Dumbbell Deadlift Benefits That’ll Convince You to Pull

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Why Is The Deadlift So Important?

The deadlift is one of the most important lifts you can perform, as it builds power and muscle throughout your entire body. Every muscle group must work together to complete the lift, from your feet to your neck.

The deadlift is not only a great display of strength and power, but it is also a very athletic movement. When you have to coordinate your entire body to perform the movement, it helps to build muscle balance and athleticism.

In the past, athletes would test their strength by seeing how many reps they could do on the bench press. Nowadays, however, the deadlift is becoming a more accurate way to measure someone's strength and athletic ability.

According to the text, Ryan Flaherty is considered to be the most technologically advanced trainer in professional sports. He operates Prolific Sports in California, which is used to help prepare NCAA athletes for the NFL combine. The combine is a test that assesses strength, speed, jumping, and agility.

How To Do The Dumbbell Deadlift

When you hold a dumbbell it’s one in each hand with your palms facing your thighs We will start by taking a traditional stance, which means keeping your feet about shoulder-width apart. The way you will hold the dumbbells is a little bit different from holding a barbell. When holding a barbell, you have the bar straight in front of you with your hands just outside of your legs. When you hold a dumbbell, you have one in each hand with your palms facing your thighs.

You want to hold the dumbbells not directly in front of you, but out to the side. This will keep your shoulder blades back and tight while still keeping your chest up.

Let’s look at the procedure of movements from the starting position for proper dumbbell deadlift form:

  1. The starting position will begin on the floor. You will be in the traditional deadlift finishing spot with your back straight, head up, hips deep, and the dumbbells on the floor.
  2. Before you lift upwards, make sure that your heels are under your hips, shoulder blades back, and chest up.
  3. Keep your abs tight and breathe out on the way up as you drive through your heels upward.
  4. Push your hips forward as you reach the top phase of the deadlift and pause for a second
  5. Breath in and slowly lower back down under control to the starting position.

In a barbell deadlift, the weight is evenly distributed along the bar. This can cause your muscles to relax when the barbell touches the floor, which limits muscle growth. When using dumbbells, the weight is not evenly distributed. This forces your muscles to work harder to keep the weights from touching the floor, resulting in more muscle growth.

Before increasing the weight of your dumbbell deadlifts, make sure you have mastered the form. They can take a little getting used to, but if you focus on form, the weights will naturally go up.

This is a good time to use a lighter weight than you would with a barbell deadlift in order to get more volume for added muscle growth. You should aim for 2-3 sets and 10-12 repetitions. Dumbbell deadlifts work well on a back or pulling day, but you want to make sure you are properly warmed up before performing them. Start with 5-10 minutes of light cardio and some dynamic stretching to get the heart rate up and blood flow to the muscles.

Dumbbells can help improve your barbell lifts and have benefits for your everyday life. For example, dumbbell deadlifts can help improve your strength and energy.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Deadlift

Increase Muscle Mass

The dumbbell deadlift is a great exercise for building muscle mass in the muscles worked by the deadlift: glutes, hamstrings, quads, lats, core, traps, and lower back.

You can perform a deadlift with dumbbells to target muscles more effectively and with a greater range of motion. You may not be able to lift as much weight as with a barbell, but you can do more reps while keeping your muscles engaged.

Boost Grip Strength

A strong grip is necessary for everything you do in (and out of) the gym, and the dumbbell deadlift can help improve it. Since you’re typically performing more reps in the dumbbell deadlift than with a barbell, more stress is put on your grip, providing a stronger stimulus.

Dumbbell deadlifts are a great way to improve your grip strength.

Fix Muscle Imbalances 

If you want to be successful at weightlifting, it is important to have the same amount of strength on both sides of your body. However, if you have more muscle on one side of your body than the other, doing dumbbell exercises is a good way to even things out. This is because your stronger side cannot help your weaker side as much.

Even research done on elite-level strength athletes indicates that tools and techniques that challenge each side of the body independently can lead to strength gains and increased muscle mass.

Extend Range of Motion

Aside from proper technique, having a wide range of motion is key to lifting weights effectively. You can have a greater range of motion when using dumbbells than when using weight plates, which means more potential for muscle growth. This is backed up by scientific evidence.

You will need a strong grip to train effectively, and the dumbbell deadlift is a good way to achieve this.

Fix Muscle Imbalances 

If both sides of your body have equal strength, it will be much easier to lift weights, especially in moves that require a lot of coordination. If you have a muscular imbalance, where one side is much weaker than the other, doing exercises with dumbbells is a great way to even things out. This is because your stronger side can't do all the work for your weaker side.

A study found that elite-level strength athletes who used tools and techniques that challenged each side of the body separately experienced positive strength gains and increased muscle mass.

Extend Range of Motion

In order to lift weights effectively, you need to have a sufficient range of motion. This is especially true if you are using dumbbells, as they allow for a greater range of motion than weight plates. Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between an extended range of motion and the potential for muscle growth.

Increase Stability

Research has shown that dumbbell training not only increases core activation, but also activates stabilizer muscles, both of which are important for proper lifting and making progress.




Stability is important in the gym and in everyday life. The dumbbell mimics real-life movement patterns which can improve your day-to-day lifestyle.

Improve Posture

The dumbbell deadlift is a good exercise for strengthening your legs and back. It targets your traps, which are the muscles that extend from your neck to your mid-back. The traps have the important job of stabilizing your spine and keeping it lined up properly.

Calorie Burning

Deadlifts are not only good for building mass and strength, but they are also good for your health. Deadlifts burn a lot of calories, which can help you reduce body fat and become leaner and healthier. Studies show that exercises like deadlifts burn more calories than most other exercises, and they also increase your metabolic rate.

Deadlifting can help improve your cardiovascular and muscular endurance because it is a movement that requires a lot of oxygen and calories.

Improved Hormone Profiles

The deadlift is a full-body movement that leads to an increase of hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. These hormones help with muscle mass, strength and prevent premature aging.

The increase in testosterone levels will also help you recover from muscle injuries faster.

Prevents Injury

The barbell and dumbbell deadlifts work to improve injury prevention by strengthening the lower back and hamstrings. With these muscles being stronger, there is less of a chance of sustaining an injury in these areas.

The deadlift exercise also strengthens the muscles around your joints, as well as your tendons and ligaments. Having stronger support around your joints will help to prevent any injuries.

How Does The Dumbbell Deadlift Vary From Conventional Deadlifts?

The primary difference between the dumbbells and a barbell is that the latter allows for a more compound movement. This means that your arms work together in order to move the bar. With a dumbbell deadlift, each arm has to work independently, though the movement still needs to be synchronized between the two arms.

The conventional deadlift is better for lifting heavier weights, while the dumbbell deadlift allows you to focus more on the muscles being used. The dumbbell deadlift is more about building muscle, while still providing some strength benefit.

Muscles Worked During A Dumbbell Deadlift

You can see that the dumbbell deadlift uses most of the muscles in your body. We could be here for a while if we listed every single one, so let’s take a look at some of the key muscles used when performing a dumbbell deadlift:

Here are the muscles worked during the dumbbell deadlift

  • Glutes – many forget how much the glutes are worked during a deadlift. One of the main functions of the glutes is to help to extend the hips and keep the back straight – both things imperative to a proper deadlift
  • Hamstrings
  • Trapezius
  • Latissumus dorsi
  • Erector spinae
  • Quads
  • Calves
  • Hips
  • Core muscles

This exercise will work your larger and smaller muscles, as well as your tendons, ligaments, and forearms. It will also help to strengthen your ankles and feet.

Why Do You Need To Start Deadlifting?

You need to perform deadlifts if you want to get bigger and stronger. Deadlifts with dumbbells or conventional deadlifts develop full-body musculature, power, and strength.

The benefits of deadlifting will help improve your strength in other exercises, including squats, barbell rows, pull-ups, hamstring curls, and other back movements. Deadlifting also improves your grip strength, which allows you to better control barbell and dumbbell movements. A lot of times when a person hits failure on a certain lift, it's not always because the weight was too heavy, but because their grip couldn't keep up.

If you want to be able to lift heavier weights, you need to increase your grip strength. A lifting strap or hook can help you with this.

Important Things To Keep In Mind When Performing A Deadlift

There are many things to be aware of to perform the dumbbell deadlift correctly, and safely, even though it is a simple movement – you’re basically standing up then lowering the weight down.

It is important to keep your core muscles engaged when doing any type of lift to prevent injury. When your core is not engaged, the muscles throughout your abdomen, lower back, and body are not stabilized or controlled, which can lead to strain or pulling a muscle.

The best way to engage your core muscles is to clench your abs as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach. Holding them like this throughout the deadlift – and all lifts – is going to make sure your form remains proper and safe.

In addition to paying attention to your form, you should also be aware of your breathing. Many people hold their breath while lifting weights, but this can put a strain on your central nervous system and reduce your power. Proper breathing will improve your endurance and physical output. Holding your breath can also cause elevations in blood pressure.

Be sure to exhale during the lifting/pulling/upward phase of the deadlift, and inhale when you lower the dumbbells back down under control. Inhale through your nose to fully oxygenate your lungs and muscles. Exhale out of your mouth and a little more forcefully compared to the slow inhale.

To prevent muscle strains and pulls, keep the dumbbells close to your body and your back straight.

 

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