Top 12 Low Back Exercises With Dumbbells

Your lower back is a crucial body component. It provides stability to your spine, allowing you to rotate, flex and extend your back. But it’s often an overlooked part of the body when it comes to strength training, yet can unlock improved athletic performance, reduced pain, and better bodily alignment overall.

If you’re looking to strengthen your lower back, you don’t need machines or barbells either. Whether it’s at your home gym or at the gym down the street, you can work your lower back effectively using just dumbbells. We’ve assembled a list of the best low back exercises with dumbbells that beginners and elites can incorporate into their workout routine to make them stronger.

Some of the benefits of training the lower back include:

1. Improves Posture: Strengthening your back muscles is an excellent way to correct poor posture. Sturdy lower back muscles help you maintain good posture, whether standing, sitting, or performing a movement. When your muscles are weak, they tighten up. This can compress the spinal bones and lead to bad posture.

2. Prevents Pain and Injury: Building solid and supportive muscles around your lower back by training and staying active could help reduce the risk of low back pain and injury.

3. Supports weightlifting: As the lower back is used as a stabilizer in many compound exercises like squats and deadlifts, lower back  training will increase your lower back strength and, in turn, positively impact your overall weightlifting session.

Generally, resistance exercises work the lower back. We've put together some of the best for you to try in four categories: beginner, intermediate, advanced and core-strengthening.

You target your lower back muscles by performing exercises that activate them during the movement. Stay consistent with the training routines described below and start slowly from the beginner level before moving to advanced-level back workouts.

First, be sure to warm up dynamically before starting your workout. Simple but effective warm-up exercises are essential; they'll get your blood flowing into the proper channels in preparation for your workout session. We're going to give you some tips on how to do that.

To perform a dynamic stretch, move in and out of a stretch fluidly rather than holding it for a period of time. Some low back dynamic stretches include:

Cat-Cow

1. Get into the tabletop position on a mat.
2. Inhale, push your chest outwards, gaze upwards, and arch your back inwards, toward the floor.
3. Exhale, bringing your chin to your chest, rounding your back.
4. Repeat the movement for 8-10 breaths.

Child's Pose

1. On all fours, push your hips back till your knees are bent, and your thigh rests on your legs.
2. Push your torso in, resting on your thighs.
3. Let your face touch the mat, exhale and extend your hands, reaching out in front of you.
4. Pause for about 5 seconds, breathe and repeat.

When performing the exercises below, be sure to work on your form before increasing weights. Proper form when working out is essential because it lowers the risks of injuries from performing an exercise incorrectly, as well as boosts your performance by allowing you to move more efficiently with full range of motion. Proper form also allows for progress in your lifts due to efficient muscular activation.

Before we dive into the workouts, let’s talk about how to hold dumbbells. Sometimes, dumbbells might feel unnatural when lifting them. That primarily might be due to the manufacturer, or you're just carrying them incorrectly. Most times, you need to grab dumbbells firmly at the metal rods in the middle.

There are three fundamental weight grips you’ll use when lifting:

1. Pronated (overhand or palms facing outward)
2. Supinated (underhand or palms facing you)
3. Neutral (palms facing  each other)

💪Unstable dumbbells won't be a problem if get them from Montreal Weights. Our vast collection of high-quality dumbbells  allow your workout to flow seamlessly.

The superman exercise primarily targets the lower back, hamstrings and glutes. It doesn't necessarily require dumbbells, but adding them can make the workout more fun and challenging. And, as one of the most basic lower back exercises, it’s perfect for beginners.

How to perform:

1. Place two light dumbbells on the floor, lie face down with your arms and legs stretched.
2. Keep your head balanced, and slowly grab a dumbbell in each hand.
3. Just like Superman about to take off, raise your arms and legs simultaneously.
4. Pause for about 2 seconds and return to the resting position.
5. Repeat for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

This exercise targets your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. Using an appropriate dumbbell weight while performing this movement adds a good challenge.

How to perform:

1. Lie face down on a bench with only your pelvis resting on it and your torso hanging off the edge, stabilized with your hands down on the floor.
2. Hook your heels beneath the bench pad, slightly pointing out your toes and grab just a single dumbbell with both hands and hold it close to your chest.
3. Lower your torso below bench-level, squeeze your glutes and engage your back muscles to lift your torso above bench-level.
4. Repeat for 10 reps of 3 sets

The reverse dumbbell hyperextension exercise strengthens your lower back (erector spinae muscles), glutes and hamstrings. Usually, you'd need a specific machine for a conventional dumbbell hyperextension workout, but a dumbbell and a good-quality bench will suffice.

How to do it:

1. Set a dumbbell upright on the floor and your bench flat.
2. Lie down facing the bench with your butt and legs hanging out.
3. Pick the dumbbell with your feet and fit it in between (or have someone place it for you).
4. Raise your legs till your lower back and glutes contract.
5. Repeat for 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

This exercise targets the hamstrings, lower back and glutes. It’s typically performed with a barbell, but dumbbells also work effectively.

1. Position your feet hip-width apart.
2. Grab a dumbbell and hold it horizontally below your chin.
3. Keep your back in a neutral position, push your hips back and slightly bend your knees as your torso leans forward.
4. Pause when your torso is parallel to the ground and hold for about 1-2 seconds.
5. Raise your body and repeat for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

The Romanian deadlift is a classic lower-body movement for hamstring, glutes and lower back.

How to perform:

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with a pronated grip and stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Keep a straight back by slightly pushing your chest out, push your hips back, lean forward and lower the dumbbells with a slight bend in the knee.
3. Pause for about 2 seconds, and push your glutes in to raise back up.
4. Do this for 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

The bent over row is a great exercise that primarily targets your upper back muscles, but your lower back gets a kick out of it too.

When starting out with this exercise, try not to use heavy weights, however tempting it may be. This is because it is easy to sway and use momentum during this exercise which is bad form and it won’t properly activate your back muscles.

How to perform:

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand (pronated grip).
2. Bend your knees, push your hips back, lean forward and lower the weight so your arms are straight.
3. Engage your back by retracting your shoulder blades and draw the dumbbells toward your hips till you feel a nice squeeze in your back.
4. Lower the weight to the starting position and repeat for 4 sets of 8-10 reps.

This great dumbbell exercise strengthens the lower back and effectively stimulates muscle growth of the upper body and lower (hamstrings, glutes, traps, forearms and core).

How to perform the dumbbell deadlift:

1. Grab two dumbbells and place them on the floor.
2. Take a standing position, face forward and keep your back and arms straight.
3. Like a squat, bend your knees and lower yourself to lift the dumbbells.
4. Push up through your heels, stand up and squeeze your back lockout at the top of the movement.
5. Return to the starting position and do 4 sets of 10-12 reps.

💪You might need a pair of high-standard lifting gloves to ease your way into this exercise because it will test your grip strength.

This is an excellent variation of the Romanian deadlift with an asymmetrical stance; one leg standing as support and the other as the working leg. It also targets the lower back, glutes and hamstrings.

How to perform:

1. Grab two dumbbells and position your working leg forward and the supporting leg behind, slightly bent
2. Keep your core engaged and your back straight.
3. Push your hips back, lean forward and slowly lower the dumbbells.
4. Pause for about a second and return to the starting position.
5. Alternate with the other leg and repeat for 4 sets of 10 reps each.

This great exercise targets the back muscles, shoulders, triceps and abs. It's a combination of a plank and back rows, which makes it challenging to execute.

How to do it:

1. Get into a high plank position holding a dumbbell in each hand with a netural grip.
2. Keep a flat back and pull the right dumbbell up toward your hip while the left arm stabilizes your body.
3. Alternate with the left arm and repeat for 4 sets of 8-10 reps each.

This great exercise targets the back muscles, shoulders, triceps and abs. It's a combination of a plank and back rows, which makes it challenging to execute.

How to do it:

1. Get into a high plank position holding a dumbbell in each hand with a netural grip.
2. Keep a flat back and pull the right dumbbell up toward your hip while the left arm stabilizes your body.
3. Alternate with the left arm and repeat for 4 sets of 8-10 reps each.

Like a kettlebell swing, the dumbbell variant also targets the glutes, thighs and core muscles. Many explosive back workouts strengthen weak back muscles and the core, but some dumbbell exercises require extra stability and, in turn, engage the abs more.

This is a challenging exercise that targets the back, core, glutes and hamstrings because of the balancing mechanics also involved while executing.

How to perform:

1. Get down into a tabletop position on a floor, holding a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip.
2. Raise your right leg until it's parallel to the ground, and raise your left hand to eye level at the same time.
3. Lower both your hand and leg to the starting position at the same time with control.
4. Alternate the position with your left leg and right arm and repeat for 8-10 reps for each side.

This exercise targets your core, particularly your oblique muscles (the muscles on both sides of your stomach)

How to perform:

1. Lie on your left side and plant your forearm on the floor or mat.
2. Place a dumbbell on your right hip gently with your left hand.
3. Raise your hips off the floor and pause for a few seconds before returning to the starting position.
4. Turn to the other side and repeat.
5. Do this for 4 sets for 8-10 reps.

This exercise targets your core, particularly your oblique muscles (the muscles on both sides of your stomach)

How to perform:

1. Lie on your left side and plant your forearm on the floor or mat.
2. Place a dumbbell on your right hip gently with your left hand.
3. Raise your hips off the floor and pause for a few seconds before returning to the starting position.
4. Turn to the other side and repeat.
5. Do this for 4 sets for 8-10 reps.

You build your lower back muscles with specific weightlifting movements. You could do many resistance training exercises, such as dumbbell deadlifts, squats, hyperextensions, Superman, etc. They should help your lower back, and core get stronger.

Strengthening your lower back with dumbbells is simple, provided you follow a plan and stay regular with your workouts, performing lower back exercises once or twice a week. Below, you’ll find a progression from beginner to advanced lower back exercises using just dumbbells, to target and strengthen your lower back muscles.

Building a strong lower back could help to improve performance and reduce the risks of injuries and pain. A good way to achieve this is through lower back exercises with dumbbells.

Montreal Weights’s high-quality dumbbells make stocking your home gym a breeze and make working out smoother and more enjoyable. Shop adjustable dumbbells and other gym equipment to complement your lower back workouts like barbells, plates, and benches. Shop now and start getting closer to your goals!

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