Is there a better lower body exercise than the squat? I don’t think so, and it’s one of my go to exercises for when I want to burn a lot of fat and work my lower body.
It’s also a versatile exercise that can be modified in a few ways, like adding a weighted vest, dumbbells, or ankle weights for extra exertion and weight loss.
I want to share with you a variation that’s called the sumo squat, which is a really powerful exercise that can help you to burn a lot of calories quickly and develop muscles in key areas.
How to do sumo squats? I’ll walk you through the exercise step by step, helping you avoid some of the common mistakes, and then I’ll cover the benefits for you as well.
I think it’s important for you to know why you should do an exercise, and that helps you to make a more informed decision about whether it should be included in your workout.
How to Do Sumo Squats
I know it’s easy to mess up this exercise so I’ll take you through step by step.
The wrong form or wrong motions can really cause you trouble, leading to an injury or just limiting the effectiveness of this exercise.
So, I thought it was important to break the exercise down into as many simplified steps as possible. This helps to avoid any mistakes and misunderstandings.
If you’re still not sure what to do or you have any questions, it’s not a bad idea to watch an instructional video.
Begin the sumo squat by standing up and keeping your feet a little over a shoulder with apart. This is kind of a wide stance, which is important for the motions of the squat.
If your stance is too small and your feet are too close together, you’re not going to be doing a proper sumo squat and you won’t enjoy some of the benefits it’s supposed to provide for you.
Your feet should be pointing out at a 45-degree angle. From this position, you can drop into a squat. Make sure you bend at the knees and at the hips and try to keep your back slightly curved but not rounded. Your chest should be up, and your knees should be pointed out.
As you squat down, prepare to go down as far as you have to in order to make your thighs parallel to the ground. You can go a little beyond that if you’re able to. If not, this exercise will work on your flexibility and help you get to that point.
Once you get all the way down into the squatting position, you can come right back up to the starting position. Don’t move too quickly or in a jerky movement.
You want to keep everything smooth and fluid as you squat and come back up. This will help to avoid injury and ensure that you’re getting the most benefits out of the exercise.
As you do the sumo squat, ensure that your lower back is not rounded and that your feet don’t lift off the ground.
Is there a variation that’s better for women or men? You can use the same method for how to do sumo squats; women and men both benefit from this basic sumo squat exercise.
How to Do Sumo Squats with Kettle Bell
One of the best variations for the sumo squat adds in a kettle bell for an extra upper body workout. This is the kind of variation you do if you want to add power to the sumo squat.
If the conventional sumo squat isn’t burning the fat fast enough and isn’t really challenging you as an exercise anymore, a weighted kettlebell can make a huge difference.
You can turn what is no longer a challenging exercise into a powerful exercise that will produce incredible gains.
Here’s how to properly do sumo squats with a kettlebell.
You start in the standing position with your legs a little over a shoulder width apart and your feet pointed in a 45-degree angle. Hold the kettlebell in both hands, and you can either let it hang down all the way or hold it up to your chest.
As you squat down into the sumo squat position, make sure that you’re keeping the kettlebell off the ground. You may have to lift it slightly in order to do that.
You can allow it to hang low enough to where it’s resting just above the ground, but don’t let it touch. Because you’ll be holding the kettlebell to hands, you may have a harder time keeping your back supported and preventing it from rounding during exercise.
You still need to pay attention to the shape of your back, however. It should be only slightly curved head inclined upward.
This variation of the exercise really works your arms and shoulders and chest, giving you a great upper body workout. It’s one of the most powerful variations on the sumo squat and an excellent fat burner.
How to Do Sumo Squats on Leg Press Machine
Another way to do sumo squats is on the leg press machine. This may be a little easier for you, focusing on just your legs rather than your back and upper body.
The back support provided by the leg press machine is excellent for people who suffer from back problems or have trouble keeping their back in a line while they do the sumo squat.
Start off by sitting in the leg press and pushing your feet up against the footplate. Plant your feet there and keep the feet a little wider than a shoulder width apart.
Your toes should be pointed just a little outward, at about a 45-degree angle. Pushing with your feet and using power from your thighs, press the foot plate away from you.
Push the leg press out of its lock position, breathing as you bend your knees and let the footplate come as close to you as possible. Your knees should be just about to your chest at this point.
From there, breathe out and extend your knees as you push the footplate away. Keep your knees and toes lined up as you do this and push until your legs are as extended as possible. This is a single rep, and you can ty to do 10 to 20 of these in a single set.
Sumo Squat Benefits
Why should you do this sumo squat? This exercise offers all sorts of benefits come in and want to go through the list. That way, you can tell if it might be right for you and if it’s going to help you hit those goals you’re aiming for.
Sumo squats build a lot of muscle in the lower body, but adding kettlebells or other upper body variations can help to build upper body muscle as well.
This exercise is considered a compound movement, which means that it’s going to benefit the muscles you use every day. It helps to develop muscles used for walking, running, lifting, and more.
Sumo squats really work the adductors, which are inner thigh muscles. These are muscles used bending, lifting, climbing and more. They give you great leg strength that’s beneficial for running, swimming, and other athletic activities.
Squats also help to work your core, building up core muscles in training your body to engage your core in more activities. This helps with an even distribution of power so that your body isn’t as tired when it does any number of activities.
They are also great fat burners, getting rid of excess weight quickly and working your body into powerful exertion for great results. You get the most benefits out of the squat’s if you do them in quick, smooth motions and if you do a large number of reps per set before resting.
How long to do sumo squats? You could either do as many squats as possible in 30 seconds to a minute, or you could aim to do 10-20 reps in a set in two to three sets per workout session.
