The Ballerina Bullfrog Crouch

Trail Log · Movement Breakdown

You know what's fun? Standing with your legs wider than your shoulders and your toes pointing outward like a ballet dancer who's been hitting the buffet a little too hard. That's the plié squat position, and when you add a dumbbell held vertically between your hands at your waist, you've got yourself one of the most elegant-looking leg exercises in the book — until you start sweating, at which point the elegance gives way to determination and possibly some grunting.

You stand tall with that dumbbell hanging in front of you, take a wide stance with your toes turned out, and then slowly bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. It's like you're curtsying to royalty, except the royalty is gravity and the curtsy is very deep and very loaded. Your arms stay still throughout — they're just holding the weight, not doing any of the work. All the action happens below the waist.

This variation shifts emphasis toward your inner thighs and glutes compared to a standard narrow-stance squat. Those adductors — the muscles running along your inner legs that most exercises politely ignore — finally get their moment in the spotlight. Press through your heels to stand back up, and feel every muscle from your hips to your calves collaborate on the return trip. It's a fantastic move for building lower-body strength with a side of grace, and it'll give you the kind of sturdy base that makes you feel planted to the earth like an oak tree.