Dumbbell Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best movements to build functional strength and power. At its core, it uses a simple exercise pattern that involves picking up weight and putting it down again.

Despite its simplicity, it’s a challenging movement that works muscles at the back of the body. The dumbbell deadlift is a deadlift alternative that replaces the traditional barbell with dumbbells.

This provides an added workout challenge. We take a look at this movement in detail below.

How To Do

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and head facing forward.
  2. Inhale and engage your core while pushing your hips back. Bend your knees slightly as you come back.
  3. Grasp the dumbbells with a double overhand grip, maintaining the same body position. Exhale and drive your hips forward while bringing the dumbbells up. Extend your knees slightly as you come up.
  4. Pause briefly at the top position as you fully extend your hips.
  5. Inhale and hinge at your hips to bring the dumbbells back to the starting position under control. Continue to keep your chest up and your head facing forward.

Tips From Expert

  • Imagine you are looking over the edge of a mountain while pushing your hips back. Keep a neutral back with your chest up while imagining your glutes are being pulled back.
  • Ensure the dumbbells travel in a straight line in both phases. This ensures a stable body position. Keep your arms extended throughout.
  • Maintain a controlled lifting movement throughout and use the correct tempo in both phases to ensure muscle growth. Both phases should be performed at the same time.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Use the table below to find your ideal sets and reps for your training style.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 4–6
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–10
Endurance Training 3–4 12+
Power Training 3–5 1–3 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Deadlift

How to Put in Your Workout Split

The dumbbell deadlift works several muscle groups at the back of your body. Because of this, we can program it in different ways.

  • Strength And Power Focus — For strength and power, your training will largely consist of compound, strength-based movements. Program it as part of a full-body session, pairing it with exercises such as squats and overhead presses.
  • Bodybuilding Focus — Program it as part of a back split, lower body split, or full body split. This works well as a 3-day workout split. Perform it with exercises such as the leg press and leg extensions.
  • Functional Fitness Focus — This training will mainly involve full-body functional movements. Programming order is less important here. Use it as part of a circuit or alongside other functional movements such as the squat and weighted carry.

Once you have your programming split, it’s time to work out your lifting intensity. This should be based on your one repetition maximum or 1RM. This is the maximum amount of weight you can lift for one repetition with good form.

  • Strength And Power — 80–100% of your 1RM.
  • Hypertrophy — 60–80% of your 1RM.
  • Endurance — 40–60% of your 1RM.

For strength and power work, rest for 2–3 minutes in between sets. For hypertrophy and endurance, rest for 60–90 seconds in between sets.

Primary Muscle Groups

Gluteus

Large, superficial muscles located at your buttocks just below your lower back area.

Hamstrings

Muscles located at the back of your upper leg, below your glutes and above your calves. Consists of three muscles.

Hamstrings

Your hamstrings consist of three muscle groups at the back of your upper legs. These are the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus.

The hamstrings flex your knees on the downward movement. They extend your hips as you pull the dumbbells up. A study looking at muscle activation during the conventional deadlift reported an activation rate of 57% in the biceps femoris.

Gluteus

Your gluteus consists of three muscle groups at the back of your upper legs above the hamstrings. These are the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.

They function to drive your hips forward as you extend them to bring the dumbbells up. This is as your hips open so the angle between your thighs and pelvis gets smaller.

In the same study, the gluteus maximus muscles showed an activation rate of 52%. This is also a high activation rate but slightly lower than the hamstrings.

Secondary Muscle Groups

Quadriceps

Muscles located at the front portion of your upper legs, below your pelvis and above your knees. Consists of four parts.

Gastrocnemius

Muscles located at the back of your lower leg and consists of your calf. Starts just behind your knee and extends to your ankle.

Soleus

Muscles located behind your gastrocnemius sitting slightly deeper. Runs down your leg and connects with the gastrocnemius to make your Achilles tendon.

Erector Spinae

Muscles that span the entire length of your spine on either side.

Latissimus Dorsi

Large, triangular shaped muscles located just below your shoulder blades. They extend along your spine down to your pelvis.

Upper Trapezius

Triangular shaped muscles located between your neck and shoulder blades.

Middle Trapezius

Muscles located in the middle of your back between your upper and lower traps.

Wrist Flexors

Muscles that span the inside of your lower arm, between your elbow and wrist palm side up.

Wrist Extensors

Muscles that make up the back portion of your lower arm, between your elbow and wrist.

Erector Spinae

Your erector spinae are a group of muscles that span the length of your spine. Their primary function is to stabilize your spine as you move. This prevents excessive flexion and extension.

As you lift the dumbbells, your erector spinae muscles function to keep a stable body position. This helps keep the exercise focus on the primary movers and reduce injury risk.

Quadriceps

Your quadriceps are a group of four muscles at the front of your thighs. These are the vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, and rectus femoris.

Each of them functions to extend the knees. This means straightening the knee joint so the angle between the thigh and leg increases. They also perform hip flexion which brings the hips back, decreasing the angle between the pelvis and thighs.

As you bring the dumbbells up, they extend the knees slightly. As you bring the dumbbells down, they flex the hips.

Latissimus Dorsi

The latissimus dorsi, or lats, is a large upper back muscle. It spans most of the back, originating from the lower spine and inserting into the upper arm.

As you pull the dumbbells up, the lats work to bring your arms back towards your body. This happens as your hamstrings and glutes work as the primary movers.

Upper Trapezius

Your upper trapezius muscles, or traps, make up part of the larger trapezius muscle. They run from the back of your head to your shoulders and upper back.

The upper trapezius stabilizes and moves the scapula or shoulder blades. As you perform the deadlift, they stabilize the scapula to stop them from moving down. This helps to keep your arms in the correct positions.

Middle Trapezius

Your middle trapezius muscles are underneath your upper traps. During the dumbbell deadlift, they stabilize the scapula to stop it from moving inwards. This ensures you keep the correct lifting position.

Wrist Flexors

Your wrist flexors are a group of muscles located on the inside of your forearm. Their function is to flex your wrists and fingers and maintain grip strength.

Because of this, any activity that requires grip strength and forearm stabilization will involve the wrist flexors.

When performing the dumbbell deadlift, they flex your wrists and fingers to grip the dumbbells. Alongside this, they ensure a stable grip as you perform both phases of the lift.

Wrist Extensors

Your wrist extensors are a group of muscles on the outside of the forearm. They perform the opposite movement of the wrist flexors which is wrist and finger extension.

During both phases of the dumbbell deadlift, the wrist extensors work alongside the wrist flexors. They extend the wrists when needed as you pull and maintain grip strength. This allows you to grip the dumbbells while the primary movers work.

Gastrocnemius

Your gastrocnemius makes up part of your calf musculature. This is a muscle at the lower half of your back leg. It’s the larger of the two calf muscle heads.

As you lift and lower the dumbbells, the gastrocnemius muscles stabilize the ankles, keeping your feet flat on the ground. This ensures the proper functioning of the other lower body muscles mentioned above.

Soleus

Your soleus makes up the other part of your calf musculature. It's the smaller of the two heads. Like the gastrocnemius, it plays a key role in plantarflexion and lower limb stability.

When performing the dumbbell deadlift, it works alongside the gastrocnemius to stabilize your lower limbs and keep your feet on the ground.

Equipment

Dumbbells

Dumbbells

You can use these for a wide range of unilateral and bilateral exercises. Avoid using momentum to lift. Ensure a secure grip to prevent drops.

Variations

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the same equipment.

Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift

Dumbbell Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Dumbbell Frog Hip Thrust

Alternatives

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the different equipment.

Hack Squat

Barbell Deadlift

Barbell Stiff Leg Deadlift

Barbell Squat

Bodyweight Squat

Donkey Kick

High Knees

Cobra Stretch

Seated Forward Bend

Lying Glute Stretch

Who Should Do?

Strength And Power Athletes

As a strength and power athlete, your main goal is to develop functional strength. This is best accomplished using compound exercises that resemble functional movements that can be performed with a suitable intensity. 

The dumbbell deadlift works the calves, hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae, and traps. These muscles need to function to perform the correct movement pattern. Because of this, it provides a suitable intensity for progressive overload to take place. 

Bodybuilders

In bodybuilding, the main goal is to develop a well-rounded, muscular physique. This requires a suitable resistance training regime and high-quality dietary intake. 

Since the dumbbell deadlift works multiple muscle groups, it helps bodybuilders increase their lifting volume. With volume as a key determinant of muscle growth, the dumbbell deadlift is a great exercise option for a bodybuilder. Program it as part of a dumbbell leg workout. 

Functional Fitness Athletes

As a functional fitness athlete, the majority of your training should involve functional movement patterns. These should closely resemble those used in everyday activities and sporting events. 

The dumbbell deadlift uses a hip hinge. This is a functional movement pattern used in many everyday activities. 

Using exercise patterns that closely resemble activity and sporting movements helps to improve efficiency and performance aspects. Therefore, dumbbell deadlifts make a great addition to any functional fitness program. 

Who Should Not Do?

Those With Chronic Lower Back Issues

Performing dumbbell deadlifts with the correct form limits the amount of lower back stress experienced. However, performing a hip hinge against resistance still causes loading on the lumbar spine region. 

When experiencing chronic lower back issues such as a slipped disc, exercises with back support should be performed. For example, a leg press that uses a backrest. Consult a qualified professional. They can recommend suitable exercises.

Total Beginners

As a total beginner, you haven’t developed a solid lifting foundation at this stage. That means that the majority of your training needs to focus on simple, functional movement patterns. 

This will involve compound movements such as the deadlift. However, the barbell deadlift would be more appropriate to learn at this stage. Once the correct technique cues are developed, you can perform the harder dumbbell variation. 

Benefits Of The Dumbbell Deadlift

Builds Functional Strength

Functional strength refers to the ability of the body to use movements that closely resemble those used in real life. This is determined by factors such as balance, mobility, and muscle strength. 

For example, when we take something from a low shelf, we need to perform a hip hinge. When we lift something off the floor, we extend the hips and knees to bring it up. 

The dumbbell deadlift uses many of these functional movement patterns. As a compound movement, it provides a suitable training intensity. As mentioned above, this helps to promote progressive overload. 

Adding dumbbell deadlifts into your program can help build strength, balance, and movement efficiency in the same muscles. With this, regular performance can build functional strength in daily life and sports. 

Improves Posture 

Poor posture is a huge issue in today’s society. Even in physiotherapists, results showed that 56% of participants suffered from severe posture issues. As the amount of desk-based jobs continues to increase, this becomes an increasing problem. 

The trapezius muscles work to keep the shoulders pinned back and chest up. Strong trap muscles help to reduce the likelihood of slouched shoulders and poor posture.

The erector spinae form part of the core musculature. A strong core plays a leading role in maintaining a stable body position. This helps to keep good posture when still or during activity. 

Dumbbell deadlifts strengthen both of these muscle groups. Therefore, regular performance can improve posture by improving the function of these key postural muscles. 

Fixes Muscular Imbalances 

Muscular imbalances occur when one side of the body is stronger than the other. When this happens, the stronger side tends to do more of the work when performing bilateral movements. This means movements that work both sides of the body together. 

The dumbbell deadlift is a unilateral movement. By holding a number in each hand, it works each side of the body separately. Because of this, it helps to identify muscular imbalances. 

When correctly identified, a suitable program can be performed to fix these issues. Over time, this may help to improve performance. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Are dumbbell deadlifts effective?

Dumbbell deadlifts provide a great way to strengthen and increase your lower body musculature. They require muscle strength, coordination, and balance to perform correctly. Because of this, they offer an effective workout challenge.

Why are dumbbell deadlifts so hard?

Dumbbell deadlifts require you to perform a hip hinge while keeping a stable body position. Several muscle groups need to function correctly to maintain the optimal lifting position. Without enough muscle strength, they can be hard to perform.

How much weight should I be able to deadlift?

The amount of weight you should be able to deadlift depends on your ability and exercise goals. This should be based on your one repetition maximum. Therefore, we can’t give a specific weight for this.

Do deadlifts thicken your waist?

Deadlifts require core strength to keep a stable lifting position. This includes your erector spinae as one of the secondary movers. Whilst they help to improve strength and function, they do not thicken your waist.

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Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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