Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift
The dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift is a hinge done with your knees almost straight. It targets the hamstrings, with the glutes and lower back assisting. Compared with the Romanian deadlift, the straighter legs give a bigger hamstring stretch, so it's best kept to lighter loads and strict control.
Muscles worked
The dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift trains the hamstrings, with glutes, lower back helping.
Primary
Helpers
- Glutes
- Lower Back
Weekly sets for hamstrings
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for hamstrings, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift
- 01Stand with feet hip width, dumbbells in front of your thighs, and knees just short of locked.
- 02Brace your core and set your back flat with your shoulders pulled back.
- 03Hinge forward by pushing your hips back, lowering the dumbbells along your legs while your knees stay nearly straight.
- 04Lower until you feel a strong hamstring stretch while still holding a flat back.
- 05Squeeze your hamstrings and glutes to return to standing.
Coaching cues
- Legs long, knees soft
- Feel the stretch, not the spine
- Stand tall to finish
Common mistakes
- Locking the knees hard puts strain behind the knee, so keep a tiny bend throughout.
- Chasing the floor by rounding your back loads the spine, so stop where your flat back runs out.
- Using the same load as your Romanian deadlift often breaks form, so start lighter for this stricter version.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.