Sumo Squat Exercise: Strengthen Your Inner Thighs

The sumo squat is a wide-stance squat that hammers the one area a regular squat mostly skips: your inner thighs. You still get glutes and quads, but the turned-out stance is what makes it special.

Best part? You need zero equipment. It works at home or the gym, and the tall, upright torso is often easier on your knees and lower back.

We’ll walk you through exactly how to do a sumo squat with good form and the muscles it works.

You’ll see how to load it with a dumbbell, how it compares to regular and plié squats, and how to fit it into your week.

What Is a Sumo Squat?

A sumo squat is a squat with a wide stance and your toes pointed out. That’s the whole idea.

Instead of standing shoulder-width with your feet facing forward, you step out wide (about double shoulder-width) and turn your toes out around 45 degrees.

That one change shifts the work to your inner thighs and keeps your chest more upright.

If you can sit down into a chair, you can do a sumo squat. You’re just doing it wider, with your toes turned out.

One quick heads-up: a sumo squat is not a sumo deadlift. The squat keeps your chest tall and your knees bending. The deadlift bends you forward at the hips to pull a bar off the floor.

Sumo Squat Muscles Worked

The sumo squat is a full lower-body move. That wide, toes-out stance spreads the work across your whole leg, with your inner thighs playing the starring role.

Here’s what’s firing every time you drop into one.

Inner thighs (adductors)

These run along the inside of your thighs. The wide stance stretches them at the bottom and pulls them in as you stand, so they work harder here than in a regular squat.

Most leg exercises barely reach them, which is exactly what makes the sumo squat special.

Quads (front of your thighs)

Your quads straighten your knees to power you back up to standing. The sumo squat leans especially on the outer quad, the muscle that sweeps down the outside of your thigh.

Glutes (your butt)

Your glutes drive your hips forward and up out of the bottom of the squat. Sit your hips back and squeeze hard at the top to bring them more into play.

Hamstrings and calves

The hamstrings at the back of your thighs help control your descent. Your calves keep you balanced and steady through every rep.

Core

Staying tall in that wide stance keeps your abs and lower back switched on the whole time. Think of them as your built-in stabilizer.

Put simply, sumo squats hit your inner thighs and quads the hardest, and your glutes get a solid workout too.

How to Do a Sumo Squat With Proper Form

Four things make or break a sumo squat: stance, toe angle, hips back, and knees out. Get those, and it’s hard to mess up.

Start with the bodyweight version. Master it before you touch a dumbbell.

• Set your stance; Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width, roughly double your normal squat stance.
• Point your toes out: Rotate your feet out about 30 to 45 degrees, turning from the hips, not just the ankles. Coaches cue different angles, so find what lets your knees track cleanly.
• Brace and set your chest; Take a breath, brace your core, pull your shoulders down, and lift your chest tall.
• Sit down and back: Push your hips back and down, keeping your torso upright the whole way.
• Drive your knees out: As you lower, push your knees out so they track over your toes. A great cue is to imagine spreading the floor apart with your feet.
• Hit your depth; Lower until your thighs are about parallel to the floor, or as deep as you can go while keeping your heels down and back flat.
• Stand up strong: Drive through your heels, squeeze your glutes at the top, and stop just short of locking your knees.

Quick form cues

• Knees out, always tracking over your toes.
• Chest tall, weight in your heels.
• Go as low as your hips allow, not as low as your ego wants.

Sumo Squat vs Regular Squat vs Plié Squat

These three moves look like cousins, and honestly, they are. The difference comes down to two things: how wide you stand and how far you turn your toes out.

Think of it as a spectrum. A regular squat sits at the narrow end, a plié squat at the widest, most turned-out end, and the sumo squat lands in between.

	Regular Squat	Sumo Squat	Plié Squat
Stance width	About shoulder-width	Wide (roughly double shoulder-width)	Widest of the three
Toe angle	Near straight ahead	Turned out about 30 to 45 degrees	Turned out the most
Torso	Leans forward more	Stays upright	Stays upright
Main emphasis	Quads and glutes	Inner thighs and quads	Inner thighs
Best for	Overall leg strength	Inner thighs plus glutes	Targeting the inner thighs

You’ll notice sumo and plié get used interchangeably all the time. The simplest way to keep them straight: a plié squat is just a sumo squat taken to its widest, most turned-out extreme, borrowing the name from ballet. For a deeper breakdown, see our full guide to the plié squat.

So which should you pick? If you want general leg strength, the regular squat is your foundation. If you want to bias your inner thighs while still training glutes and quads, the sumo squat is the sweet spot.

None of them is “better.” They just move the work around your legs, and most people benefit from rotating through all three.

Dumbbell Sumo Squat: How to Add Weight

Once bodyweight feels easy, one dumbbell turns the sumo squat into a serious inner-thigh and glute builder.

The go-to method is simple. Hold a single dumbbell (or a kettlebell) vertically with both hands, letting it hang between your legs, close to your body.

This “goblet between the legs” hold is the most beginner-friendly way to load the movement. The weight sits right over your center of mass, and it naturally cues you to keep your chest up and spine neutral.

The movement itself barely changes. Same wide stance, same toes out, same hips-back sit. The only new rule: don’t let the weight drag you forward, so keep it tight to your body and stay tall.

Other ways to hold the weight

• Two dumbbells at your sides (suitcase hold): Builds grip and core stability, but loads the inner thighs a little less since the weight isn’t between your legs.
• Kettlebell at your chest (goblet): Great for control and an upright torso.
• Barbell or Smith machine: For advanced lifters chasing heavy loads. Earn it with good mobility and solid bodyweight form first.

Start light. A single light dumbbell for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps is plenty when you’re new to loading the movement. You want to feel your inner thighs and glutes doing the work, not your lower back or your grip giving out.

Benefits of the Sumo Squat

Tired of leg day that never seems to touch your inner thighs? This is the fix.

The sumo squat earns its spot for a few simple reasons.

• Targets your inner thighs; The wide stance loads the adductors, an area most leg exercises barely reach.
• Builds your glutes and legs: As a compound move, it trains your whole lower body in one go.
• Opens up your hips: The wide stance moves your hips through a bigger range of motion, which can help stiff hips over time.
• It’s often kinder on your knees and back: The upright torso and wider base tend to ease pressure compared to a deep, narrow squat.
• It needs no equipment: You can do it in your living room, which makes it perfect for home glute exercises.

Who is it for? Just about everyone.

Beginners love that it’s simple and forgiving. Home exercisers love that it needs no gear.

If you’re chasing inner-thigh and glute tone, it’s a staple. Older adults often use wide-stance squats to train balance and side-to-side stability, the kind that helps you stay steady on your feet.

You don’t need to be strong or flexible to start. You just need a little space.

Common Sumo Squat Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

If your knees or lower back complain after sumo squats, your form is almost always the culprit. Nearly every mistake traces back to five habits.

Mistake 1: Knees caving in

When your knees collapse toward each other, you lose power and stress the joint. Knee valgus (that inward collapse) is a well-documented risk factor for non-contact ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries. Fix it by driving your knees out over your toes and spreading the floor with your feet.

Mistake 2: Rounding or over-arching your back

A rounded or overly arched spine under load invites back pain. Fix it by bracing your core, keeping your chest tall, and holding a neutral spine.

Mistake 3: Folding forward

Lean too far and you’ve turned your sumo squat into a deadlift. Fix it by sitting your hips straight down, not just back, and keeping your weight in your heels.

Mistake 4: Heels lifting

If your heels pop up, you lose your base and shift stress to your knees. Fix it by narrowing your stance slightly or working on ankle mobility.

Mistake 5: Going too wide too soon

A stance that’s wider than your hips can handle strains your groin. Build width gradually as your mobility improves. If tight hips are your limiter, our hip mobility exercises can help.

One honest note: caving knees don’t always come from lazy effort. Tight hips or stiff ankles can force the collapse, so toe-out cues alone won’t fix everyone. Sometimes the real fix is mobility.

FAQs

Are sumo squats good for your glutes?

Yes, sumo squats build your glutes, but they hit your inner thighs even more. The wide stance shifts some work toward your adductors. To get the most glute activation, focus on sitting your hips back and squeezing hard at the top.

Is a sumo squat the same as a plié squat?

Almost. Both use a wide stance with turned-out toes, but the plié squat is the widest, most turned-out version, borrowing its name from ballet. People use the two terms interchangeably in everyday workouts.

Do sumo squats work your inner thighs?

Yes, that’s their standout benefit. The wide stance and turned-out toes stretch and load your inner-thigh muscles more than a regular squat does, especially during the lifting phase. It’s one of the few moves that reaches them well.

Are sumo squats good for beginners?

Yes. Start with the bodyweight version, since it needs no equipment and is often easier on your knees than a deep narrow squat. Focus on driving your knees out and keeping your chest tall before adding any weight.

Bottom Line

The sumo squat is one of the easiest ways to build stronger inner thighs and glutes, and you can start today with nothing but floor space.

It’s not magically better than a regular squat. It just targets what regular squats tend to miss, which makes it a smart complement rather than a replacement.

Start with 3 sets of 12 to 15 bodyweight reps. Dial in two cues above all: knees out, hips down. Once that feels smooth, grab a single dumbbell and keep building.