Watch Kate Upton Hit Another Personal Record In the Weight Room

Over the past few very long months, some people puzzled, others learned new skills (see: Kerry Washington rollerskating), and Kate Upton? Well, she spent much of the coronavirus quarantine crushing fitness goals. Earlier this year, the supermodel managed to hit a personal record with her hip thrust a FaceTime workout with her trainer Ben Bruno. And now, she's checked off yet another achievement with a deceptively difficult movement: the dumbbell squat to press.

On Wednesday, Bruno posted a video on Instagram that shows Upton completing multiple reps of the compound exercise. "Yesterday @kateupton crushed 3 sets of 10 the dumbbell squat to press with 25-pound dumbbells for a new personal record," Bruno wrote in the caption. "Strong! 25-pound dumbbells are no joke for this exercise."

Mastering weighted squats with 50 pounds of total load is a serious feat that takes commitment and practice — and if anyone knows that it's Upton, who's no stranger to straight-up crushing it in the gym. In fact, the 28-year-old mom makes even the hardest of exercises look easy, whether that's nailing a single-leg Romanian deadlift or pushing (yes, pushing) her husband up a hill. Casual. (

Upton's commitment to fitness that really shines. While a lot of people hunkered down during most of the quarantine wondering where their motivation had gone, Upton remained dedicated to her goals. "Kate has made big improvements on both her upper body strength and her squat technique in the past six months, which is great to see," wrote Bruno on IG. "She's super consistent and always brings her best effort, which is the recipe for success."

Ready to master this move yourself? Take Upton's lead: Begin by holding the set of dumbbells just under your chin with palms facing in. Then lower into a squat, tapping a bench with your butt before coming back to standing, simultaneously pressing the dumbbells up overhead. Upton's forearms pivot so that palms are facing forward at the top of the movement pattern. This kind of shoulder press is known as an Arnold press and recruits more muscles in the shoulder. It also helps "encourage a better torso position on the squat," explains Bruno in his caption.

Performing a box squat (the term for using a box, bench, or even a couch cushion in this way) can also be great for building lower body strength, especially at the bottom of your squat, Alena Luciani, M.S., C.S.C.S., a certified strength and conditioning coach and founder of Training2xl previously explained to Shape. Unlike with air squats, this move requires that you pause at the bottom of the squat when you tap the box or bench forcing you to really engage all of the large and small lower body muscles and rely on strength (vs. momentum) to return to standing. The result? An ability to bust through strength plateaus and reach that PR — as proven by Upton.

All in all, this compound movement combines a weighted squat and shoulder press for a full-body exercise that works your legs, butt, core, arms, and shoulders. (

Upton is no stranger to the hard work and consistency needed to reach these fitness achievements. "We train five to six days a week," Bruno tells Shape. "Most workouts are 45 minutes to an hour at seven out of 10 effort. Then sometimes we go for a record. But the key is consistent, sustainable effort." Upton's workouts are typically 80 percent strength work and 20 percent cardio, he adds.

If you're not a superhuman supermodel with a celebrity trainer, the good news is you can still take notes from Upton and Bruno's exercise mentality. To summarize: Find meaning to your activities and you'll begin to taste that motivation to move again.

"The goal is to make the most of the quarantine period and try to get strong," says Bruno. "Kate has made the best of it and continued to train even with minimal equipment. We set strength goals to give purpose to her workouts."