Squats With Shoulder Raises

By combining the squat with the shoulder raise, you’re able to develop a greater number of muscles while performing just one exercise. This is beneficial for those who don’t have much time for working out. It's a quality exercise to do when working out at home too, because you only need a barbell or a pair of dumbbells. There are a couple of ways to do the squat with shoulder raise exercise, including versions that involve shoulder press, lateral raise, front raise and twisting press.

  1. Exercise Limitation

    • The muscles in your legs are able to produce a greater amount of force than the upper body muscles that perform the shoulder press. As a result, the amount of weight that you’d normally use for squats may be less than what you’re able to use when incorporating the shoulder raise. Your shoulders and arms are likely to become fatigued before your legs. Therefore, squats with shoulder raises may not be as effective for building strength in the legs.

    Standard Technique

    • Squats with shoulder raises can be performed with a weighted barbell or a pair of dumbbells. If you’re using a barbell, hold the bar at your upper chest with your hands shoulder-width apart and elbows directly under your hands. If you’re using dumbbells, hold them at your shoulders with palms facing forward or in towards each other. Set your feet to shoulder-width apart. Lower into a squat by pushing your hips back and bending your knees. As you come up out of the squat, simultaneously push the barbell or dumbbells up over your head so that your arms become fully extended as you return to a standing position. Lower the weight to your shoulders before performing the next squat repetition.

    Muscles

    • The squat with shoulder raise targets muscles in both the upper and lower body. Handling the squat component are primarily your glutes, quadriceps and calves. Your hamstrings and calves act as stabilizers. A number of muscles in the back, including the erector spinae and trapezius, contract isometrically to keep your back straight. Your abdominals and obliques work with your back muscles to keep the torso erect. The shoulder raise component is handled by the anterior deltoids, which are your major shoulder muscles, and the triceps brachii, which straighten your elbows. The supraspinatus of your rotator cuff helps stabilize your shoulder joint, while your trapezius and serratus anterior control movement of the scapula.

    Squat with Twisting Press

    • To perform the squat with twisting press, as you come up out of the squat and push the weight overhead, simultaneously twist your hips in one direction so that you finish with your shoulders facing perpendicular to your feet. Twist back to center and lower the weight to your shoulders before you lower into the next squat repetition. Because of the twisting component, the obliques are working dynamically instead of just as stabilizers like in the standard version of the exercise.

    Squat with Lateral Raise

    • You need a pair of dumbbells to perform the squat with lateral raise. Lateral raises involve starting with your arms down by your side and then, while keeping your elbows straight, lifting them up and out as you come up out of the squat until they’re level with your shoulders. This version targets your lateral deltoids. Because you're not extending your elbows, your triceps are not involved in the lateral raise version.

    Squat with Front Raise

    • Front raises involve holding dumbbells down in front of your thighs and then lifting your straight arms up in front of you. The front raise version requires you to perform the squat with your feet wider so that your arms don’t hit your knees as you squat. Your anterior deltoids are targeted during this version. Similar to the lateral raise version, the triceps are not involved when doing front raise because of the lack of movement at the elbows.