Legs · Bodyweight
Shrimp Squat
How to do the shrimp squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand on one leg and bend your other knee, reaching back to hold that foot behind you with one or both hands. Lower yourself by bending the standing leg until your trailing knee touches the floor, keeping your chest up and torso tall. Drive through your standing heel to return to the top.
- 1The quad and glute of the standing leg controlling the descent
- 2Your chest staying upright as the back knee tracks toward the floor
- 3A strong drive through the heel to stand back up
Common mistakes
- Don't let the standing knee cave inward
- Avoid crashing the trailing knee into the floor
- Don't round forward or lose your balance by rushing the rep
Muscles worked
The shrimp squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the shrimp squat for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.