Stiff-Legged Dumbbell DeadliftMuscles Worked
The stiff-legged dumbbell deadlift works your hamstrings most, with your glutes helping extend your hips and your lower back holding your spine steady. Dumbbells let your hands hang in a natural position and are easy to set up at home.
PrimaryHamstrings
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, feet hip width apart or slightly narrower.
- Bend your knees just slightly and keep that angle for the whole set.
- Push your hips back and lower the dumbbells along your legs, keeping your back flat and your shoulders pulled back.
- Stop when you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings or your back is about to round.
- Squeeze your glutes and drive your hips forward to return to standing.
Form tips
- Keep the dumbbells close to your legs, because letting them hang far forward hands the work to your lower back.
- Move slowly on the way down so you feel the stretch build instead of bouncing at the bottom.
- For single-leg work, try the same hinge holding one dumbbell in the hand opposite your standing leg.
Why it made the list
No. 5 of 12
Best Hamstring Exercises
Dumbbell version allows unilateral work and natural hand positioning. Great for home gyms.
More hamstring exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlift sets in KasMaker and watch your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
