Olympic Squat — start position
Start
Olympic Squat — end position
End

Full body / Intermediate / Compound (multi-joint)

Olympic Squat

A barbell explosive exercise for the quads, with the calves, glutes and hamstrings assisting.

At a glance

Primary
Quads
Secondary
Calves, Glutes, Hamstrings
Equipment
Barbell
Movement pattern
Squat
Level
Intermediate
Type
Full body, Compound (multi-joint), Explosive

Loads the knee. Use a load you can control and skip it if it causes pain.

How to do it

  1. Begin with a barbell supported on top of the traps. The chest should be up, and the head facing forward. Adopt a hip width stance with the feet turned out as needed.
  2. Descend by flexing the knees, refraining from moving the hips back as much as possible. This requires that the knees travel forward; ensure that they stay aligned with the feet. The goal is to keep the torso as upright as possible. Continue all the way down, keeping the weight on the front of the heel.
  3. At the moment the upper legs contact the lower, reverse the motion, driving the weight upward.

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Muscles worked

Neck (Front)Upper traps (Front)Front delts (Front)Side delts (Front)Chest (Front)Serratus anterior (Front)Biceps (Front)Forearms & grip (Front)Abs (Front)Obliques (Front)Hip flexors (Front)Quads — primary (Front)Adductors (Front)Shins (tibialis) (Front)Calves — secondary (Front)Outer shins (peroneals) (Front)Feet (arch & toes) (Front)Neck (Back)Upper traps (Back)Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps) (Back)Rear delts (Back)Side delts (Back)Rotator cuff (Back)Lats (Back)Lower back (erectors) (Back)Triceps (Back)Forearms & grip (Back)Hip abductors (glute med) (Back)Glutes — secondary (Back)Hamstrings — secondary (Back)Adductors (Back)Calves — secondary (Back)
FrontBack
  • Primary: Quads
  • Secondary: Calves, Glutes, Hamstrings

Best for

How specific this exercise is to each movement.

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Photos and instructions: free-exercise-db (github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db), public domain.