A dumbbell partial squat is a squat that stops well short of the bottom, done with a light dumbbell hanging in each hand. You push your hips back, let your chest tip forward a little and bend your knees to roughly 45 degrees, then stand up again. The weights make the thighs and buttocks work harder, and you skip the deep knee bend of a full squat. The app title calls it a 45 degree squat, which describes the depth in the video.

How to do the dumbbell partial squat

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes pointing forward. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging by your sides.
Push your hips back and bend your knees, letting your chest tip forward a little as your weight moves back.
Lower until your knees are bent to about 45 degrees, as in the video. Your heels stay down and your back stays straight.
Let your knees track over your second toes, and let the dumbbells hang straight down from your shoulders, beside or just in front of your knees.
Stand back up by pushing the floor away with both feet flat, then repeat.

What you should feel

Work in the front of the thighs and the buttocks, with your back muscles holding your spine straight. The knees should feel effort, not pain.

Common mistakes

Rounding your back as you lean forward.
Knees drifting inward on the way down or up.
Heels lifting, which shifts the load onto the front of the knee.
Sinking much lower than the video, which turns it into a full squat.

How often

Many programs use 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. Begin with dumbbells you can lift easily, or with none until the movement feels steady. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp or building pain in your knees, hips or lower back.
Your knee buckles or feels unstable.
Pins and needles or numbness running down one leg.

From the clinic

The voice guide says to lower until your thighs are level with the floor. The video stops much higher, at about a 45 degree knee bend, which matches the app title, so the steps follow the video. Go deeper only if your physio asks you to. For the same shallow depth without weights, see the mini squat, and for one weight held at the chest, the goblet squat.

No dumbbells at home? Two full water bottles, or shopping bags with a little weight in them, do the job. If you have high blood pressure, breathe steadily through every repetition and never hold your breath. If you have low bone density (osteoporosis) or have had a fracture in your spine, ask your physio before you lift weights while leaning forward.

If you have had a hip replacement, get the go-ahead from your surgeon or physio before you try dumbbell partial squats. Some operations limit this kind of work for the first months, so the timing depends on your surgery. After a knee fracture or knee surgery, including a knee replacement, follow your surgeon's or physio's plan, and start this exercise only when they have cleared you.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Dumbbell partial squat