Dumbbell Squats
Dumbbell squats are a good exercise to perform at home when you might not have access to a barbell with heavy weights. Begin by standing with your feet placed about shoulder-width apart while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be relaxed and hanging at your sides. Contract your core and arch your back slightly as you bend your knees to lower your thighs towards the floor.
Continue lowering yourself as far as you are comfortably able to, then extend your legs to return to the starting position under control.
Tips
* As with all exercises of this type, it is a good idea to refer to the page on
regular squats
for safety guidelines that will assist you in preventing injuries.
* This exercise mainly acts upon the quadriceps, gluteal muscles, hamstrings, as well as the muscles of the lower back.
* By holding dumbbells at your sides (as opposed to resting a barbell behind the neck with standard squats), it becomes a little more difficult to lower the legs all the way to parallel. This is because with the dumbbells at the sides, there is sometimes more of a tendency to lean the chest forward on the descent and round the back, thus putting excess pressure on the spine (this is especially true for taller people). As a result, you should always make a conscious effort to avoid rounding the back as you bend your knees during this exercise. Of course, you should try to lower your thighs as close to horizontal as possible with proper form, but be aware of the fact that this might not be possible for you, depending on your physical structure.
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