deadlift with dumbbells
Health & Fitness

The Ultimate Guide To Deadlift With Dumbbells In 2023

Practicing deadlift with dumbbells is not as easy as it sounds. Although it assists you in building your lower-body muscles, what’s even more important is to maintain accurate form. You will find deadlift in maximum strength shows, which ultimately benefits all from an experienced to a novice weightlifter. 

This compound physical activity demands much of your time since it can engage various muscles simultaneously. Here, in this article, I have pointed out some major tips on how to use dumbbells for deadlifts and other queries concerning it. So, make sure you keep an eye on them and pick out the most suited way for your deadlift form. 

Practising Deadlift Using Dumbbells

Practising Deadlift Using Dumbbells
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Sit back and relax while I walk you through the steps to practice sumo deadlift with dumbbells. 

  1. The key to doing it right is to opt for dumbbells that have an overhand grip. Make sure to hold them evenly from the front and sides. 
  2. Make sure you stand with bent knees and place your feet in the same distance as the shoulder-width. 
  3. Dont forget to bend at your knees and hips as well. Keep lowering the torso until it becomes parallel to the surface. 
  4. Let your arms loose into a controlled position. 
  5. This is when you have to stand upright without any changes in your back posture. 
  6. As you keep straightening your body, make sure to squeeze the glutes. You might also need to push yourself with the help of your heels. 
  7. Repeat the process once again. 

If you try to deadlift with dumbbells, the most efficient way is to practice without any weight at first. With dumbbells, you will have to shut your hands and keep them on your shins. This is mainly due to the fact that using your lower back can end up hurting you. You can still have a control on your move by simply grabbing the dumbbells sidewise. This eventually helps in distributing the weight equally. 

Ways To Perform Dumbbell Deadlift As Well As Row

Ways To Perform Dumbbell Deadlift As Well As Row
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You might want to use your glutes, hamstrings and back in order to perform trap bar deadlift with dumbbells. However, the row might also need the movement of your upper back and biceps. It is also significant to maintain a neutral spine in times of exercise for preventing injury. 

  1. Use your overhand grip for lifting up the dumbbells and position them sidewise, instead of front-wise. 
  2. Bent your knees slightly and try standing up straight. Again, place your feet in the shoulder-width distance. 
  3. Keep hips and knees bent and the torso should be parallely placed with the surface. 
  4. Using a rowing movement, pull the dumbbells back as quickly as possible. Here, they should be on your chest’s sides. 
  5. Now, reverse the movement and go back to the deadlift posture before upright standing position. This will be done once again for repetition. 

Different Muscles’ Activity While Doing Deadlifts

On practising conventional deadlift with dumbbells, each muscles go through a different set of stretching. Today, I will put down all of them before you so that you get a clear understanding. 

Glutes

Glutes
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The deadlift has always remained a movement that majorly involves hip extension. Moreover, the glutes are in charge of the hip-hinge lock out. 

Quadriceps

Quadriceps
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This clearly depends on the types of deadlifts you do. There are adequate evidences proving the varying degrees of the use of quadriceps. But they still remain the key movers when it comes to driving the muscles and knee straightening. 

Back 

Back
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Professional body-builders sometimes argue that stiff leg deadlift with dumbbells are usually included on back day because of the back muscle recruitment. The back is mainly responsible for performing isometric movements during the process. There are proofs that show back as the primary working muscles during deadlift. This is one of the biggest reason why deadlift will be a great exercise on back days. Moreover, it will also train your lower body. 

Hamstrings

Hamstrings
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Hamstrings refer to the muscles that perform while you deadlift using your hips and knees extension. This set-up is the basis of a good stretch. All you have to do is use the back portion of your legs for such a strenuous exercise. 

Hips, Calves And Core

Hips, Calves and Core
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During deadlift, your hip flexors contract against each other as they perform resistance. Also, they extend when you perform hinge movements. On the other hand, your core remains engaged during this entire process. All you have to do is brace it for stabilsing as well as keeping your back secured. When doing deadlift with free weights, your calves play an important role. They mainly perform ankle joint stabilisation. 

Forearms

Forearms
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For the entire sets duration, you need to hold onto your bar. This works hand-in-hand with the forearms exercise and can be a proven benefit for additional lifts included in the programme. 

What Are The Advantages Of Deadlift?

If experts are to be believed, there are three main reasons why one should include deadlifts in their entire training schedule. Check them out here:

1. To Gain Muscles

To gain muscles
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Exercises such as trap bar deadlift with dumbbells enhance the muscle sizes in our body. With the help of progressive overload, one can notice visible differences. If you are successfully incorporating deadlifts, you increase the development of mass from top to bottom. 

2. For Boosting Testosterone

For boosting testosterone
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Since training the legs with deadlifts make use of several muscles groups, you can observe a heightened intensity which ultimate results in higher testosterone. According to various studies, at times of resistance training, strength practice might induce hormone development and ultimately, releasing testosterone. 

3. To Improve Bone Health

To improve bone health
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Deadlifts have always remained a part of resistance training. They can not only induce bone width but also improve density of the bone minerals. Studies are a proof that the greater bone health is achieved only after successful deadlifts. It might be a helpful exercise for those suffering with osteopenia and osteoporosis. 

And It’s A Wrap

It’s certainly a wrap of how to do deadlift with dumbbells. But not an end to your health. Use the comment section below to let me know about the different ways you would like to perform deadlift and how it would benefit one’s body. Thank you for reading it out!

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harsha sharma
Harsha is a senior content writer with numerous hobbies who takes great pride in spreading kindness. Earning a Postgraduate degree in Microbiology, she invests her time reading and informing people about various topics, particularly health and lifestyle. She believes in continuous learning, with life as her inspiration, and opines that experiences enrich our lives.

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