Legs · Dumbbell
Dumbbell Deadlift
How to do the dumbbell deadlift, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Hinge
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Hold dumbbells at your sides. Hinge at the hips to lower the weights down your legs, then drive through your heels to stand.
- 1Your hamstrings and glutes should initiate the lift
- 2Keep the dumbbells close to your legs and feel the stretch as you hinge
- 3Engage your core and squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement
Common mistakes
- Avoid arching or rounding your back
- Don't let the weights drift away from your body
- Don't yank with your arms, use your hips to lift
Muscles worked
The dumbbell deadlift mainly works the glutes, lower back, and hamstrings, with the forearms, quads, upper traps, upper abs, and calves assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- Lower BackPrimary
- HamstringsPrimary
- ForearmsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- CalvesSupport
Dumbbell Deadlift strength standards
See how your dumbbell deadlift ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.
Bronzee1RM42.5 lb
Silvere1RM72.5 lb
Golde1RM115 lb
Platinume1RM157.5 lb
Diamonde1RM185 lb
Champione1RM207.5 lb
Find your rank
Enter your best set. We estimate your 1RM and match it to a tier.
Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.
Kovo programs the dumbbell deadlift for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More glutes exercises
- How to do the agility ladder drill
- How to do the airdyne bike
- How to do the arc trainer
- How to do the assault bike
- How to do the medicine ball atlas stone lift
- How to do the b stance hip thrust
Last reviewed April 2026.