Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift

The dumbbell stiff leg deadlift is a hip hinge performed with the knees only slightly bent, which keeps the hamstrings under tension through the whole descent instead of letting the knees unload them. Because the dumbbells travel close to the legs and the range ends where your flexibility ends rather than where the floor is, it trains the hamstrings and glutes at long muscle lengths, the position where they respond best. Dumbbells suit the movement well: they let each hand find its own path and they make the exercise available without a bar or a rack. The back position is not negotiable. The spine stays flat from the first centimetre to the last, and the moment it starts to round you have reached the end of your usable range, whatever the mirror suggests. Push the hips back rather than bending at the waist.