How to do the Dumbbell Front Squat
Step by step
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand and rack them on the front of your shoulders.
- Keep your elbows up so your upper arms stay roughly level.
- Stand with feet about shoulder-width and toes slightly out.
- Squat down while keeping your torso upright, letting your knees bend forward.
- Drive up through your feet to stand tall.
The thing people get wrong
Keep your elbows up throughout - dropping them pulls you forward and dumps the weight off your shoulders.
Coaching cue
Sit straight down between your feet and keep your chest facing forward, not toward the floor.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Hold one dumbbell at your chest goblet style instead.
- Harder: Pause two seconds at the bottom of each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Quads, Glutes
- Secondary: Core, Front delts
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.