On TikTok, individuals are testing their lower-body power and mobility with the deceptively tough “shrimp problem,” usually with fail-tastic outcomes.
Taking a knee for this newest viral health problem includes much less Smirnoff Ice and possibly extra falling and laughing. The check doesn’t contain seafood, both. As a substitute, it’s a tackle the shrimp squat, which is a squat executed on one leg, whereas holding the foot of your different leg as much as your butt behind you.
The shrimp squat is difficult sufficient, however the shrimp problem takes it to a different stage.
What’s the shrimp problem?
The check first circulated in 2022, but it surely began to go viral in mid-April and continued to select up momentum after some bodily therapists posted a video making it look all too simple.
Now, basketball gamers, ballet dancers, fitfluencers, and common individuals alike are attempting the problem—with solely a choose few really in a position to do it. Yep, not all the tremendous robust professional athletes or ultra-bendy ballerinas can do it.
However in case you’re prepared to offer it a shot, this is learn how to do it:
@foundationptutah Uncover the facility of the shrimp problem in bodily remedy! 🦐 This dynamic train targets a number of muscle teams, enhancing steadiness, stability, and practical motion. Good for rehabilitating decrease physique accidents and bettering general power and suppleness. Dive into the shrimp problem and unleash your physique’s potential! 💪 #PhysicalTherapy #ShrimpChallenge #Rehabilitation #Energy #Flexibility
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- Begin in a half-kneeling place with one leg bent in entrance of you at a 90-degree angle and your different leg kneeling on the ground behind you.
- Seize the foot of your again leg up and elevate it as much as your butt (such as you’re doing a quad stretch).
- Whereas nonetheless holding the foot of your again leg, lean ahead barely and press into your entrance foot to return as much as standing. Your again foot will keep bent behind you.
What the shrimp problem is definitely testing—and why it is so dang arduous
The problem “requires a excessive stage of power and mobility of the hips, knees and ankles, primarily focusing on the glutes and quad muscle mass,” explains bodily therapist Jacob VanDenMeerendonk, DPT.
In different phrases, simply being actually robust or simply having good mobility (vary of movement in your joints) received’t reduce it. You want each components to efficiently shrimp it up. Certainly, participating your muscle mass whereas stretching them isn’t any simple feat.
“You are inserting your standing leg in a deprived place within the backside place of a squat, which then requires a large amount of power to face again up, and concurrently you might be holding the other leg ready that requires a full stretch on the quadriceps muscle and sustaining that stretch whereas executing the return to standing place,” Dr. VanDenMeerendonk says.
“The shrimp squat problem is a enjoyable motion to aspire to with the ability to do, and likewise a wonderful train to carry out in case you’re seeking to make some increased stage mobility and power features within the quads and glutes.” —Jacob VanDenMeerendonk, DPT
What does it say about your health in case you can—or can’t—do the shrimp problem?
Dr. VanDenMeerendonk says to not fear in case you can’t full this problem. It’s very superior, and there are many different methods you possibly can strengthen, mobilize, and stretch your decrease physique that don’t contain falling over.
“You may obtain power and mobility features of the identical muscle mass and joints required in performing a shrimp squat as you’ll in a break up squat, Bulgarian break up squat, or perhaps a ahead or reverse lunge,” Dr. VanDenMeerendonk says.
On the similar time, in case you do end up finishing the problem once you attempt it, or are in a position to work as much as it, what it says about your physique is that you just’re killing it within the realms of power, mobility, flexibility, steadiness, and even physique consciousness.
“The shrimp squat problem is a enjoyable motion to aspire to with the ability to do, and likewise a wonderful train to carry out in case you’re seeking to make some increased stage mobility and power features within the quads and glutes,” Dr. VanDenMeerendonk says. “Those that can carry out the shrimp squat have glorious unilateral steadiness and coordination, in addition to increased stage hip and knee mobility. They possible have robust quads and glutes and a very good understanding of their middle of gravity.”
Need to give the shrimp problem a attempt? Think about getting some padding on your knees on the bottom—and keep in mind to not beat your self up if it’s a no-go! You may at all times work as much as it with some lower-body power and mobility strikes, like on this 15-minute exercise video.
