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Sumo Squat Floor Touch
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Sumo Squat Floor Touch

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How to Perform

  1. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, with toes pointed outward at a 45-degree angle.
  2. Engage your core and maintain a neutral spine as you hinge your hips back, keeping your chest up and shoulders retracted.
  3. Bend your knees to lower your body into a deep squat position, tracking your knees in line with your toes.
  4. As you descend, exhale and reach both hands down toward the floor between your feet, maintaining a flat back.
  5. Touch the floor lightly with both hands while keeping your weight in your heels and midfoot.
  6. Inhale as you drive through your heels and engage your glutes to return to the starting position.
  7. As you rise, bring your arms back to your sides, keeping your chest lifted and spine neutral throughout the movement.
  8. Fully extend your hips and knees at the top position before beginning your next repetition.

Important information

  • Keep your back flat throughout the movement—avoid rounding your spine when reaching for the floor.
  • Make sure your knees track in the same direction as your toes to prevent knee strain.
  • If you can't touch the floor comfortably, only go as low as your mobility allows or touch your shins instead.
  • Maintain tension in your core throughout the exercise to protect your lower back.

Exercise Details

Primary Muscles

Glutes Quads Hamstrings

Muscle Groups

Glute exercises Leg exercises

Mechanic

Compound

Risk Areas

Glutes Quads Hamstrings

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The Sumo Squat Floor Touch offers a dynamic challenge that takes the traditional sumo squat to the next level by incorporating a mobility element that demands both strength and flexibility. This intermediate movement primarily targets the glutes, quads, and hamstrings while engaging your core stability throughout the full range of motion.

What makes this exercise particularly valuable for bodybuilding enthusiasts is its ability to develop lower body musculature with a greater emphasis on inner thigh activation compared to conventional squats. The wide stance naturally recruits more of the adductor muscles while still maintaining substantial tension on the primary movers. For those incorporating HIIT workouts into their routine, the Sumo Squat Floor Touch serves as an excellent compound movement that elevates heart rate while building functional lower body power.

The dual focus on strength and mobility makes this exercise especially beneficial for athletes looking to improve performance. The strength component comes from the demanding squat position in a wide stance, requiring significant muscular engagement to maintain proper form. Meanwhile, the floor touch element enhances hip mobility and encourages greater range of motion in the ankles, hips, and thoracic spine – areas where many people experience limitations that can hinder athletic performance and daily movement quality.

As you progress with this exercise, you'll likely notice improvements in hip flexibility and lower body control that transfer to other activities. The wide stance creates a stable base that allows for developing better proprioception and body awareness, particularly valuable for those involved in sports requiring lateral movement patterns. The floor touch aspect adds a coordination challenge that develops mind-muscle connection beyond what simpler exercises provide.

When incorporated regularly into your training regimen, the Sumo Squat Floor Touch can become a cornerstone movement that bridges the gap between pure strength work and mobility training, offering comprehensive lower body development in a time-efficient manner.

FAQ - Sumo Squat Floor Touch

What muscles does the Sumo Squat Floor Touch primarily target?

The Sumo Squat Floor Touch primarily targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes while significantly engaging the inner thighs (adductors) due to the wide stance position. Your core muscles are also heavily activated throughout the movement to maintain stability, especially during the floor touch portion.

What are the most common form mistakes to avoid with this exercise?

The most common mistakes include allowing the knees to collapse inward, rounding the lower back during the floor touch, and not maintaining proper weight distribution through the heels and midfoot. Always keep your chest up, knees tracking over toes, and maintain a neutral spine even at the bottom of the movement.

How can I modify this exercise if I'm a beginner or have limited mobility?

If you're a beginner, start with a regular sumo squat without the floor touch, or only go down as far as your mobility allows. You can also elevate the touch target by using a yoga block or small platform instead of reaching all the way to the floor, gradually working toward greater depth as flexibility improves.

How often should I include Sumo Squat Floor Touches in my workout routine?

Incorporate this exercise 2-3 times weekly with at least one day of recovery between sessions to allow your lower body muscles to recover properly. This exercise works well as part of a leg day routine or as a compound movement in a full-body workout, typically performing 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions.

How can I progress this exercise once I've mastered the standard version?

To increase difficulty, add resistance with dumbbells or kettlebells held at your sides, incorporate a pulse at the bottom position, or increase time under tension by slowing the eccentric (lowering) phase to 3-4 seconds. For an advanced challenge, perform the movement on an unstable surface or add a jump as you return to the standing position.

Alternative Exercises

Dumbbell Deadlift

Dumbbell Deadlift

The dumbbell deadlift stands as a cornerstone movement for developing lower body strength and power while offering more accessibility than its barbell counterpart. This intermediate exercise primarily targets the glutes, hamstrings, and erector spinae, making it exceptional for both bodybuilding enthusiasts looking to sculpt their posterior chain and powerlifters seeking to enhance their overall pulling strength. What makes the dumbbell deadlift particularly valuable is its versatility and reduced technical demands compared to conventional deadlifts. The dumbbells naturally position your grip at your sides rather than in front of your body, creating a more intuitive pulling pattern that many find comfortable for their anatomical structure. This adjustment can significantly reduce stress on the lower back while still effectively engaging the target muscle groups. For strength development, the dumbbell deadlift delivers impressive results despite typically using less total weight than barbell variations. The independent nature of dumbbells introduces an element of stabilization that increases neuromuscular demands, potentially leading to greater overall strength gains when programmed correctly. Many serious lifters incorporate this movement as an accessory to complement their heavier conventional deadlifts or as a primary movement during deload phases. The exercise seamlessly bridges the gap between functional fitness and aesthetic development. From a bodybuilding perspective, the dumbbell deadlift creates tremendous tension through the hamstrings and glutes, stimulating muscle growth in areas that contribute significantly to a balanced physique. The constant tension maintained throughout the movement, particularly at the top position, makes it excellent for developing the dense, powerful look sought by physique athletes. Whether your goals lean toward raw strength development or muscular hypertrophy, the dumbbell deadlift deserves a place in your training regimen. Its joint-friendly nature makes it sustainable for long-term progression while still delivering the hormonal response and muscle recruitment patterns that drive results. Consider implementing this exercise twice weekly within your program for optimal development of your posterior chain.

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The kettlebell swing stands as a cornerstone in functional fitness, beloved by intermediate athletes looking to simultaneously challenge multiple muscle groups while boosting cardiovascular capacity. This dynamic movement primarily targets the posterior chain, with your glutes and hamstrings handling the heavy lifting, while your abs engage throughout to maintain stability and power generation through the hips. What makes the kettlebell swing particularly valuable is its versatility across training methodologies. In HIIT workouts, it serves as an explosive interval option that rapidly elevates heart rate and calorie burn. Crossfit enthusiasts appreciate how it builds the power and conditioning necessary for complex movements, while bodybuilders increasingly incorporate swings as a metabolic finisher that sculpts the hamstrings and glutes without adding unwanted bulk. The beauty of this movement lies in its triple-threat development of strength, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness. From a strength perspective, the posterior chain development translates to improved deadlifts, squats, and athletic performance. Endurance benefits emerge when performing moderate-weight, higher-rep sets that challenge muscular stamina, particularly in the grip, core, and hip extensors. Meanwhile, the ballistic nature of properly executed swings creates a cardiovascular training effect comparable to sprinting but with lower joint impact. Many fitness enthusiasts appreciate the kettlebell swing's efficiency—few exercises deliver such comprehensive benefits in such a time-efficient package. The movement pattern also reinforces proper hip hinging, a fundamental human movement pattern often lost in our sedentary culture. This hip-dominant exercise counterbalances the quad-dominant patterns prevalent in modern workouts and daily life, potentially reducing injury risk and improving athletic longevity. For those seeking an exercise that bridges the gap between strength training and conditioning while emphasizing posterior development, the kettlebell swing provides an evidence-based solution that continues to stand the test of time in effective fitness programming.

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Dumbbell Goblet Squat

Dumbbell Goblet Squat

The dumbbell goblet squat stands as a cornerstone movement for anyone stepping into the world of fitness, offering beginners an accessible yet effective entry point to proper squatting mechanics. This foundational exercise primarily targets the quadriceps and glutes, creating a powerful lower body development opportunity without overwhelming those new to resistance training. When incorporated into bodybuilding routines, the goblet squat allows for precise muscle engagement and development, particularly in the anterior chain. The beauty of this movement lies in its versatility, as it transitions seamlessly into high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuits where it elevates heart rate while maintaining proper form parameters that protect the knees and lower back. Strength benefits emerge quickly with consistent practice, as the goblet position—holding the weight close to the chest—naturally encourages proper spinal alignment and depth through the squat pattern. This makes it not merely a muscle-building exercise but a movement skill that transfers to daily activities, enhancing functional fitness alongside aesthetic improvements. The exercise's popularity in both strength and conditioning programs speaks to its efficiency—delivering significant training stimulus to multiple muscle groups simultaneously while remaining accessible to those with varying mobility challenges. For beginners especially, mastering the goblet squat often serves as a gateway to more complex barbell variations later in their fitness journey. What distinguishes the goblet squat in the fitness landscape is its remarkable balance of simplicity and effectiveness. By focusing on these fundamental movement patterns early in one's training career, proper motor patterns become ingrained, reducing injury risk while establishing the neuromuscular foundation needed for progressive overload in subsequent training phases. This investment in proper movement quality pays dividends throughout one's fitness journey, making the humble goblet squat far more valuable than its beginner-friendly reputation might suggest.

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Bodyweight Full Squat With Overhead Press

Bodyweight Full Squat With Overhead Press

The Bodyweight Full Squat With Overhead Press combines lower body power with upper body pushing strength in one fluid movement, creating an efficient full-body exercise that elevates your heart rate while building functional strength. This intermediate-level compound movement simultaneously targets your quadriceps, glutes, and front deltoids, making it perfect for those looking to maximize their workout efficiency. This versatile exercise fits seamlessly into various training methodologies including HIIT circuits, bodybuilding routines, and CrossFit workouts. The dynamic nature of combining a squat with an overhead press creates a cardiovascular demand that burns calories while developing both strength and muscular endurance throughout your entire body. What makes this movement particularly valuable is how it mimics everyday functional patterns: the kind of integrated movement you might use when lifting objects from the ground and placing them on a high shelf. By training these movement patterns together, you're enhancing your body's natural coordination systems while developing practical strength that translates to daily activities. The full squat component engages your entire lower body kinetic chain, activating the quadriceps as primary movers while recruiting the glutes, hamstrings, and core stabilizers. Meanwhile, the overhead press portion develops shoulder strength and stability, particularly in the anterior deltoids, while engaging your triceps and upper back muscles as synergists. For those focused on metabolic conditioning, this exercise delivers impressive results by recruiting large muscle groups simultaneously, significantly elevating oxygen consumption and caloric expenditure. The compound nature makes it particularly effective for those with limited workout time who need maximum benefits from minimal exercises. Regular incorporation of the Bodyweight Full Squat With Overhead Press can lead to improved posture, enhanced core strength, better overhead mobility, and increased lower body power—all critical components for athletic performance and daily function. Whether you're focused on building strength, enhancing endurance, or improving overall fitness, this exercise delivers comprehensive benefits in a single, efficient movement.

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