Video Series - Sumo Squat with Dumbbell Press

Muscle Matters! Recently we were interviewed by genneve, an online digital health solution for women in midlife, for a blog featuring our top 5 exercises for maintaining strength no matter age, gender, fitness history or goals. It was hard to narrow it down to five! The five we chose are those exercises that many of you will see show up again and again on your strength training plans. If done correctly and consistently, they can really help maintain strength as we (all!) age.  
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Sumo Squat with Dumbbell Press is a great exercise for your whole body, working glutes, core and shoulders. It just requires dumbbells and attention to form.

Sumo Squat with Military Press

Holding Dumbbells in each hand at shoulder height, stand in a wide stance with your knees and toes turned out to a 45 degree angle.

Squat hinging from your hips first and envisioning sitting into a chair while keeping your body upright. Keep your knees over or slightly behind the toes and facing outwards (the direction of your toes) through the movement. Descend making a right angle with your knee or until you feel the inner thigh stretch but no lower than parallel to the ground. Keep your back straight and your core engaged. Rise, pushing through your heels and using your glutes. As you rise, push the dumbbells above your head and squeeze your glutes at the top. Repeat.

The Sumo Stance

Regular forward squats are a tricky exercise and often can be challenging for people to do correctly. A lot depends on you and how flexible you are in your ankles, hips, back etc. Taking the wider stance shifts emphasis of the exercise to your inner thighs and overall glute stabilization. Maintaining core tension and keeping a flat back is an important aspect of this exercise as is doing these slowly and in control.

Add in the Dumbbells

We like adding in the military press as it forces an upright stance and a better focus on keeping that core engaged plus it works your shoulder muscles making this a full body exercise. Hold a weight in each hand and as you rise out of the squat, push the weights up above your head. If you hold your palms facing forward, only lift the weights until your arms are not quite fully extended. If you lift with your palms facing each other, you may extend your arms farther but do not lock your elbows. Either grip is acceptable and both work slightly different muscles in your shoulders so it’s great to mix it up.

Some Common Faults

Keep a wider stance with your feet turned out and keep those knees pointed outwards. Too narrow a stance can force your knees to come over your toes when you lower towards the ground. With any squat, to protect your knees, make sure the knee does not go past your toes.

Start with lighter weights. Lifting with too heavy weights often causes your back to arch. Back off the weight and maintain a straight back and an engaged core. And extending your elbows too far (locking them) with weights overhead can cause a natural shoulder impingement.

Remember to keep your back upright. Hinge first at the hips and sit back instead of bending the knees first and leaning forward. Keep your head and neck in alignment when performing the press as well. It helps to think of "stand tall" when performing this exercise.

Give Sumo Squat a try!

With any exercise, be cautious starting an exercise that you may not be familiar with. Since the Sumo Squat with Military Press is a full body and multi-plane exercise it forces movements which may be a bit different than what you are used to. That's one of the reasons we like it. Slow down and pay attention to form and as with any strength exercise work to feel this exercise in your glutes, adductors, core and shoulders. Bring on the strong!