A lot of guys are surprised that dumbbell squats are effective. The natural thing to question is that if you use say 300 to 400 for your sets with a barbell, how are you going to find big enough dumbbells? For some reason it seems that if you go really deep and just about brush the floor with the dumbbells it's a really tough exercise. Using straps and going low makes this an effective alternative to barbell squats. I hold the dumbbells at my sides when I squat and I don't deadlift it from the front.
I had the same questions about dumbbell shrugs. I always thought that I would never find big enough dumbbells. To my surprise your don't need to equal your barbell weight to get a great trap workout with dumbbells.
spot on oldtimer1. Its really a different exercise and the weight is balanced over a different position, I use 160's for 8-10 reps and find it really effective as I train alone in a home gym setup without a rack.
