The Dumbbell Front Squat (Tempo) is a intermediate-friendly dumbbell strength exercise that targets the quadriceps and glutes, with the abdominals, hamstrings, shoulders and traps working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Hold a dumbbell at each shoulder with the palms facing inward and the elbows high.
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and brace your abdominals.
Lower over a slow count of three to four seconds, pushing the hips back.
Reach a depth of at least parallel without letting the elbows drop.
Pause briefly at the bottom without bouncing or losing your brace.
Stand back up at a controlled speed and reset before the next repetition.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Increases time under tension without adding weight to the dumbbells.
Slower lowering phases favor hypertrophy in the quadriceps.
Removes momentum, so the legs reverse every repetition.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Speeding up the descent as the set gets hard, which removes the tempo stimulus entirely.
Bouncing out of the bottom, which is exactly what the prescribed pause exists to prevent.
Holding the breath through a long eccentric instead of bracing and breathing between reps.
Keeping the same load as a normal set, so form breaks down before the count is finished.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Dumbbell Front Squat (Tempo), get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
