StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Sumo Squat

A wide-stance squat with one dumbbell held between the legs.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Squat
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Hold one dumbbell with both hands between the legs, with the arms straight.
Stand with the feet much wider than the shoulders and the toes turned out.

Do the rep

Bend the knees and hips and sit straight down between the feet.
Lower until the thighs are parallel to the floor.
Push through the whole foot and stand up tall.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the thighs reach parallel to the floor and you return to a full stand.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Knees out over the toes.
Chest up.
Squeeze the glutes at the top.

Common mistakes

Knees falling inward
What you seeThe knees move inside the line of the feet as you lower or stand.
FixPush the knees out so they stay over the toes.
Knees over the toes keep the load on the hips and thighs.
Leaning forward
What you seeThe chest drops and the hips move far back.
FixSit straight down between the feet and keep the chest up.
An upright trunk keeps the inner thigh and glute muscles working.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain in the knee, hip or groin.
Stop if the feet slip.
End the set when you cannot reach the depth under control.
Stop if the dumbbell touches the floor before you reach the required depth.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Adductors · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Hold one dumbbell with both hands between the legs, with the arms straight.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 11, adapted from existing Allena records and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 (#340). No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_goblet_squat, the closest Wave 1 record. The draft carries no Wave 1 review evidence.
Technique uses 1 dumbbell(s). Load is logged in kg with load-and-reps only; the bodyweight variant is a separate record.
The CSV bench-or-box is removed; the movement requires only dumbbells. Home changes from no to yes (rule 1).
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop with dumbbells or on one leg (rule 3).

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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