorial. No trial has tested it.
Split squats, 3 sets of 8 to 12 each leg, lowering the back knee straight down onto a pad (our squat challenge), and Patrick step-downs, 3 × 8 slow each side (our pistol squat progression).
3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg, back foot on a step or low bench, holding a support (our squat challenge).
To a high pad holding a support, then to a folded towel without one: 3 sets of 5 to 8 each leg (our pistol squat progression and squat challenge).
Hold your back foot with one hand and a door frame or rail with the other, knee to a stack of cushions: 3 sets of 3 to 5 each leg (our editorial starting point; the move page says to learn it with a hand on a support).
No support: 3 to 5 single reps each leg (adapted from the move page's dose), lowering the pad over the weeks.
Back knee to a folded mat on the floor.
In 16 experienced squatters, kneecap stress was about double in one-legged squats at the same knee angle: 4.50 against 1.83 megapascals at 100 degrees on the way down.
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In a modelling study of 20 adults doing 35 exercises, peak load behind the kneecap was 3.1 times body weight in a 10 cm step-down, 4.4 in a single-leg squat to 60 degrees, 4.7 in a Bulgarian split squat and 6.9 in a full single-leg squat, among the heaviest measured. The tendon below the kneecap took 3.0 to 4.3 times body weight across the same squats.
Touching your knee to the floor is deep, so by our reading the full shrimp sits near the top of that range. That's extrapolated from single-leg squats to 60 to 82 degrees; nobody has measured the shrimp itself. The pad sets your depth, so it sets your kneecap load.
A review of more than 164 articles found fears that deep squats damage healthy knees unfounded, with kneecap stress highest around 90 degrees in two-leg squats. There are no long-term trials.
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In a Cochrane review of 31 trials, exercise reduced kneecap pain, more with hip and knee exercises than knee alone, though the evidence was very low quality, and an international consensus recommends exercise therapy. An NHS feasibility trial of 60 people used a single-leg squat sideways on a step, with the rule that pain should be no worse after the exercise than before.
Pain from 0 to 2 out of 10 is fine, and up to 5 is acceptable if your knee is back to its usual level by the next morning; for tendon pain just below or above the kneecap, keep it to 3 or less. Sharp, catching or giving-way pain, or new swelling, means stop. That's our knee guides' rule.
Use a higher pad, and lower it as the knee rule allows. If one-leg squats still hurt, use split squats or low step-downs, which load the kneecap less, and see our runner's knee guide.
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We found none. The one muscle activity study of a skater squat tested a twisting version: glutes at about 60 to 66% of their maximum in 24 adults.
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In 16 women, with the free leg behind rather than in front, the squat was shallower (75 against 82 degrees of knee bend), the knee's share of the work at the bottom was higher and the hip's lower. In 17 adults, the glutes worked less on the way down with the leg behind. About half the work of every version was done at the knee. With the free hip straight and the knee bent behind, the nearest any study came to a shrimp, front-thigh activity was 29% higher in 10 adults.
In 20 adults, a single-leg squat drew more glute and thigh activity than lunges and lateral step-ups, and in 11 adults more side-hip activity than split or Bulgarian split squats (82% of maximum against 46 to 55%). These are measures of effort, not growth.
In a modelled single-leg squat in 12 adults, a forward lean of about 40 degrees cut the load on the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) by a quarter and raised hamstring force by about a third.
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In 42 young adults, one-leg squat strength and one-leg balance were unrelated. In trained men, more stability let them push harder in one-leg squats.
Across 14 studies of young adults, one-leg and two-leg training built similar one-leg strength, and one-leg training improved one-leg jumping more.
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One coaching source teaches a hands-free shrimp before the pistol; another puts the shrimp after the pistol. No trial has compared ways of learning it.
2 or 3 times a week, not on consecutive days, as our pistol squat guide suggests.
3 sets of 5 to 8 each leg, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure, with 90 seconds to 2 minutes between sides or sets, as our skater squat guide says.
3 to 5 single reps each leg (adapted from the move page's dose).
At 8 controlled reps: a lower pad, then no support, then the next step (our pistol and skater squat guides' rule).
No study has timed it. Our estimate, not a promise: several weeks if you already do steady skater squats to the floor, several months if you're starting from split squats.
Knee-to-wall ankle rocks (the move page's dose is "10 slow rocks per side, daily"); single-leg stands, 2 × 30 seconds each side with a hand near a support (our pistol squat progression); the standing quad stretch, the same hold of the back foot the shrimp uses (its move page's dose is "Hold 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 4 times each side (our editorial starting point)."); and the half-kneeling hip flexor stretch, 30 seconds each side (our squat challenge).
Single-leg Romanian deadlifts, 2 × 8 each leg with your fingertips on a wall at first (our hiking training workout); lateral band walks, 2 sets of 10 to 15 steps each way for the side hip (our lower body workout at home); and step-ups, 8 to 12 each leg.
The pistol holds the free leg straight in front, so it needs more ankle range and hip flexor strength, and the glutes worked more on the way down with the leg in front. The shrimp needs balance with your hands busy and a knee happy at full depth. Neither has been shown to be kinder to the knee: at full depth both are among the heaviest kneecap loads. Coaches put them in either order; by our reading, the shrimp often suits people whose ankles or hip flexors limit the pistol.
The skater squat is the same shape with the back leg hanging free and your arms reaching forward. Learn it first, as our skater squat guide says.
The Bulgarian split squat rests your back foot on a bench, which steadies you and lets you add weight; its kneecap load, about 4.7 times body weight, is close to a single-leg squat to 60 degrees.
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This guide covers the shrimp squat and how it compares. Our pistol squat guide covers the pistol, its ladder and ankle range; our skater squat guide covers the skater squat and the pad; our Bulgarian split squat guide covers that lift.
Use a pad and lower slowly, about 2 or 3 seconds down.
Shift your weight back over your whole foot and raise the pad a little; see our pistol squat guide's ankle notes.
A recognised fault. Keep it over your middle toes and go back a step.
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Lean forward and reach your free arm forward: it balances you and brings your hips into the work.
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Then it's a skater squat or a split squat; use the step that matches.
Keep your hips square (our cue).
Only after 8 or more steady reps, as our skater squat guide says.
The shrimp squat progression is the follow-along session for this guide; the pistol squat progression and squat challenge build the steps before it.
Build to a shrimp squat: ankle, balance and thigh prep, split squats, step-downs and skater squats to a pad, then the assisted and full shrimp.
25 minIntermediate10 movesA wall, A stepBuild to a pistol squat: ankle and balance prep, step-downs, skater squats, box and counterweight pistols, then the full one-leg squat.
25 minIntermediate8 movesA wall, A stepA 15-minute squat ladder for the 30-day squat challenge: sit-to-stands and chair squats, then split squats, Bulgarian split squats and skater squats.
15 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 40-minute pre-season workout for skiers and snowboarders: squats, split squats, single-leg hinges, side-to-side strength, landings and balance.
40 minIntermediate17 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 25-minute session for knees that don't currently hurt: thigh and hamstring strength, single-leg control, then an optional full-range block with knees over toes.
25 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A wallBalance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A bench or boxThe 30-day squat challenge's harder track and the calisthenics plan build single-leg strength.
A free 30-day squat challenge with a chair track and a single-leg track: 3 short sessions a week, optional practice days and a before-and-after test.
3 training days15 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginnerFollow your surgical or physiotherapy team's limits, and see our knee replacement, meniscus tear and ACL injury guides.
Deep hip bending may pinch. Use a higher pad.
Always hold a support. If you've fallen and were hurt, fallen twice or more in a year, or couldn't get up, ask your GP about a falls service first, as our seniors workout advises.
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You don't need skater squats for strong legs: sit-to-stands, step-ups and balance work build the same qualities with less risk of a fall, as our pistol squat guide says. If you try them, hold a support and use a high pad.
The same is true of the shrimp squat.
The NHS advises against starting new vigorous activity in pregnancy. With pelvic girdle pain, skip one-leg squats or keep them small and hold a support (our suggestion, from our Bulgarian split squat guide's advice on split squats).
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Pain at the front of the held knee, or a cramp in the front of that thigh, means letting go and using the skater squat until it settles (our suggestion).
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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Go to A&E (accident and emergency) if you've injured your knee and it has changed shape, it becomes very swollen very quickly, you felt a pop or snap, you can see bone sticking out, or it's bleeding heavily. Don't drive yourself: ask someone to take you, or call 999 if the pain means you can't move your leg to get there.
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Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: the knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully. Painless clicking is normal.
You hurt your knee and cannot take 4 steps, or you are 55 or over and have injured it: get it checked the same day for a broken bone.
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If knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: leg pain with numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble starting or controlling peeing, not knowing when you need to poo or losing control of it, sciatica in both legs, or weakness or numbness in both legs that is severe or getting worse. These can be signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital as soon as possible.
Pain, tingling or numbness spreading below the knee that isn't settling after a few weeks, is getting worse or stops your normal activities: see a GP.
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A lump in the groin, or groin pain with coughing or straining (a possible hernia).
Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia (a lump in the groin or tummy) and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel sick or are being sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if you have a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, in the groin) and very bad tummy pain, you feel sick or are being sick, you cannot fart or poo, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. It may be strangulated, which is an emergency. Don't drive yourself.
Healthy knees adapt to deep squatting, and exercise is the treatment for kneecap pain. But one-leg squats load the kneecap about twice as much as two-leg squats, and full depth is among the heaviest loads measured. Set your depth with a pad and follow the knee rule.
Nobody has compared them. With the free leg behind, the knee did relatively more of the work in lab studies, and at full depth both are top-tier kneecap loads.
The glutes work hard in single-leg squats, but less on the way down with the free leg behind. It's mainly a thigh and knee exercise; leaning forward brings your hips in.
It's normal and needed for depth, as our skater and pistol squat guides say. Keep it over your middle toes.
Balance, the held leg's stretch and ankle range also limit it, and one-leg strength and balance were unrelated in a study of 42 young adults.
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Single-leg squats worked the thighs and glutes hard with body weight alone, and one-leg training built strength like two-leg training in short trials.
A single-leg squat in which you hold your other foot behind you in your hand and lower until your back knee touches the floor, then stand up without letting go. It's the skater squat with the back foot held, which takes away your counterbalance.
Stand on one leg, hold the other foot behind you with the same-side hand and reach your free arm forward. Lean forward a little and lower slowly, standing foot flat and knee over your middle toes, until your back knee touches a pad; then drive up through your whole foot.
Mainly the quads and glutes of the standing leg, with the hamstrings, the side-hip muscles and your trunk steadying you. With the free leg behind, single-leg squats lean on the knee and the front of the thigh more than the hip.
It depends on your limits; no study has compared them. The pistol needs ankle range and strength to hold your leg out in front, and the shrimp needs balance with your hands busy and a knee happy at full depth. Coaches put them in either order.
In a skater squat your back leg hangs free and your arms reach forward; in a shrimp you hold your back foot, which removes the counterbalance and makes it harder. Learn the skater squat first, as our skater squat guide says.
Put a stack of cushions or a low box under your back knee, hold a door frame or rail with your free hand, or go back to skater squats to a pad. Lower the pad and let go of the support as you get stronger.
Not for healthy knees, which adapt to deep squatting. One-leg squats are a heavy load on the kneecap at full depth, so with sore kneecaps use a higher pad and keep pain to 5 out of 10 or less, back to normal by the next morning.
On the way there, 3 sets of 5 to 8 each leg of your ladder step, 2 or 3 times a week. On the full shrimp, our move page suggests 3 to 5 single reps each leg, once you've learned it with your back foot free or a hand on a support. Move on when you reach 8 controlled reps.
No study has timed it. Our estimate: several weeks if you already do steady skater squats to the floor, several months from split squats.
Hold your sock, the back of your trousers or a short strap, stretch the front of your thigh with the standing quad stretch on other days, or stay on skater squats, which don't need the hold.
Some can, but you don't need them for strong legs: sit-to-stands, step-ups and balance work build the same qualities with less risk of a fall, as our pistol and skater guides say. If you try them, hold a support and use a high pad.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
