Dumbbell Single-Leg Deadlift

oec:dumbbell-single-leg-deadlift

A unilateral hip hinge performed on one leg with dumbbells to develop hamstring strength, glute power, and balance.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Single-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift, Dumbbell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift, Single-Leg Dumbbell RDL, Dumbbell SLDL, Single-Leg Deadlift with Dumbbell

How to do it

Setup

Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand (or a single dumbbell held in the hand opposite the working leg).
Shift your weight onto the working foot, keeping a soft bend in that knee.
Engage your core, pull your shoulder blades down, and lift the non-working foot slightly off the floor.

Movement

Hinge at the hips, driving your non-working leg straight back behind you as your torso lowers forward.
Keep the dumbbells close to your standing leg and your pelvis squared toward the floor.
Descend until your torso and back leg form a straight line roughly parallel to the ground, or until you feel a strong stretch in the standing hamstring without rounding your lower back.
Drive through the midfoot and heel of the standing leg, extending the hip to return to the upright starting position.

Breathing

Inhale and brace your core before initiating the hinge, then exhale as you extend the hip to return to standing.

Cues

Reach the back heel to the wall behind you.
Keep your hips level like headlights facing the floor.
Soft knee, push the hip straight back.

Common faults

Rotating the pelvis open toward the free leg during the descent.: Point the toes of your floating leg straight down toward the floor to keep the pelvis square.
Rounding the lumbar or thoracic spine to reach the dumbbells lower.: Maintain a flat back and only descend as far as hamstring flexibility allows while keeping spine neutral.
Locking out the standing knee completely.: Maintain a slight 15- to 20-degree knee bend throughout the entire movement to load the hamstrings and glutes safely.

Safety

Clear the floor space around you in case you lose balance and need to step down.

Muscles

Hamstrings prime mover
Gluteus maximus prime mover
Adductor magnus synergist
Erector spinae synergist
Gluteus medius stabilizer
Gluteus minimus stabilizer
Obliques stabilizer
Muscles of the foot stabilizer

Joints

Hip: Flexion, Extension, Isometric stabilization
Knee: Isometric stabilization
Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization
Ankle: Isometric stabilization
Subtalar: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement: Hip hinge, Balance
Modality: Strength, Hypertrophy, Balance
Mechanics: compound
Force: pull
Laterality: unilateral
Kinetic chain: closed
Level: intermediate
Equipment: Dumbbell
Record: Repetitions and Load
Load: external, per implement

variation of Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
variation of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
substitute for Kettlebell Single-Leg Deadlift
progression of Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

Sources

wger: Single-Leg Deadlift with Dumbbell, by Tierrasverdes (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

dumbbell-single-leg-deadlift.json