Sumo Squat: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Benefits

The sumo squat is a squat you do with a wide stance and your toes turned out, and it is one of the best moves for hitting the muscles a normal squat tends to miss. The wide, externally rotated position shifts serious work onto your inner thighs and glutes while still building your quads, and it keeps your torso more upright, which many people find kinder on the lower back. You can do it with just your bodyweight or load it with a single dumbbell or kettlebell, so it suits complete beginners and experienced lifters alike. Here is how to do it properly, the muscles it works, and how to get the most from it.

How to do a sumo squat

You need nothing to start. Add a single dumbbell or kettlebell held between your legs once the pattern feels natural.

1. Set your stance. Stand with your feet noticeably wider than shoulder-width, roughly one and a half times as wide, and turn your toes out to around 30 to 45 degrees. Your knees should point the same way as your toes.
2. Get tall and brace. Stand upright with your chest up and shoulders back. Take a breath into your belly and tighten your abs as if bracing for a light poke to the stomach. If you are holding a weight, let it hang straight down in front of you.
3. Sit between your legs. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower straight down, as if sitting into a chair directly beneath you. Keep your chest up and your back flat. Your torso stays more upright than in a normal squat.
4. Drive your knees out. As you descend, actively push your knees outward so they track over your toes. This is what loads the inner thighs and glutes and keeps the position strong.
5. Hit depth and stand. Lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Done with good technique and sensible loads, a deep squat is safe for healthy knees (scoping review on the deep squat and the knee joint). Then drive up through your heels, squeeze your glutes hard and return to standing.

Muscles worked

The sumo squat is a leg and glute exercise with a standout inner-thigh emphasis, thanks to the wide stance and turned-out hips.

• Adductors (inner thighs). This is the sumo squat's calling card. Research comparing squat variations found the wide sumo stance produced high adductor longus activation, because the wider stance and external rotation put these muscles under a long stretch and heavy load (activation of gluteal, thigh and lower back muscles in different squat variations).
• Quadriceps. The muscles on the front of your thighs extend your knees to drive you up, working hard as in any squat.
• Glutes. Your gluteus maximus powers your hips from the bottom back to standing, and the outer glutes help control the wide, externally rotated position.
• Hamstrings. The muscles at the back of your thighs assist hip extension as you stand.
• Core and lower back. Your abs and spinal muscles brace to keep your upright torso stable, especially once you add weight.
• Calves. Your calves stabilise your ankles and help you balance through the rep.

If you want to load these muscles over time, a pair of adjustable dumbbells or a set of kettlebells lets you nudge the weight up gradually without a rack of fixed weights.

Benefits

• It hammers the inner thighs. Few bodyweight or dumbbell moves load the adductors like a sumo squat, so it is a favourite for balanced, strong legs and for anyone chasing inner-thigh tone.
• It builds glutes and quads too. You still get a full lower-body squat, so it develops real leg and glute strength, not just the inner thighs.
• It is easy on the back. The wider stance and more upright torso reduce forward lean, which many people with cranky lower backs find more comfortable than a narrow squat.
• It needs almost no kit or space. Bodyweight or a single weight and a couple of square metres of floor is enough, which makes it ideal for home training. The NHS recommends muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on at least two days a week.
• It improves hip mobility. Regularly sitting into a deep, wide squat opens up tight hips and groin over time.

Common mistakes

Knees caving inward. Letting your knees collapse in wastes power, kills the inner-thigh and glute work and stresses the joint. Actively push your knees out in line with your toes on every rep.

Stance too narrow or toes too straight. If your feet are barely wider than a normal squat, it stops being a sumo squat. Widen your stance and turn your toes out so you actually feel the inner thighs stretch and load.

Leaning too far forward. Folding your chest towards the floor turns the move into a stiff-legged hinge and loads your lower back. Keep your chest up and sit straight down between your legs.

Not going deep enough. Quarter squats short-change your glutes and adductors. Aim for thighs at least parallel, going lower if you can keep a flat back and your heels planted.

Heels lifting off the floor. If your heels rise, that usually points to tight ankles or too narrow a stance. Widen slightly, push your knees out, or work on ankle mobility until you can keep your full foot down.

Variations

Once the standard sumo squat feels easy, try these to keep progressing.

• Dumbbell or goblet sumo squat. Hold a single dumbbell or kettlebell between your legs, or against your chest, to add load. The simplest way to make the move harder at home. Compare it with the standard goblet squat for a more quad-focused option.
• Sumo squat pulse. At the bottom, come up a few inches and drop back down for two or three small pulses before standing fully. This keeps constant tension on the inner thighs and glutes.
• Tempo sumo squat. Take 3 to 4 seconds to lower, pause for a second at the bottom, then stand. The extra time under tension makes a lighter weight feel much harder.
• Sumo squat with a band. Loop a resistance band above your knees to fire up your glutes and give you something to push against as you drive your knees out.
• Elevated sumo squat. Stand with your feet on two low platforms or plates so you can drop deeper between them, increasing the stretch on your inner thighs.

Sets and reps

A simple plan that works for most people:

• Strength and muscle: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, 2 to 3 times a week, with a moderate weight. Rest 60 to 90 seconds.
• Endurance or circuits: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps with a lighter weight or bodyweight, resting 30 to 45 seconds.
• Learning the move: 3 sets of 10 slow bodyweight reps, focusing only on a wide stance, knees out and depth.

Add a small amount of weight once you can hit the top of your rep range with clean form on every set. Sumo squats pair well with a more quad-dominant move like the back squat or front squat for complete leg development.

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5. Back squat: how to do it and muscles worked