The glutes and quadriceps muscles are worked to a large extent during the sumo squat but because of the wide stance , a greater emphasis is placed on the adductor muscle (inner thighs) than on the quadriceps. Learn more about all of the muscles used in the squat in our ultimate guide: Muscles Used in the Squat (Complete Guide). Squats: Pro Tips

Start in a traditional squat stance with your feet about shoulder-width apart and toes pointed forward. Clasp your hands together at your chest.One reason squats are such a great exercise is that there are so many ways to vary the movement and resistance. The most common techniques for varying the exercise involve changing the stance, foot placement angle, hip depth, or load ( 1).

The adductors are the inner thigh muscles that work in conjunction with your glutes to extend your hips. Erector Spinae While a traditional squat keeps your stance closer and feet pointing straight ahead or slightly angled out, a sumo squat requires a wider stance with your feet turned out. This creates a new challenge for your muscles because your foot position changes your support base. The difference between the sumo squat and the traditional 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. Treat these just like your regular squats. Find the right starting load and progress it week over week from there by adding more reps per set, more sets per workout, or more weight overall. Missing DepthSetting your stance and staying consistent will enable you to target the right muscles each time you do this exercise. Inappropriate Load Because we take a neutral stance in the standard squat, we don’t have to worry about the more demanding hip mobility requirements that come with the sumo squat!

On day six, I did the move while holding a 10lb (4.5kg) weight. You can either hold the dumbbell/kettlebell at your chest using both hands, as I did, or let your arms hang between your legs as you lower with the weight.Learn to take a breath into your diaphragm before you squat. Push your abdomen outward (push against your belt, if you’re wearing one) as hard as you can just before you begin to squat. Keep that pressure going all the way until you finish your rep, then take another breath and repeat. Sure, you may only be shortening the ROM by a half-inch or an inch in some cases, but powerlifting is as much a game of inches as any, so every little bit counts.

This isn’t to say your quads are not part of the lift anymore, but they aren’t needing to do as much because of the changed amount of your knee flexion (or how much your knee bends). The core is strengthened. This is an important area for athletes. You have to keep your core strong if you are planning to run and jump in sports like basketball, volleyball or soccer. Developing your core will help you stay more balanced when playing these sports. Most lifters should do a combination of both squats and sumo squats, with squats as their main squatting movement and sumo squats as a variation they perform to round out and add variety to their lower body training. Squats vs Sumo Squats: Which Is Best For Powerlifting? Once lowered, start to return to standing, but simultaneously drag your left heel in toward the center to bring your heels together. Finish standing tall and squeezing your thighs together. 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., senior fitness and nutrition content manager for Beachbody.

Taking videos of your sets is the best way to see how your form is improving, worsening, or staying the same. You are the only one who knows how the lift feels while you do it, so use that information to compare with how the lift looks on video and learn from it. If you’re planning on doing a lower-body focused routine, you may want to program the sumo squat alongside an exercise that’s more hamstrings and glutes focused, since the sumo squat can serve as your quad-dominant move, Williams says. However, since the sumo squat does share some characteristics with other hinge-based exercises—like the deadlift or good morning, for instance—you may want to choose a move that’s a horizontal hinge rather than another vertical hinge to do along with it. Glute bridges or hip thrusts would be great choices here. The hamstrings are also worked to some extent because of their role in knee flexion and hip extension. Sumo Squat Mistakes