So investing in some dumbbells to use at home is a feasible option. More and more women are more and more into the squat and deadlift exercise craze for building bigger glutes. I have included a video from the team at Bowflex with a quick demonstration of how to correctly perform the dumbbell deadlift below. Unilateral training gives you the added benefit of better targeting a specific muscle. You’ll know if you’re not hinging properly if you are feeling most of the tension in your lower back rather than your glutes and hamstrings. Additionally, you also have the option of using 1 or 2 dumbbells for this exercise. We're Not Talking Plastic-Covered Bells Here. Doing a standard deadlift can make you feel somewhat restricted. Still not sure you want to include dumbbell deadlifts in your strength training workouts? Romanian Deadlift has a shorter range of motion in comparison to conventional Deadlift, this shorter range of motion acts as a great aid to your weak back. If you don't have access to a barbell, however -- perhaps because you train at home, or your gym doesn't have any -- you can still perform deadlifts by switching to dumbbells. While keeping your back and head in a neutral position at all times and your shoulders pulled back and chest out, while actively bending your knees, lower the weights in front of you until they are only a few inches from the floor. Performing this nonstop for 6-10 reps with constant tension on your muscles creates what is known as hypertrophy. Among the main muscles worked when performing dumbbell deadlifts are your glutes. Before we examine dumbbell deadlifts any further, let’s first take a look into what muscles are targeted with various dumbbell deadlift exercises. While hinging at the waist, keep your knees slightly bent, and lower the weight to within a few inches off the floor. Home » Fitness Exercises » Top 5 Dumbbell Deadlift Benefits & Muscles Worked [Ultimate Guide], Top 5 Dumbbell Deadlift Benefits & Muscles Worked [Ultimate Guide], 10 Best Glute Machines for Home Use Review & Buyer’s Guide 2020, How to do Squats Properly for Bigger Glutes [Top 8 Bum Activation Tips], How to do Lunges Properly for Bigger Glutes: Lunges vs Squats, Smith Machine Squat vs Barbell Squat [Which is Better? Muscle imbalances result in uneven body symmetry, and dumbbells are the perfect solution to remedy this problem. In this way, you can better control your center of gravity for proper weight distribution. Proper form not only includes a neutral back and head position but also keeping your shoulders pulled back and your chest out. This is performed using one dumbbell placed at your side and deadlifted in the same manner you'd pick up a suitcase. When performing exercises involving the use of heavy weights, it is especially important that you know how to do them correctly. An option you do not have when using a barbell. However, remember that the traditional deadlift also activates your quads more than the Romanian. Here are a few deadlift variations that target different muscle groups. The main purpose of the deadlift is to build a stronger core, stronger quads, and overall body strength. This can compromise your form and cause your back to round forward. But in case, you don’t have a barbell and weight plates with you. Take for instance the single leg deadlift. Though both compound exercises are very similar in execution and may work the same muscles, using dumbbells may offer more benefits over using barbells. Since the movement itself is very focused (just moving up and down), it’s possible to fit yourself just about anywhere at your gym--so long as they have the dumbbell … It offers you the possibility to concentrate all your energy on pumping blood into just glute and hamstring. Using dumbbells to perform deadlifts provides you with much more flexibility, and thus more exercise variations. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Increases strength and Stability One of the major muscles the Dumbbell Deadlift is the glutes. Keep weights pulled in at the front or side of your legs and not out in front of your body. You may also want to check STACK for more tips on proper form and how to avoid more common deadlifting mistakes. However, if not, or you just need a refresher, the following will give you a quick step-by-step on how to perform each exercise correctly to achieve the best results while also keeping it safe. It’s made up of the Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, and the Gluteus Minimus. The sumo stance dumbbell deadlift will help you improve your overall posture because the exercise mainly focuses on your posterior chain (all the muscles on your backside). Thus, its main function overall is still to build strength and not build muscle. Let’s first try to understand how the Romanian deadlift compares against its conventional counterpart. The muscles worked for the stiff leg dumbbell deadlift are the glutes and hamstrings as … The traditional dumbbell deadlift primarily focuses on the quads but also generates a good amount of glute muscle activation due to the deeper squat motion. One of my favorite conjugate exercises for overall body power is the dumbbell deadlift. Stiff Leg Deadlift Benefits: 1# Bigger & Stronger Legs . Concentrate on hinging as you lower the weights. Using dumbbells can give you more flexibility to control the position of the weights you would otherwise not have with a barbell. Romanian Deadlift is an option which can give you benefits of conventional Deadlift but still protecting you from lower back pain. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore why the dumbbell deadlift may possibly benefit you more than the barbell deadlift and why you should incorporate them into your weekly workout routine. Deadlifts… known as the #1 strength building exercise, but also for building great hamstrings and powerful glutes! The Romanian deadlift is basically a traditional deadlift but without letting the weight ever touch the floor between reps. Here are seven benefits of this fantastic exercise. Obviously, the better choice for them would naturally be the barbell deadlifts. Simply put, the better deadlift is the one that best suits your individual needs and fitness goals. The Sumo dumbbell deadlift is another great way to target your glute muscles. However, for muscle building purposes, you can simply modify the traditional deadlift by using a somewhat lighter load. Otherwise, performing some stretching exercises or performing your deadlifts movements without weights or very light weights can prevent unnecessary injuries. For this reason alone, I would say that for the vast majority of women, the dumbbell deadlift is by far the most beneficial and better choice. Strengthen gluteus and hamstrings is one of the important benefits of the Romanian dumbbell deadlift. Benefits of the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift. Well, for starters, the exercise has shown to improve posture and is better for people who have mobility or flexibility issues. Between the two, the barbell deadlift is obviously the more popular exercise. A better method is to concentrate more on squeezing your glutes. The traditional dumbbell deadlift is very effective at activating the glutes and quad muscles. This trains the anti-rotation function of your core and works the oblique muscles at the side of your midsection. Keeping your head and back neutral and shoulders pulled back, with a slight bend in the knees slowly hinge at the hips and bend over lowering the weights just short of touching the floor. Again, it is best to position your feet hip or shoulder-width apart. At the root of force development, power, and long term improvements in sports performance, muscular hypertrophy is a necessary component to overall development. 3. Always keep your back and head neutral when performing all deadlift variations. Many of you may already be familiar with the proper execution of each dumbbell deadlift workout shown below. By doing it, you can engage your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and lower back muscles, just like the barbell version. Romanian Deadlift Benefits and Variations Similar to the conventional deadlift, the Romanian deadlift works your posterior chain, which includes your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. It takes more work to maintain an upright torso and flat back, which puts increased strain on your core. Always keep your knees slightly bent when performing the stiff leg deadlift and the single leg dumbbell deadlift. While you won't be able to lift as much weight as you would with a barbell, dumbbell deadlifts do target slightly different muscles. We have already learned that when performing deadlifts to grow muscles, it is better to perform exercises that leave your muscles under constant tension. Slowly lower the weights, while bending at the knees and forcing your hips back to generate the additional stretch in your glutes. The Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift improves hip mobility, hamstring flexibility and improves any … Is there a better way to do deadlift exercises to build bigger glutes and hamstrings? The dumbbell stiff leg deadlift is an isolation exercise for your hamstrings. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Benefits 1. A better conventional deadlift – with the weight on one side of your body, during suitcase deadlifts you have to work extra hard to stabilizer your spine and control your posture. Lastly, dumbbell deadlifts will help you work on your grip strength, which can be difficult to maintain especially if you’re lifting heavier weights. The downside to this, however, is that you may find your grip gives out before your lower body gets a significant workout. It is important to feel the stretch in your glutes and hamstrings and get those muscle fibers fired up. With the constant tension you are providing, plus the added stretch and control you have by using dumbbells, you can easily generate the kind of pumps that guarantee hypertrophy. So let’s check out the many benefits dumbbell deadlifts have to offer. This can help you actively lift weights and increase the tension on your hamstrings, which will only increase your gains. Thus, it’s more about building strength than building bigger glutes or hamstrings. Strength is your ability to lift heavy weights. Strong gluteal and hamstring muscles help in other exercises like running, jumping, squatting and deadlifting. 1). Bowflex® How-To | Deadlifts for Beginners, Here Are My Top 5 Deadlift Exercises and the Muscles Worked, Top 5 Dumbbell Deadlift Workouts with Illustration – Form & Execution, 10 Helpful Tips for Proper Deadlift Form & Safety. This enables you to put extra attention on a muscle that might be weaker on one side of the body. … Due to the fact that your hands are working independently, gripping dumbbells is harder than gripping a barbell. As with all deadlifts maintain proper posture and strict form. Basically, don’t bend your head back to look up when lowering your weights. Always hinge at the hips when doing the stiff leg deadlift and the single leg deadlift. So what if your main objective is to build more muscle? You will raise your non-active leg off the floor when lowering the weight and drop it back down again when you raise back up. And suppose you workout at home with dumbbells only, then dumbbell deadlifts would be a great option for training the entire body. So if you are looking to build bigger glutes while keeping your legs slender, then you may want to choose the Romanian over the traditional deadlift. If you’re ready to add more resistance or just don’t have dumbbells on hand, you might prefer to do the weighted barbell or Smith machine … Also, the lift will help strengthen your entire core and stabilizer muscles, which are also important factors in our posture. So in this case, you can work each leg separately when using dumbbells for your deadlifts. This move also involves core engagement, so you'll build strength and stability there, too. As a result, your individual muscle cells will grow through a process called hypertrophy. Deadlifts are traditionally performed with a barbell. Before touching the floor, drive straight back up using your quads while keeping your back and neck neutral, and squeeze your glutes in the top position. Thus, resulting in muscle growth. I personally believe dumbbell deadlifts to be more beneficial overall than barbell deadlifts. They are much less expensive, require far less space if used at home, and are less likely to cause back injury due to overloading. So now what if I told you that using dumbbells could be even more beneficial and could provide you with more advantages and flexibility and exercise variations than using just a barbell. Make sure your nonworking arm hangs straight … Besides using up very little space, dumbbells are also much more affordable. However, there are many more advantages to be had using dumbbells for deadlifts. You'll also engage your core throughout the movement, so it can … Conventional Dumbbell Deadlift Benefits and Variations Conventional deadlifts (demonstrated here with dumbbells by NYC-based trainer Rachel Mariotti) strengthen your entire posterior chain, including your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. The muscles worked for the Sumo dumbbell deadlift are also the glutes and hamstrings as the primary with marginal lower back and quad muscle activation. If you’ve already performed other leg routines such as leg presses or squats, then you are obviously already warmed up. This motion puts more stress on the glutes and quads. Even if this exercise may add muscle to your quads over time, it remains a compound exercise. For the stiff leg deadlift and the muscle group includes your Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius and... As opposed to the Romanian dumbbell deadlift will hit your hamstrings during deadlift. 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