Exercise Tutorial: Skater Squats

Published: July 26, 2020

1st Revision: April 9, 2023

Table Of Content

What Are Skater Squats

The Skater Squat is a unilateral exercise that challenges the balance and strength of the lower body. This exercise is often used during warm-ups, as it will encourage the coordination of the entire body from an unbalanced position. The Skater Squat is also useful in generating explosive power from a single leg.

How To Do Skater Squats

Skater Squats work on balance, it is advised to be barefoot during the exercise. To learn how to perform the Skater Squat, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose either the left or the right side of the body to work on first. Stand tall with your feet beside each other, breathe into the diaphragm, brace the core and squeeze the glutes.

2. Exhale and slowly with control, take the inactive leg, bend at the knee and kick the heel backwards; making sure to have the hip bones pointed down. Bend at the hips, pushing the hips back with the back leg. The active leg will simultaneously bend at the knee, letting the knee travel forward over the forward-facing toes. Make sure to keep the active foot balanced, with pressure in the heel, sides and forefoot. This should appear like a lunge without the back leg for support.

3. Reach the hips back and let the active knee come forward as far as possible without changing the balance in the active foot. Do not let the inactive knee touch the ground. At this point, the exercise should look very similar to a regular squat with one knee hovering just off the ground behind the body.  For balance, you could push the arms out in front of the body or hold a small weight for counterbalance.

4. Without losing the balance or connection to the ground, inhale and slowly reverse the movement, coming back to the tall standing position.

What Muscles Do Skater Squat Work

The Skater Squat engages the following muscles:

• Vastus Intermedius (Quadriceps)

• Rectus Femoris (Quadriceps)

• Vastus Lateralis (Quadriceps)

• Vastus Medialis (Quadriceps)

• Gluteus Maximus (Glutes)

• Gluteus Minimus (Glutes)

• Gluteus Medius (Glutes)

• Bicep Femoris (Hamstrings)

• Semimembranosus (Hamstrings)

• Semitendinosus (Hamstrings)

• Soleus (Calves)

• Gastrocnemius (Calves)

• External Obliques (Abdominals)

• Internal Obliques (Abdominals)

• Rectus Abdominis (Abdominals)

• Transverse Abdominis (Abdominals)

• Stability muscles in the feet

Skater Squats Benefits

The benefits to the Skater Squat are its ability to help develop balance and coordination in the lower body. Most people will go to the gym and start squatting right off the bat with little attention to their body mechanics or warmup. Before any weighted bilateral movements are done (like heavy barbell squats) the person must be able to control their body weight and should be able to squat properly with both the right and the left legs.

The Skater Squat is a great tool for priming the lower body and preparing each side individually for the heavier leg exercises to come. Because the Skater Squat demands balance, there is very little room for error. This means that the Skater Squat can be a great exercise for exposing weakness and imbalances that could potentially cause injury if loaded with heavier weights. After only a few quality sets of the Skater Squat, your Barbell Squats will feel more stable. This will allow for more weight to be used and therefore more muscle and strength gains down the road.

Skater Squats Variations

There are few regressions and progressions to the Skater Squat due to its difficulty. If the exercise is too hard to find balance, the regression would be to gently tap the back knee on the ground at the bottom of each rep. This will help regain any lost balance during the descent of the movement. Another regression is to place pads or blocks under the area that the inactive knee will be going over. With the raised height of the pads, the user doesn’t have to squat as deep to be able to reach the pad and therefore will be able to reset the balance at a higher point. These variations are great for those who have issues getting into a deep squat 

To progress the Skater Squat, bring the inactive knee up in front of the body instead of bringing it back to the standing position at the end of the rep. Doing this will create more instability and will involve more muscles around the hip such as the hip flexors (which help to get into deep squats). If this is still too easy you can make this exercise explosive and by adding a jump when the inactive knee comes up. Make sure to use your arms as a counterbalance, much like how one would use their arms to run.

Single Leg Skater Squat

The single leg skater squat can be performed the same with as the skater squat. The only difference is that you elevate the foot from the ground.

Revised by Stephanie Zaban

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