Dumbbell Squat

What the dumbbell squat actually trains

A dumbbell squat is a squat performed with a dumbbell hanging in each hand at your sides.

The quadriceps do most of the work, with the gluteus maximus and adductor magnus contributing strongly out of the bottom. The erector spinae and abs hold the torso, and the forearms hold the dumbbells, which turns out to matter more than you would like.

The loading position is what defines this exercise, and it is worth being clear about what it does.

With the weight hanging at your sides rather than in front of you, there is no counterbalance. Nothing is helping you stay upright. That makes this a harder movement to do well than a goblet squat and, in torso angle terms, closer to a back squat, though without the bar to hold you honest.

It also means the load sits low and outside your legs, which creates two practical problems that no amount of technique fixes. Long dumbbells reach the floor before your hips reach depth. And your grip fails before your quadriceps do.

Neither is a reason to avoid the exercise. Both are reasons to be realistic about what it is: a competent squat pattern for people who have dumbbells and nothing else, or for filling in after a heavier movement.

Schoenfeld's review of squat kinematics makes the general point that squat variations differ mainly in where the load sits relative to the hips and knees, and that this determines torso angle and the balance between hip and knee extension. Side loading sits between the front loaded and back loaded extremes and behaves accordingly.

Setting up and executing

Pick up a dumbbell in each hand and stand tall with the arms hanging straight, palms facing your thighs.

Set the feet roughly shoulder width with the toes turned slightly out. Brace the abs, set the shoulders back, take a breath and hold it.

Sit down, letting the dumbbells travel down beside your legs. Allow the knees to move forward over the feet.

Descend until the hips are below the knees, if the dumbbells allow it. If they hit the floor first, stand on a pair of low platforms or plates so you have clearance.

Keep the chest up throughout, since without a counterweight the torso wants to fold.

Drive the whole foot into the floor, stand up, breathe at the top and repeat.

The mistakes that cost you the most

Letting the torso fold forward is the fault this loading position invites. With nothing in front of you, the easiest way to keep your balance is to lean, and the lean quietly moves the work from your quadriceps to your lower back. Ribs stacked over hips, chest up.

The dumbbells hitting the floor is a mechanical problem, not a technique one, and people respond to it by cutting depth. Do not. Kubo and colleagues found deeper squats produced greater quadriceps and gluteal growth, and Bloomquist and colleagues found the same with heavy loads. Stand on two low platforms instead.

Grip failing first is the honest ceiling. If your hands are the reason the set ended, either use straps or accept that this exercise is not going to keep loading your legs indefinitely.

Turning it into a hinge, pushing the hips backwards instead of sitting down, converts a squat into a bad Romanian deadlift with your knees bent.

And chasing load you do not have is the last one. Most gyms stop at forty or fifty kilo dumbbells, and a trained lifter's legs pass that quickly. When you get there, go to split squats or a barbell instead of grinding out sets with everything the rack has.

Sets, reps and rest by goal

Moderate to high reps, because the load ceiling means low reps are rarely available.

For muscle gain, three sets of ten to fifteen with ninety seconds rest. For strength, three sets of eight to twelve with two minutes. In a fat loss phase, three sets of fifteen to twenty with a minute.

Progress by adding reps first, then by slowing the descent, then by adding a pause at the bottom, and only then by moving up a dumbbell. Dumbbell increments are large, often five kilos per hand, and that is a big jump on a squat.

When you run out of dumbbells, the sensible answer is not more reps forever. It is to switch to a single leg version. Speirs and colleagues compared unilateral and bilateral squat training and found comparable strength outcomes, and splitting the same dumbbells across one leg at a time doubles the effective load without needing heavier weights.

Schoenfeld and colleagues found a dose response between weekly hard sets and hypertrophy, so if this is your main squat, spread the volume across two or three sessions.

Refalo and colleagues found stopping a rep or two short of failure produces comparable growth to going to failure, which is useful when the thing that fails is your grip rather than your legs.

Where it fits in your split

Either as the main squat in a home gym, or as accessory work after a heavier movement.

On push, pull and legs it goes on legs day. On a bro split it fills in on leg day after the barbell work. On an upper and lower split it is a fine substitute when the rack is occupied. On a full body programme it is the practical choice if dumbbells are all you have.

The case for it is convenience. There is no setup, no rack, no spotter and no unracking. You pick up two weights and squat, which makes it easy to fit into a circuit or a short session.

The case against it is that almost everything it does, a goblet squat does more comfortably at low loads and a split squat does more effectively at higher ones. It occupies a narrow band between those two.

If you have a barbell and a rack, this is a warm up at best. If you do not, it belongs in your programme, ideally alongside single leg work rather than instead of it.

Twice a week is comfortable.

Variations worth knowing

The goblet squat holds one weight at the chest, which counterbalances you, keeps the torso upright and makes depth dramatically easier. For most people it is the better dumbbell squat.

The dumbbell split squat puts one leg in front of the other, doubling the load per leg with the same dumbbells, which is the single best answer to running out of weight.

The Bulgarian split squat elevates the rear foot and is the most effective way to make limited dumbbells feel heavy.

The dumbbell sumo squat uses a wide stance with a single dumbbell held between the legs, which emphasises the adductors and removes the grip problem of holding two weights.

Heels elevated dumbbell squats put small plates under the heels, allowing more depth and more quadriceps involvement.

And the barbell back squat is where the pattern goes when you want to keep adding weight, since it has no meaningful ceiling.

What the evidence says

Kubo and colleagues trained squats to different depths and found full depth produced greater quadriceps and gluteal growth than half squats, which is why the dumbbells reaching the floor is a problem worth solving rather than accepting.

Bloomquist and colleagues compared deep and shallow heavy squatting and found the deep group grew more despite lighter loads.

Schoenfeld's review of squatting kinematics explains how load placement changes torso angle and the balance between hip and knee extensors, which is what separates side loading from front loading.

Escamilla's analysis of knee biomechanics during the squat found the joint forces involved are well tolerated in a controlled squat, which supports squatting to full depth rather than restricting the range on precautionary grounds.

Speirs and colleagues compared unilateral and bilateral squat training and found comparable strength gains, which is the evidence behind switching to split squats once you have run out of dumbbells.

Schoenfeld and colleagues on weekly volume and Refalo and colleagues on proximity to failure supply the programming, with the latter especially relevant when grip is the limiting factor.

Common questions

Is a dumbbell squat better than a goblet squat?

Usually not. The goblet position counterbalances you, keeps the torso upright and lets you reach depth easily, which is worth more than the small load advantage of holding two dumbbells. Pick the dumbbell squat when you want a slightly more back squat like torso angle or when your grip is the limiting factor either way.

What do I do when the dumbbells touch the floor?

Stand on two low platforms or a pair of stacked plates so the weights have somewhere to go. Cutting your depth to avoid the problem costs you the most productive part of the range.

My grip goes before my legs. What now?

Use straps, or move to a single leg variation where one dumbbell per hand loads one leg. Both are better answers than shortening the set. Grip is the built in ceiling of this exercise and it arrives sooner than most people expect.

Should I use straps?

If your goal is training your legs, yes. There is nothing virtuous about ending a leg set because your hands gave out. If you specifically want grip work, train it directly with carries instead.

Can this replace a barbell squat?

For a while, and then no. Once your legs are stronger than the heaviest pair of dumbbells you can hold, the exercise stops being a leg exercise and becomes a grip exercise with squatting attached. Move to a barbell, or to split squats where the same dumbbells go twice as far.