Quads exercise
Dumbbell Sumo SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Dumbbell Sumo Squat?
- Stand with feet wide and toes turned out.
- Hold one dumbbell by its top end, arms straight, between your legs.
- Bend your knees and hips to sink straight down.
- Stop when your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Push through your heels to stand tall.
Cues
- Knees push out over your toes.
- Chest up, arms long.
- Sink straight down, not forward.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees fall inward.
- Leaning forward and rounding the back.
- Swinging the dumbbell instead of letting it hang.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Wide stance, heels well outside the shoulders, toes turned out clearly. Hold one dumbbell upright with both hands cupping the top head, arms straight, so it hangs between the legs in front of the hips. Shoulders down and back, chest up, eyes forward. Whole foot flat.
The movement
Hips and knees bend together and the body sinks straight down between the heels. The knees push out in line with the toes, so seen from the front each thigh points along its foot. The arms stay straight and hang; the dumbbell drops in a vertical line under the shoulders and never swings. Because the stance is wide, the shins stay more upright than in a normal squat and the trunk only leans a little. On the way up, drive through the heels and the outside of the feet, keep the knees out, and stand tall with the hips straight.
End position
The rep turns round when the thighs are about parallel to the floor, with the bottom of the dumbbell a few centimetres above the floor. It never touches down. Taking a parent shin angle of about 28–35° and removing 8° gives about 20–25°. With the thighs splayed along the toes, the side-view thigh is close to level at depth, so knee flexion is about 90° + 20° ≈ 110°. Part of the hip bend is taken up by the thighs opening sideways, so side-view hip flexion reads about 95° rather than 90° + 22° ≈ 112°. The dumbbell clearance assumes a 1.75 m avatar and a 35 cm dumbbell.
Tempo
2 s down, 0.3 s pause at the bottom, 1 s up, 0.5 s stand.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance, heel to heel | 1.7 × shoulder width | 1.4–2.0 × | [1][2] |
| Toe-out, each foot | 35° | 25–45° | [3] |
| Dumbbell hold | vertical, both hands on the top head | arms straight | |
| Depth: thigh angle from horizontal | 0° (parallel) | 10° above to 5° below | [1][4] |
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 Dumbbell 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
- Escamilla et al. 2001, Med Sci Sports Exerc, "A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths"
- McCaw and Melrose 1999, Med Sci Sports Exerc, "Stance width and bar load effects on leg muscle activity during the parallel squat"
- Lorenzetti et al. 2018, BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil, "How to squat? Effects of various stance widths, foot placement angles and level of experience on knee, hip and trunk motion and loading"
- Paoli et al. 2009, J Strength Cond Res, "The effect of stance width on the electromyographical activity of eight superficial thigh muscles during back squat with different bar loads"
