A prisoner squat is a bodyweight squat with your fingers resting behind your head and your elbows pointing out to the sides. With the arms up and back, the muscles along your spine and between your shoulder blades have to work to keep your chest lifted. Your thighs and buttocks still do most of the work of lowering and standing. It often comes after the plain squat, to practice keeping your chest up all the way down.

How to do the prisoner squat

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes turned out slightly.
Place your fingertips lightly behind your head with your elbows wide, level with your ears. The hands only rest there, so never pull on your head or neck.
Lift your chest and look straight ahead. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower yourself.
Go down until your thighs are about level with the floor, or as low as you can control, with your heels down and your knees in line with your toes.
Drive up through your heels to stand tall again, keeping the elbows back the whole time. Repeat.

What you should feel

Work in the thighs and buttocks, plus effort in the upper back and along the spine as you hold your chest up and elbows back.

Common mistakes

Pulling the head forward with the hands, which strains the neck.
Letting the elbows drift forward and the upper back round as you lower.
Knees caving inward, or heels lifting as you reach the bottom.
Going lower than you can control and bouncing up out of the bottom.

How often

Many programs start with 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 at a steady pace, a few days a week. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the knee, hip or lower back, or a knee that gives way.
Neck or shoulder pain from the hand position, or tingling or numbness in your arms or hands. Lower your arms and cross them over your chest instead. If the tingling or numbness does not settle within a few minutes, stop.
Pins and needles in your arm or hand that do not go away after you stop, or part of your arm or hand goes numb. Get medical advice the same day. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
Knee pain that grows with each rep and does not settle between sets.

From the clinic

Get comfortable with the plain squat first. If a sore shoulder makes it hard to lift your arms this high, cross them over your chest instead. Holding your hands behind your head means you cannot use your arms to catch your balance, so if you feel unsteady, squat beside a kitchen counter and keep one hand on it. If you have high blood pressure, breathe steadily through every repetition and never hold your breath.

If you have had a hip or knee replacement, get the go-ahead from your surgeon or physio before you try prisoner squats. Lowering until your thighs are level with the floor bends the hip well past a right angle, and many surgeons ask you to avoid that for the first months after some operations. Your physio can tell you how deep to go. Squatting down to a chair seat, as in the chair squat, stops you at the same depth every rep.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Prisoner squat