The Squat to Press Exercise is a great way to build total-body strength – from your shoulders to your hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps.
The Squat to Press Exercise forms part of the Golf Strength and Endurance series of innovative and dynamic exercises that are designed to efficiently increase your stabilising strength – supporting proper body alignment, movement patterns, and energy transfer within the golf swing, and helping to prevent injuries.
Equipment
This exercise requires a pair of dumbbells.
This is dedicated strength exercise, so choose a weight that is heavy enough to make the movement challenging, but enables you to complete all of your repetitions (reps) with proper form. The last couple of reps should be very difficult, but make sure that you can perform them properly.
If you are performing this exercise as part of a Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System programme workout, you should be able to complete the prescribed number of reps in the allotted time with proper form – adjust your tempo accordingly.
See How Much Weight Should I Lift? for more information.
Figure 1. Squat to Press Exercise Video.
Steps
- Start by standing tall with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell at each shoulder.
- Initiating the movement with your hips, squat back and down until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- In one fluid movement, return to a standing position by pushing through your hips as you press the dumbbells overhead.
- Lower the dumbbells back to your shoulders.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Try to maintain perfect posture throughout the exercise – your head over your shoulders, your chin up, chest up, your abdominal muscles engaged to stabilise your spine.
Do not let your knees slide forwards past your toes, or collapse to the inside, during this exercise. Keep your weight on your heels.
If you feel stress in your knees during this exercise, turn your feet outwards by 45 degrees.
You should feel it working your shoulders, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
Variation
There are a number of other squat exercises in the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System that offer a variety of challenges, you can see them all by clicking here.
If you have any questions or comments about this or other articles on Golf Loopy, please send us an email.
You May Also Like…
Golf Performance Programmes – the most effective golf-specific fitness regimens on the planet, guaranteed to make you a better golfer!
There are a number of other golf-specific strength and endurance exercises in the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System.
Introduction to the Swing like a Champion System.
Golf Anatomy and Kinesiology, a collection of articles describing the roles of the muscles involved in the golf swing.
