Adductors exercise
Smith Machine Sumo SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Quads
- Equipment
- Smith
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Smith Machine Sumo Squat?
- Set the Smith bar on your upper back and grip it just outside your shoulders.
- Step your feet wide, well outside your shoulders, toes turned out, a little in front of the bar.
- Unlock the bar and sit your hips straight down, pushing your knees out over your toes.
- Squat until your thighs are level with the floor.
- Drive up through your whole foot, keeping your knees out, and stand tall.
Cues
- Knees out over the toes.
- Sit straight down between your heels.
- Chest up, bar on your upper back.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees cave in as you stand.
- Turning the toes out further than the knees can follow.
- Feet too far forward, so the hips shoot back.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
A back squat on the Smith machine's fixed vertical track with a sumo stance (feet very wide, toes turned well out), so the knees travel out over the toes and the inner thighs and glutes do more of the work. The track keeps the bar path vertical; the feet sit a few cm in front of the bar line.
Starting position
Bar high on the upper back (on the traps, not the neck), grip just outside the shoulders. Heels about 1.9 × shoulder width apart, toes turned out about 40°, feet a few cm ahead of the bar line. Stand tall, brace.
The movement
Sit the hips straight down between the heels while pushing the knees out in line with the toes, chest up. Squat until the hip crease is level with or just below the top of the knee, then drive up through the whole foot, knees still out, to stand tall.
Breathing
Big breath and brace at the top, hold it down and through the bottom, breathe out near the top.
Tempo
About 1.8 s down, a brief touch at the bottom, about 1.2 s up, a short pause standing.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance, heel to heel | 1.9 × shoulder width | 1.7–2.1 × | |
| Toe-out | 40° | 30–45° | |
| Knee direction vs toe direction at the bottom (seen from above) | 0° | within 8°; never inside the toes | |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 3 cm below | 0–5 cm below | |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 108–109° | 95–120° | |
| Shin forward of vertical at the bottom (side view) | 11° | 5–20° (the knees go out, not forward) | |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 28–29° | 15–35° | |
| Feet ahead of the bar line | 4–5 cm | 0–10 cm | |
| Heel lift | 0 cm | 0 cm |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Smith Machine Sumo Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ExRx.net, "Smith Squat" and "Barbell Squat" (knees point the same way as the feet; wide stance with toes outward; thighs just past parallel)
- ACE Exercise Library, "Sumo Squat" (wide stance, toes turned out, knees in line with the toes, chest up)
- Escamilla et al. (2001), "A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths", Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(6): 984–998 (wider stances: more hip flexion and abduction, thighs more horizontal)
