Sumo Squat: Instructions, Benefits, and Variations

Few other moves engage as many muscles below the waist as the traditional squat, making it one of the most effective exercises for building lower-body strength and power. So you may wonder, “Is the sumo squat just messing with perfection?”

Turns out that variety isn’t just the spice of life — it will also keep your workouts interesting and effective, explains Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S.

“If your workout program only contains one kind of squat, you’re shortchanging your lower-body strength gains,” he says. Incorporating the sumo squat into your workouts will still give you all the benefits of a standard squat, plus a few more.

The difference between the sumo squat and the regular squat comes down to foot placement. Proper sumo squat form requires the feet to be wider than shoulder-width and the toes to be turned slightly away from the body.

Like the traditional squat, the sumo works the quads and glutes, but its wider stance offers an additional advantage. “The sumo squat also emphasizes your inner-thigh adductors, which are responsible for moving your legs toward the midline of your body,” says Thieme.

Ready to add a new exercise to your leg day? Step outside your comfort zone (aka hip- to shoulder-width position) and into a sumo squat.

Sumo Squat: Step-by-Step Instructions

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Stand with your feet wider than your shoulders and your arms at your sides. Turn your feet slightly outward. This is the starting position.
Keeping your chest up and core engaged, push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. As you squat down, bring your hands together in front of your chest.
Pause, and then return to the starting position.

Tips:

Make sure your heels don’t come off the ground as you squat down. If they do, narrow your stance and/or reduce your range of motion so that your foot maintains full contact with the ground the entire time.
Engage your inner thighs to keep your knees tracking over the middle of your foot. Reduce your range of motion if you feel them caving in or bowing out.

How to Make the Sumo Squat Easier

You may find the bodyweight sumo squat too challenging when you’re just starting out. After all, not many other squat variations emphasize the adductor muscles or require as much hip mobility as the sumo squat does. You can make the exercise easier by decreasing your range of motion — only drop a quarter to half of the way down.

How to Make the Sumo Squat Harder

You can increase the difficulty of the sumo squat by adding resistance.

To do a dumbbell sumo squat, hold two dumbbells of equal weight in front of your waist with straight arms, and lower them between your legs as you lower your body.
You can also perform a goblet sumo squat: Hold a kettlebell by the horns (i.e., each side of the handle) or single dumbbell (cup one end in both hands) at chest height.
Yet another option is the barbell sumo squat, performed with a barbell held securely across your upper back and shoulders.

No access to weights? Challenge yourself by slowing down the pace of the movement or pausing for two to four seconds at the bottom of the squat.

Benefits of the Sumo Squat

Here are just a few reasons why sumo squats should be a staple in your training plan.

1. Trains a functional movement pattern

Squatting is a basic functional movement — you do it every time you sit in a chair, pick up something off the floor (at least you should), or visit the loo. So it makes sense to learn correct form and strengthen all of the muscles required to do it.

2. Builds lower-body strength, mass, and definition

Beyond reinforcing proper squatting mechanics (e.g., flat back, chest up, initiating the movement by pushing the hips back, etc.), the sumo squat can help build strength and muscle mass in the glutes, quads, and inner thighs. And if you want to improve the definition of your butt and legs, you need to enhance the musculature of your glutes and quads.

3. Burns significant calories

When performed in high volume, the sumo squat is a great movement option for a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout routine. Because the move recruits multiple large muscle groups in the legs, glutes, and core, its calorie-burning potential is high.

What Muscles Does the Sumo Squat Work?

Fire up these lower body muscles with the sumo squat.

Quads

The quadriceps are four distinct muscles on the front of your thighbone (femur) that are responsible for straightening your leg: the rectus femoris, the vastus lateralis, the vastus medialis, and the vastus intermedius.

Glutes

These are your butt muscles.

The gluteus maximus, which is the largest of the three, is the one most responsible for the shape and prominence of your backside, as well as extension of the leg.
The gluteus medius, located toward the outer edges of your rear, handles lateral rotation and abduction (extension out to the sides) of your leg.
Finally, the gluteus minimus similarly rotates the leg and also helps stabilize the pelvis.

Adductors

These ropy muscles on the insides of your thighs are responsible for bringing your legs together.

Sumo Squat Variations and Alternatives

Work your lower body with these sumo squat variations and alternatives.

1. Releve plie

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Benefits: As you pulse your legs up and down in this exercise, your inner thighs and calf muscles will constantly be working. The addition of the weight makes it even more challenging.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed out, holding a dumbbell with both hands, arms hanging in front of your body.
Rise up on to the balls of your feet so your heels are lifted high off the ground.
Keeping your chest up, bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Straighten your legs 50 percent, then lower again until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Continue pulsing up and down, staying high on the balls of your feet.

2. Side lunge to sumo squat

In addition to your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, this combo lunge works your inner thighs. Attack every rep, and you’ll also hike up your heart rate for a great cardiovascular burn.

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells by your sides at arm’s length (palms in). This is the starting position.
Keeping your chest up, back straight, core engaged, and left leg straight, take a large step to your right with your right foot and lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Allow the dumbbells to hang at arm’s length on either side of your right leg, but don’t let them touch the floor.
Pause, then push off with your right foot, bringing it into a wide (greater than shoulder width) stance with the toes of both feet turned outward. Simultaneously lift the dumbbells up to your shoulders, palms in and elbows down.
Push your hips back, bend your knees and lower your body into a sumo squat (thighs parallel to the floor).
Return to the starting position, and then repeat the entire sequence, this time stepping out to your left. Alternate sides with each rep.

3. Frog squat

Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders and your hands on your hips. Turn your feet outward more than 45 degrees. This is different from a sumo squat position, because your feet are turned out more, almost like a ballet position.
Keeping your back flat, chest up, and core engaged, push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body as far as you can while keeping your chest up and maintaining a neutral spine. When viewed from the side, your torso and shins should form parallel lines (i.e., don’t lean your chest forward).
Come back up halfway, rather than all the way, to maintain muscle tension.