Overhead Squat
quadriceps
What moves the load, and what it costs
5.0MET
Quadriceps is the prime mover, with the abs, front deltoid, upper back assisting. The most demanding squat variation for mobility and trunk control. It is a diagnostic tool as much as a strength exercise — everything you lack shows up immediately.
Cue: Hold the bar locked out overhead with a wide grip and keep it directly over the middle of the foot throughout.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER WEIGHTED SQUATS·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files overhead squat under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 5.0, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so overhead squat is filed under Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 5.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 5.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Overhead Squat: 5.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Quadricepsറെക്ടസ് ഫെമോറിസും മൂന്ന് വാസ്റ്റൈയും | Prime mover | കാൽമുട്ട് നിവർത്തുന്നു. റെക്ടസ് ഫെമോറിസ് ഇടുപ്പിനെയും കടന്ന് അതിനെ മടക്കുന്നു, അതിനാൽ ലെഗ് എക്സ്റ്റൻഷനിൽ വരുന്നതിൽ നിന്ന് വ്യത്യസ്തമായാണ് സ്ക്വാട്ടിൽ അതിന് ഭാരം വരുന്നത്. |
| AbsRectus abdominis | Synergist / stabiliser | Bends the trunk forward and, more usefully, resists it being extended backwards. Both a crunch and a plank load it — differently. |
| Front deltoidAnterior deltoid | Synergist / stabiliser | Raises the arm to the front (shoulder flexion) and assists horizontal adduction. Prime mover in overhead pressing, heavy synergist in every bench press. |
| Upper backRhomboids and middle trapezius | Synergist / stabiliser | ചുമൽപ്പലകകളെ പരസ്പരം ചേർത്ത് നട്ടെല്ലിനടുത്തേക്ക് അടുപ്പിക്കുന്നു (സ്കാപ്പുലർ റിട്രാക്ഷൻ). എല്ലാ ഹൊറിസോണ്ടൽ റോയും ഇതിന് ഭാരം നൽകുന്നു; എല്ലാ പുൾഡൗണും ഇതിന് കുറഞ്ഞ ഭാരമേ നൽകുന്നുള്ളൂ. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Barbell. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · SQUAT
- Set the bar on the shelf of muscle across your upper back (or in the front rack across the shoulders), pull it hard into you, and stand it out of the rack.
- Set the feet shoulder-width or a little wider with the toes turned out 15 to 30 degrees — whatever lets your hips travel between them.
- Hold the bar locked out overhead with a wide grip and keep it directly over the middle of the foot throughout.
- Take a big breath into the belly, brace as if bracing for impact, and screw the feet into the floor.
- Sit down between the hips, keeping the whole foot loaded, until the hip crease passes below the top of the knee or until your position starts to fail.
- Drive up by pushing the floor away, keeping the chest and hips rising together, and breathe out at the top.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Knees caving inward on the way up.
It is usually the hardest rep that exposes it. Think about screwing the feet outward into the floor and stop the set when it appears.
The hips rising faster than the chest.
The squat becomes a good morning and the lower back takes the load the legs were supposed to. Reduce the weight and drive the chest up out of the hole.
Cutting the depth as the weight climbs.
A half squat trains a half range. Load whatever depth you can hold position through, then work on the position.
Heels lifting off the floor.
Usually ankle mobility. Widen the stance slightly, work on the ankles, or squat in flat shoes with a small heel wedge — do not just fight it.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
This sits at the top of its progression here. Add load, add range, slow the tempo or go single-limb before you go looking for a new exercise.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort — 5.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 5.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Nothing at all to hand: Pistol Squat is the closest match — same prime mover, same pattern, no kit.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the overhead squat work?
Overhead Squat is a compound movement in which the quadriceps is the prime mover, assisted by the abs, front deltoid, upper back. Straightens the knee. Rectus femoris also crosses the hip and flexes it, so it is loaded differently in a squat than in a leg extension.
Is the overhead squat good for beginners?
No. It rates 5 out of 5 for technical demand — high skill and high strength prerequisite. not a movement to start with. Build to it through the easier progressions on this page; the front squat is the usual step before it.
What can I do instead of the overhead squat at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the pistol squat, which trains the same prime mover through the same movement pattern. It will not load you as heavily, so use higher reps and slower tempo to make up the difference.
How many sets and reps of the overhead squat should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the overhead squat burn fat from the quadriceps?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the quadriceps builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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