This article is designed to help those struggling to find hinge variations they can perform with their dumbbells. Often times we repeat the same old exercises over and over again, which can not only get mundane, but also prevent progression and growth. Here we provide six hip hinge exercises that can be performed with dumbbells to help make your training both more enjoyable and effective.
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When learning how to perform the hinge, dumbbell exercises are extremely useful. Some of the best hinge exercises for beginners are done with dumbbells. Dumbbells differ from barbells as they offer more freedom of movement and require less of a fixed position, this can help beginners when they are acquiring skills.
The dumbbell provides a large variety of movement patterns in the hinge. This means that the hinge movement can be targeted in many different ways with just one piece of equipment. Here are three different examples of types of hinges you can perform with a dumbbell.
Conventional Deadlifts
Straight Leg Deadlift
Sagital Flexion
The dumbbell is extremely effective at creating hypertrophy adaptations in the hamstrings, through using exercises like the DB straight leg deadlift, a large hypertrophic stimulus can be created. Remember hypertrophy is all about creating a great deal of volume (sets and reps) using a moderate weight.
Some of the dumbbell hinge variations available are perfect for building athleticism. These are often the more complex exercises which require more movement capacity and are therefore not for beginners. A perfect example being the rear foot elevated straight leg deadlift. This exercise will develop both balance and hamstring strength which are essential physical characteristics for for a large variety of sports.
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This resource was written by Sean Klein. Sean Richard Klein has thousands of hours of coaching experience and a BSc in Sports Science with Management from Loughborough University. He owns a gym in Bayonne France, CrossFit Essor, which runs group classes and a Personal training studio.