dumbbell sumo squat

The Dumbbell Sumo Squat is a powerful lower body exercise that places a particular emphasis on your glutes, while also working the quads, hamstrings and core, like any other squat variation.

Ultimately this squat variation is the perfect exercise for anyone who is keen to grow their glutes. And by incorporating the additional weight of a dumbbell in a front-loaded position, you also shift the weight onto your anterior chain, which are the muscles down the front of your body.

Here, we will explore the Dumbbell Sumo Squat in detail, the specific muscles it engages, the correct way to perform it, its benefits, common mistakes to avoid, recommended reps and sets, strategies for incorporating it into your workouts, and exercises that target similar muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Performing the Dumbbell Sumo Squat

The Dumbbell Sumo Squat effectively engages the following major muscle groups:

Glutes (Maximus and Medius): These muscles aren’t just the latest trend, they are vital for powerful hip extension, which is central to squatting and essential for various lower body movements.

Quads: The front thigh muscles are more engaged with a narrower foot position when squatting, but they still play a huge role in any squat variation.

Hamstrings: The muscles at the back of your thighs are also engaged throughout this exercise, they support knee flexion and hip extension during any squat.

Anterior Chain: The muscles down the front of the body including; biceps, pecs, abs, obliques, and the serratus anterior are all engaged by default when you perform this exercise.

Inner Thigh Muscles: Because of the wide foot position, this exercise will help you to develop strength and flexibility in your inner thighs.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

How to Perform the Dumbbell Sumo Squat

1. Start Position: Begin by standing on a couple of steps or an elevated surface to provide ample space to perform deep squats without the dumbbell touching the ground. Position your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, and point your toes outward, adopting the sumo squat stance.

2. Execution: Grasp a heavy dumbbell with both hands, allowing it to hang straight down between your legs. The dumbbell should be in front of you. Initiate the squat by bending at your hips and knees, lowering your body toward the ground. Keep your back straight and your head up throughout. Continue until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground.

3. Return to the Start Position: Push through your heels to stand back up, extending your hips and knees. Ensure that the dumbbell remains in the same position throughout the movement, you’re not lifting the dumbbell, you are simply taking it with you when you squat. This completes one rep.

4. Go for reps.

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Other Weight Types You Can Use to Perform This Exercise

Despite this exercise being called a Dumbbell Sumo Squat, you can also perform it with a kettlebell held in the same position, by its handle.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Sumo Squat

You’ll be surprised by the secondary benefits of this exercise. This isn’t just a glute exercise, it is an exercise that also translates into functional strength outside the gym.

Glute Development: The Dumbbell Sumo Squat offers excellent glute activation, helping you sculpt and strengthen your glutes effectively.

Quad and Hamstring Strength: It enhances the strength of your quads and hamstrings, contributing to a more powerful and shapely lower body.

Functional Lower Body Power: Become more powerful in your everyday life with a much more resilient lower body.

Stronger at the Core: The front loaded position of the weight helps build your core strength from the front, which in turn contributes to your overall core strength when combined with other exercises in the gym and of course in your everyday life.

Dumbbell Sumo Squat: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Leaning Forward: Avoid leaning forward as you lower the dumbbell to the ground. Maintain an upright posture throughout the squat to protect your back and optimise muscle engagement.

Inadequate Range of Motion: Strive to achieve a full range of motion by descending until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. Partial squats will limit the exercise's effectiveness. If you’re struggling, master the move without weight first and only add weight when you are performing the full range of motion with ease.

Proper Stance: Ensure your toes and knees are pointing outward and your feet are wide apart in the sumo squat stance. Your foot position is everything in this exercise, if you’re not in a sumo stance, you’re not performing a sumo squat.

Reps and Sets

The number of reps and sets you perform depends on your current strength with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of the Dumbbell Sumo Squat you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Dumbbell Sumo Squat More Challenging

To make this exercise more challenging you can add more weight of course, or you can slow down the range of motion so that you are performing your Dumbbell Sumo Squats with more time under tension.

How to Incorporate the Dumbbell Sumo Squat into Your Workouts

Dumbbell Sumo Squats belong in your lower body, leg or full-body strength workouts. This exercise is a compound movement, meaning it will target multiple muscle groups in a single movement. Because it’s loaded with some weight too, it’s a pretty powerful move which should therefore be positioned towards the middle of your workout, after your barbell exercises.

Always start with the biggest exercise that moves the most weight, and work your way down from there. If your plan includes a Squat or a Deadlift, do that first, but always perform your Dumbbell Sumo Squats before any cable, machine or bodyweight exercises, including any isolation exercises. You can learn more about the importance of exercise order here.

Exercises That Work Similar Muscles to the Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Exercises like Squats, Lunges and Bulgarian Split Squats are great compound moves to help further strengthen your glutes for your Dumbbell Sumo Squats. Compound exercises are crucial for muscle growth since they allow you to move more overall weight than isolation exercises, helping you build the muscle faster.

You can also pair this exercise with other squat variations, such as the Goblet Squat, Hack Squat or Sumo Squat; if you’re looking for more glute isolation exercises, you can perform Cable Kickbacks, or Hip Thrusts. A combination of compound and isolation exercises is recommended for well rounded results.

You can find more Bum Exercises at the bottom of this page. Or you can check out our entire exercise database broken down by muscle group here.

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