Using dumbbell to do workouts is associated with muscle mass building and strengthening your body. Besides these benefits, the dumbbell also works a lot of muscles depending on the exercises that you will be doing. Keep on reading to learn about the muscles that get worked by different types of exercises with dumbbell deadlift for weight loss.
Dumbbell Deadlift Press.
This workout engages almost all the major muscles. Is that one exercise that you can engage your whole body. As you hold your dumbbells, going down and then lifting them up above the head you work the following muscles;
- Core – The deadlift press engages your core as you do the moves. The moves engage the abs and spinal erectors. The weight of the dumbbells also plays a significant in terms of muscle building. The heavier the dumbbells the more it works the core muscles.
- Hamstrings – As you do a quarter squat, you bend the knees and this does wonders to your hamstrings as you get up.
- Glutes – When you dip, the glutes moves primarily. The movement of hips also gives the glutes a great workout that builds the butt muscles.
- Quads – Your quads also get exercised when you do the quarter-squat. The squat is a great way of building muscle mass.
- Deltoids – having dumbbells challenges your deltoids. As you push the dumbbells overhead, the delt muscles get worked as you rotate and flex the shoulder joint.
- Triceps – as you push the dumbbells up above your head you engage the triceps. You pump them and that can help you build the muscles around the upper arm.
- Trapezius – the trapezius muscles get worked when you go down with dumbbells and when you push up the weights. The trapezius muscles keep you in good posture when doing the dumbbell deadlift press.
- Forearms – you support the dumbbell using the forearms. Every time you hold onto the dumbbell, your forearms get engaged. They also improve grip strength. Hence, the dumbbell deadlift press builds the forearms muscles.
Dumbbell Deadlift Muscles Worked.
In the above text, the benefits of dumbbell deadlift press workout have been spelt out. Similarly, the muscles worked by the dumbbell deadlift are the same as the dumbbell deadlift press. That is the dumbbell deadlift exercises engage the glutes, deltoids, triceps, trapezius, core, hamstrings, and forearms muscles. However, below is the addition of some muscles that get worked by the dumbbell deadlift exercise.
- Latissumus dorsi – The latissumus dorsi muscles get exercises as you go and up and down. You stretch those muscles as you do the dumbbell deadlift exercise.
- Calves – you also use your leg muscles when you do the dumbbell deadlift exercise. As such, it is also good for building and strengthening the leg muscles.
- Hips – You extend and flex your hips when doing the dumbbell exercise. Therefore, it is good for building lean muscles around the hips.
Dumbbell Deadlift Benefits.
1. Exercise at Home.
Dumbbells don’t take a lot of space. Likewise, when you are exercising you don’t use more space. Therefore, you can buy your dumbbells, preferable the adjustable ones.
2. Beginner-Friendly.
Most people use dumbbells to master the deadlift form. So the dumbbell deadlift is a stepping stone to the barbell deadlift. This is because the exercise is easy to do compared to the barbell deadlift. In addition, it is safe to do dumbbell deadlift exercise. You don’t have to be worried about weights landing on your body.
3. Prevent Injuries.
Building and strengthening your body muscles is good for preventing injuries when doing your day to day activities. As such, the dumbbell deadlift is good for preventing injuries on your lower back and hamstring muscles.
4. Improve Grip Strength.
The dumbbells work the forearms muscles thereby improving grip strength. Using the firearms muscles to prevent the dumbbells from slipping away from your hands is good for improving your grip strength.
5. Many Variations.
There are a lot of exercises that you can do using the dumbbell. As such, you can work various muscles using the same equipment but different exercises.
Dumbbell Deadlift Variations.
You will never run out of exercises to do when you have the dumbbells. There are a lot of dumbbell exercises that you can do whether you are at the gym or at home.
Traditional Dumbbell Exercise.
This exercise works the glutes and quads. This is because of the deep squat that you do when exercise. However, it also works other muscles such as the calves, lower back, hamstrings, and more muscles. Doing the right form will make you realize the benefits of the dumbbells. Below are the steps to follow to the traditional dumbbell exercise;
- Stand with your feet at a distance of shoulder-width apart.
- Hold dumbbells, each in hand with palms facing you. Your arms must be straight.
- Slightly bend your knees to lower the dumbbells
- Lower the dumbbell further to the ground and rest for a second.
- Rise up to the starting position and squeeze your glutes before doing another rep
Romanian Dumbbell Deadlift.
The Romanian dumbbell deadlift targets the quads, glutes, and lower back muscles. Follow the steps below to execute it properly;
Stand on your feet with a shoulder-width apart
Place the dumbbells next to each other in front of your feet
Pick the dumbbells and stand upright with your chest out and shoulders back.
Bend your knees and lower the dumbbells in front of you. Don’t let the dumbbells touch the ground, but rise up before touching the floor with dumbbells.
As you rise up, use your quads and keep your neck and the entire back in a neutral position.
Squeeze glutes before doing the next rep
Sumo Dumbbell Deadlift.
The Sumo dumbbell deadlift primarily targets the hamstring and glutes. In addition to that, it activates the lower back and quad muscles. Below are the steps you can follow to do the exercise in the right form.
- Stand on your feet and make sure that they are more than the shoulder-width apart
- Place one dumbbell on the floor in between your feet
- Bend the knees and lift the dumbbell using both hands. Rise up to stand upright while holding the dumbbell
- Return to the starting position and repeat
Stiff Leg Dumbbell Deadlift.
This exercise targets the glutes, hamstring, lower back, and quad muscles. Below are the steps you can follow to the exercise.
- Stand on your feet at shoulder-width apart
- Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing your body. Your knees must be slightly bent
- Pull back your shoulders and lower the dumbbells. Make sure that you don’t touch the floor with the dumbbells; rise up when the dumbbells reach the mid-section of your legs.
- Make sure that you bend your knees but keep them locked to avoid doing a squat move
- Rise up to the starting position
Single Leg Dumbbell Deadlift.
Like other dumbbell deadlift exercises, this exercise also focuses on glutes, hamstring, lower back, and quad muscles. To be specific, the higher part of the hamstring gets worked nicely. In addition, the single-leg dumbbell exercise challenges hip stability as well as ankle stability. Follow the steps below to do the exercise in proper form;
- Stand upright with your feet next to each other or together
- Hold one dumbbell with your right hand. Your right hand must be in front of your hip with the palm facing the left side
- Pull back your shoulders and keep your back in a neutral position
- Bend to lower the dumbbell at the same time lifting your leg from the floor. You can lower the weight closer to the floor
- Rise up to the starting position
Staggered Stance Dumbbell Deadlift.
This exercise is also good for developing hip muscles. To do it in proper form follow the steps below;
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart
- Put your foot in front of each other. The distance between your feet can be one foot.
- Hold the dumbbells each in your hands
- Keep your torso parallel to the ground as you push your butt back to lower the dumbbells
- Rise up straight and squeeze your butt
- Lower your body again to repeat
Single Arm Dumbbell Deadlift.
This exercise primarily targets hamstring. In addition to that, it also exercises the hip flexors, glutes and quads. To do the exercise follow the steps below;
- Put the dumbbell on the ground
- Stand upright on your feet hip or shoulder-width apart
- Bend your knees to pick the dumbbell with your right hand. Make sure that your chest is pulled back.
- Rise up to stand straight and then repeat to do more reps
Dumbbell Deadlift Vs Squat.
Most of the dumbbell deadlift exercises have quarter squats. Some of the movements are not squats but they are slightly similar to the squat moves. The dumbbell moves that have a few squat moves include the dumbbell deadlift press. As you do this exercise, you do a quarter squat. However, some exercises emphasize not doing the squat move.
The difference between the squats and dumbbell deadlift is that the squats focus on knees while the dumbbell deadlift targets the hips and glutes. However, they both exercise similar muscles such as the glutes, hips, and core.
Both exercises can be done at home. But to do the dumbbell deadlift, you will need dumbbells. On the other hand, squats don’t need gym equipment unless for you are doing the variations. In addition, the squats are beginner-friendly than the dumbbell deadlift.
Final thoughts
Doing dumbbell deadlift workouts variations is good for strengthening and building your different muscles. The workout is good for hamstrings, glutes, core, trapezius, hips, and many other major muscles. The above text gave dumbbell deadlift variations and the muscles that get exercised. If you haven’t done the dumbbell exercise, visit the above text to try one or two exercises. The form is provided to make it easy for you to execute them.
Which dumbbell deadlift variation have you done? What were the benefits? Share your experiences below.