StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Deadlift

A deadlift that lifts two dumbbells from a dead stop on the floor.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Hinge
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand with the feet about hip width apart.
Place one dumbbell outside each foot, hinge and bend the knees to grip one in each hand.
Keep the whole foot flat and brace with the back in a stable position.

Do the rep

Push through the feet and extend the hips and knees together to lift the dumbbells.
Stand tall without leaning back.
Hinge and bend the knees to return the dumbbells to the floor under control. Let the weight stop before the next rep.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the dumbbells leave the floor, the hips and knees reach full extension, and the weights return to a dead stop on the floor.

One rep starts with two dumbbells at a dead stop on the floor, one outside each foot, lifts them to a full stand by extending the bent knees and hips, and ends after both return to a dead stop on the floor; unlike the dumbbell Romanian deadlift, every rep starts on the floor with more knee bend.

Breathing

Breathe in and brace before lifting; exhale after you stand.

Cues

Keep the weight close.
Extend the hips and knees together.
Let the weight stop on the floor.

Common mistakes

Hips rise first
What you seeThe knees straighten while the weight stays on the floor.
FixStart with the hips lower and extend the hips and knees together.
A controlled start keeps the load close to the body.
Bouncing the weight
What you seeThe next rep starts before the weight stops on the floor.
FixPause with the weight resting on the floor.
Each rep starts from a dead stop.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the back changes position or the grip slips.
End the set when you cannot reach the floor or lower the weight under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Glutes · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence

Assisting

Spinal erectors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Use two dumbbells, one outside each foot, with one in each hand.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 12, written from the blueprint CSV row and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 in #340. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_dumbbell_romanian_deadlift, the closest Wave 1 record. Its review evidence is not carried into this draft.
Rule 1 requires 2 dumbbells; setup and technique use that quantity. Load-and-reps uses kg. Load steps come from user equipment, so load_increment_constraints stays empty.
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop with a free weight (rule 3).
The CSV says home no. Rule 1 gives home yes because every required item is a home item; classification and engine environments include home.
The optional bench from the CSV is removed because the movement does not use it.
Rule 2 gives primary_hinge and secondary_lower, as ex_dumbbell_romanian_deadlift and ex_barbell_hip_thrust.
Skill tier beginner: a new user can do one clean rep with a suitable free weight in the first session (rule 3).
This is its own record, not a rule 4 alias. The draft rep starts each time at a dead stop on the floor with more knee bend than ex_dumbbell_romanian_deadlift; review must confirm floor reach and starting position.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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