Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Looking for a strategy to improve your squat game? Swapping the barbell for dumbbells may be just what you need.
Standard dumbbell squats follow the same form as barbell squats, but the main difference is there are more grip variations and ways to hold dumbbells compared to the barbell. That means you've got many more possibilities for how to include it in your program.
Read on, as we're about to discuss how to perform a dumbbell squat, along with the 7 best variations for muscle and strength.
Table of Contents:
- How To Perform Dumbbell Squats: Grips & Form
- 7 Best Dumbbell Squat Variations
- Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Benefits of Dumbbell Squats
- Muscles Worked
- Training Variables & How To Progress Your Squats
How To Perform Dumbbell Squats
The first thing to consider before squatting is the different holding positions. We'll discuss each of these holds in more detail as we get into our list of best variations, but for now, we'll cover what they are.
With dumbbells, you have several different holding positions that you can do, such as:
- Arms extended down to your sides
- Goblet position (held up near the front of your chest)
- Front rack position (resting up near your shoulders)
- Overhead position
Changing the type of holding position can affect both the difficulty level of the exercise, how much load you can handle, and the secondary muscles being worked. Regardless of how you are holding your dumbbells for your squat, the movement mechanics of the squat remain the same.
We're about to go over how to perform general form for standard dumbbell squats. Then, as we list the squat variations, we'll make note of form differences you need to know about to perform each correctly. Following the exercises, we'll discuss common mistakes that will help you improve your form even more.
General Form For Dumbbell Squats:
- To begin, start with your feet about hip-width apart, or a little wider if necessary. Bring your shoulder blades down and back, with chest high and core engaged.
- From here, bring your hips down and back as you bend at the knees, like you’re going to be sitting on a bench or chair; lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Alignment of your ankles, knees, and hips should not shift as you lower yourself into your squat.
- At the bottom of the movement – and still with chest high and core engaged – press through your heels to return to a standing position, squeezing your glutes on the way up until you reach full extension.
Keep a firm grip on the handles of the dumbbells as you move through your squat, ensuring that they stay steady during the exercise.
7 Best Dumbbell Squats
These squat variations utilize different grip and stance positions. Including a few variations in your routine allows for more well-rounded development in strength, hypertrophy, and athleticism.
The 7 best dumbbell squats are:
- Goblet Squat
- Arms To Side Squat
- Racked Dumbbell Squat
- Overhead Squat
- Dumbbell Sumo Squat
- Dumbbell Split Squat
- Dumbbell Side Squat
Let's take a closer look at each squat variation.
1) GOBLET HOLD:
This holding position is referred to as “goblet”. So, when using it during a squat, it is called a goblet squat. It will challenge your core and upper body to stay upright as you lower yourself into a squat.
It's typically thought of as a beginner exercise, but it's actually effective for all fitness levels (albeit it may be an accessory exercise for an advanced lifter, whereas it's a main exercise for a beginner).
The most common way to hold the dumbbell is vertically (as pictured above), but you can also hold the dumbbell horizontally with one hand on each end. If holding the dumbbell horizontally, ensure that you hold both heads of the dumbbell held evenly and parallel with the floor.
If you prefer to use two dumbbells to increase the load, you can choose the following holding positions...
2) ARMS TO SIDES SQUAT (easiest grip option):
If you choose to hold your dumbbells by your sides (typically placed on the outsides of your thighs), then you can grab them off the rack before beginning your squat, or pick them up off of the ground as you dip into your first squat.
Regardless of where the weights are when you begin, you want to ensure that your shoulders stay down and back (as opposed to hunching forward) and your arms stay extended. The dumbbells can graze your legs as you move up and down, but you don’t want them bumping into your thighs and bouncing all over the place.
3) RACKED DUMBBELL SQUATs (Hardest Grip Position):
If you want to hold your dumbbells in the front rack position, either clean your dumbbells up from the floor or grab them off the rack. Either way, you’ll need to ensure that you are properly cleaning them up into the front rack position without placing yourself in harm's way, especially if the dumbbells are on the heavier side.
The front rack position should have your elbows pointing forward, with the back of your arms parallel to the floor. If this is uncomfortable or if you’re dealing with a possible wrist injury, placing the dumbbells on your upper shoulders/traps and resting them there (while still holding onto the head of the dumbbell that is closest to your chest, if the handles are on your shoulders) can be helpful as well.
Note: The goblet and racked position will require more upper body work than the arms extended down to the side hold (such as your core, back, and arms) to keep the dumbbells in place and your torso upright.
4) OVERHEAD SQUAT:
This is more of a specialty squat hold variation, but nevertheless, a great way to build total body, real world strength as well as improve mobility. This will be by far the hardest variation to load heavily and most will do best to use a light to moderate load.
5) DUMBBELL SUMO SQUATS:
While sumo squats work your legs and glutes just like regular squats, the exercise emphasizes your side glutes/hip abductors (gluteus medius & minimus) as well as your inner thighs.
With sumo squats, you have different holding positions, such as with arms extended down between your legs (can be done with one or two dumbbells), goblet, or front racked as well (or even overhead).
6) DUMBBELL SPLIT SQUATS:
Dumbbell split squats also work your legs, glutes and calves, but they place greater emphasis on your glutes and quads (particularly the area of the quadriceps around the knee) as well as core strength & stability. They will even work your calves to a higher degree simply for balance purposes. When comparing split squats vs lunges, split squats are a great first step as they provide a bit more balance.
You can have both feet flat on the ground or raise the front one up to increase the difficulty via increased range of motion.
Holding position options are the same as the standard dumbbell squat.
7) DUMBBELL SIDE SQUATS:
Like sumo squats, side squats place focus on your hip abductors and hip adductors. Side squats also increase the activation of the hamstrings more than a regular squat. You won't be able to go nearly as heavy with the side squat as you can a sumo squat though, but the exercise is considerably more difficult due to the range of motion and hip mobility needed. Start light with this one (or even just your own bodyweight).
Goblet or front racked with be the best dumbbell holding positions for side squats.
Other good dumbbell squat variations include:
- Plie Squats
- Heels Elevated Squat
- Bulgarian Split Squat
- Box Squats
- Single Leg Box Squats
- Pistol Squats
- Jump Squats
- Squat Thrusters
- Clean Squats
- Swing Squats
Note: The ones in our list are the best to start with and are more than enough in terms of variability for strength and building muscle. And, if you need to master form before adding weights, start with bodyweight squats.
3 Common Dumbbell Squat Mistakes
Now that you know how to do a dumbbell squat and some of the options available to you in regards to holding onto your dumbbell(s), let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes that you’ll find with this exercise.
Three common mistakes to avoid when squatting with dumbbells include:
- Rounding Your Back & Shoulders
- Knees Bowing Inward (Knee Valves)
- Raising Onto Your Toes
Let's take a closer look at each and how to correct them.
1) ROUNDING THE BACK & SHOULDERS:
Dumbbells add a definite challenge to squats – especially since the added resistance can play with your coordination, balance, and form. Rounding of the back and/or shoulders is a very common mistake with dumbbell squats (and even squats without any extra weight).
Make sure that your form and technique for a regular squat is where it needs to be before adding any resistance, and then slowly add weight as desired. Rounding of the back and shoulders is typically due to a lack of core strength, or adding too much weight too quickly.
If it helps, squat with a mirror so that you can keep tabs on your form and see where disengagement happens as you move. And remember, keep that core tight, shoulder blades retracted, and glutes engaged!
2) KNEE VALGUS:
A term frequently used by fitness specialists, knee valgus occurs when the knees bow inward toward each other. While this can occur during other movements (and even just in static posture), it can often happen during a dumbbell squat, especially if the dumbbells are by your sides with your arms extended.
This then places unnecessary pressure on the outside of the knees, and can cause pain or injury if left unattended. While this isn’t always an issue due to movement (genetics often plays a part as well), focusing on strengthening the hips and improving strength and range of motion within the hamstrings, quads, and ankles can be beneficial as well.
3) RAISING ONTO TOES:
Another common mistake seen with or without the use of dumbbells in a squat, raising up onto the toes during any point of a squat can signal several things.
For one, there are quite a few muscles that are underactive when you drop down into a squat and you’re balancing on your toes – and your glutes are one of them! Sure, you might be able to sink a bit lower if your weight transfers to your toes, but the brunt of your weight will then be on your calves…and probably not comfortably.
If you notice that you are coming up onto your toes as you lower yourself into a squat, reassess and really focus on pressing through the heels while keeping your entire foot planted on the ground. This can be a challenge for some, especially if that squat form has been present for a while. Single leg squats can be a possible strengthening exercise if you notice your heel(s) rising during a squat!
Benefits of Dumbbell Squats
The 4 benefits of dumbbell squats are:
- Versatility
- Progress More Quickly
- Compound Lift = More Muscles Worked & Calories Burned
- Improves Grip Strength
1. VERSATILITY & VARIATIONS:
Dumbbells provide incredible freedom of movement. Not only can you alter the difficulty by simply choosing an easier or harder holding position, but you have several more variables to play around with such as body positioning and unilateral training. You can easily shift your foot placement and weight load placement, as well as train with one dumbbell or two.
With the versatility and variety that you can have with dumbbells, they also stimulate metabolic and mechanic overload, which can boost the size of muscles.
2. PROGRESSION & STRENGTH GAINS:
A dumbbell's starting weight will be much less than a barbell, so if you only want to add 5-10 pounds to your squat to start, then work up from there, dumbbells allow that. This means you can make gains more quickly as it's easier to bump up the weight a bit.
Of course, barbells have a higher ceiling in terms of weight load, but dumbbells provide a greater versatility in terms of load. For most people, dumbbells are more than enough to get to the strength level they want and to build the legs they want1.
If you want to start squatting really heavy, at some point you'll need to upgrade to a barbell. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean you'll be done with dumbbells forever. Dumbbells can always have their place for squats, such as if you wanted to do a superset, accessory work, a circuit workout, or HIIT-style workout.
3. COMPOUND MOVEMENT & MORE MUSCLES WORKED:
Dumbbell squats target the lower body, specifically the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. But the core is also working overtime in a dumbbell squat just to keep those dumbbells in place and to maintain good form.
Activation of these lower body and upper body muscles translates to improved performance with activities of daily living, and can increase sports performance as well.
4. GRIP STRENGTH:
As you start to use heavier dumbbells, this becomes more apparent. Just holding onto dumbbells while squatting will help you to build incredible grip strength, which is a crucial component of fitness.
If you don't know the importance of grip strength and why you should take it serious, then you need to read this article we wrote on grip strength.
Muscles Worked in a Dumbbell Squat
The three major lower body muscles worked in a squat include:
- Glutes
- Quads
- Hamstrings
In addition, dumbbell squats strengthen the calves, lower back, and core. Muscles within the upper back and arms are also working, while you are maintaining a solid grip on your dumbbells!
Want to target all your leg muscles with dumbbells? Check out our post Dumbbell Leg Workout that will be sure to get those legs firing on all cylinders.
Training Variables (Volume & Frequency):
The way that you choose to incorporate dumbbell squats into a routine will be based on goals, current fitness level, and current and past injury history, just to name a few factors to consider. However, there are some things to keep in mind regarding training variables.
- Reps and sets: The dumbbell squat is a compound movement, so starting with lower weight and lower reps isn’t a bad thing – especially if you need to ensure that your form and technique stay on point. Once you’ve got the movement down, then reps of 12-15 for 2-3 sets with a lighter weight is where you’ll want to be to develop endurance within the lower body. If your goal is more along the lines of strength and mass, then 8-10 reps for a span of 4-5 sets with a heavier dumbbell is more ideal.
- Rest: Taking time for recovery is imperative, especially if you are recovering from an injury or are brand new to working out. You don’t need to do dumbbell squats every day – after all, those muscles need time to repair and rebuild! Work this movement into a routine where you can get at least 24 hours of down time in between workouts; no need to go overboard on back-to-back squat days.
How To Progressive Overload with Dumbbell Squats
It's actually quite easy to progressive overload with dumbbells. Before moving on to more challenging movements, ensure that your form and technique are correct!
1) Increase Weights:
One of the first ways that you can make the dumbbell squat more challenging is to increase the weight of your dumbbells. This should be done incrementally, and not in huge steps. Your core and overall stabilization will need to learn and adjust to new weight, and your legs will certainly feel it!
2) Focus On Eccentric Contraction:
Another progression you can make with dumbbell squats is to work on the negative, or the eccentric phase of the movement.
This essentially means that instead of taking a count or two to drop down into your squat, you’re extending that out to three, four, or even five counts. If done correctly, this added time under tension will have you working much harder than you were before!
3) Incorporate Squats Into Supersets:
If you are wanting to add other movements into your routine (and you definitely should), then working the dumbbell sets into a solid program is another way to progress – especially if you work them into a routine similar to a superset.
For example, do a set of dumbbell squats, immediately move into a set of lunges, and then you’ll be right back to the next set of squats for a given rep scheme and/or time.
Dumbbell Squats: Final Takeaways
The DB squat is a highly versatile compound movement that can improve your functionality throughout activities of daily living – all while providing an excellent base of strength and stability to your lower body and core. Incorporate dumbbell squats into your program and you are sure to reap the benefits.
Interested in learning 15 more great squat variations? Check out our Squats Guide!
References:
- Krzysztofik M, Wilk M, Wojdała G, Gołaś A. Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2019. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244897
Garett Reid
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