How to Do Dumbbell Squats for Strong, Sculpted Legs and Glutes

Dumbbell squats are the Swiss Army knife of leg day. There are so many ways to do them (we'll show you how to do seven here). And while they're perfect for people just graduating from air squats, no matter how advanced you might be, you never outgrow a good DB squat. Never.

• ​What is a dumbbell squat?​ It's a lower-body exercise that involves holding one or two dumbbells and bending your hips and knees to lower as far as comfortable, then standing back up.
• ​Is squatting with dumbbells effective?​ Yes! Dumbbell squats are an effective way to progress your lower-body workouts, build muscle and get your heart rate up.
• ​What muscles do dumbbell squats work?​ They strengthen your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. But as you work to keep a neutral torso with good posture, you also train your core muscles. Certain variations also work your shoulders, lats and forearms.
  
• ​Who can do the DB squat?​ Almost everyone can do this exercise in some form. If you have a previous knee injury or back issues, speak to your doctor or a physical therapist before you incorporate this move into your routine.

Sure, maybe you could call the traditional arms-at-your-sides version, the one, true "DB squat." But, in reality, there are many ways to squat with dumbbells. Try these DB squat variations, progressing from the most accessible to most difficult.

Only have one dumbbell? That's all you need for this move. And besides being super accessible for at-home workouts, it's also a really comfortable variation for mastering form before progressing to heavier lifts.

Also called an heels-elevated squat, this variation helps you squat deeper by boosting your heels an inch or two off of the floor. Raised heels, like you'll get with the best weightlifting shoes, increase your ankle mobility so you can lower down more comfortably and easily.

Sumo squats work your inner thighs and side glutes harder than most variations. Play around with your stance and pay attention to how those muscles feel.

You might also hear this called a rack squat because it involves holding the weights in a "rack" position in front of your shoulders. Whatever you call it, it shifts some of the exercise's focus to the quads and knees from the glutes and hips. It also engages your delts and shoulder stabilizers.

Unilateral, single-side squats, help you zero in on one leg at a time while building balance, stability and extra core strength. Start with this version. If it feels too challenging, practice it without the DB.

Once you've mastered DB split squats with both feet on the floor, try elevating your back one on a step or bench. This forces your front leg to work even harder. The higher your back foot is raised, the harder the exercise gets. So if you're having trouble, use a lower bench or step.

If you hold the weights by your side, in front of you, whatever — hitting these DB squat form tips will help you get the greatest benefits from every rep and set.

If your heels lift up from the ground with each rep, try a different foot placement or do some sets with small weight plates under your heels. By elevating your squats, it helps take the load off tight calves, which may be keeping your knees from moving past your toes without lifting your heels.

Or try squatting barefoot so you can grip the floor with your entire foot and think about pushing the floor away from your feet. This gives you better contact with the ground so you can activate your glutes and quads and get lower.

It's tempting to gaze at the ceiling to keep your chest up and open, but this can cause back or neck pain. Keep your neck aligned with the rest of your spine by looking straight ahead or slightly down — at about a 20-degree angle— to avoid compressing your neck and lumbar spine.

If you're squatting next to a mirror or have a phone handy for recording, take a quick peek to your side to see your squat from the side. At the bottom of your squat, your shins and back should be roughly parallel. This ensures you're keeping an upright torso and keeping your weight in your heels.

Pro tip: If your shins and back are anything but parallel, focus on bending and straightening your hips and knees at the same time and speed with each rep.

No matter the variation, you can expect the following benefits.

Depending on where you hold the weights (by your chest in a goblet position, in front of your shoulders or at your sides), different variations can recruit multiple muscle groups at once.

For example, a goblet squat activates your shoulders and core to keep your chest lifted and your back upright. A split squat targets the muscles in each leg, ensuring you're building equal strength on both sides, while enlisting the muscles in your forearms and back to keep the weights by your sides.

Squats strengthen your glutes, hips and quads, which all play a large role in stabilizing your knee joint and preventing pain. When you strengthen these muscles, they're able to carry a majority of the load and absorb ground forces so your knees don't have to compensate.

For people living with knee osteoarthritis, doing lower-body strength exercises like squats three times a week can reduce knee pain by 43 percent, according to a July 2001 study in the ​Journal of Rheumatology​.

And using dumbbells versus barbells may be the way to go if you live with osteoarthritis. A February 2021 study in ​JAMA​ found that doing lower-intensity leg exercises, such as DB squats, is more effective for alleviating knee pain than higher-intensity moves.

Because the exercise uses lighter weights, you can often squat lower with DBs than you can with a barbell. This is especially true if you're doing a goblet squat, which involves holding the weight in front of your chest.

And you want to be able to get low because it builds more muscle. In fact, an April 2012 review in the ​Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research​ found that squatting with parallel depth (meaning your thighs end up parallel to the floor) works the glutes the hardest.

Not every gym has a squat rack and not everyone has room in their home for barbells. One of the best dumbbell squats benefits is that they let you strengthen your glutes and quads anywhere, even in the tiniest of spaces.

This lower-body move is ideal for circuit training — doing a series of exercises in sequence — because you can easily use the weights to do the next move without having to stop. For example, you can do a DB squat then go straight into a bent-over dumbbell row or shoulder press.