How many reps of the dimel deadlift should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Sets of 15 to 20 with a light bar, three or four sets, is the classic prescription. Start around 30 to 40 percent of your deadlift, which will feel far too easy, and keep it there until the hip snap is automatic. Progress by adding sets or sharpening the speed, not by loading the bar up.

What can I do instead of the dimel deadlift without a barbell?

A kettlebell swing trains the same fast hip snap and hamstring stretch with one bell and is the closest match. A dumbbell Romanian deadlift for higher reps works too, though it is slower and misses the rebound. A band pull-through is the low-equipment option and keeps the same hips-back, hips-snap rhythm.

What is the dimel deadlift good for, and who should avoid it?

It builds hamstring and glute strength-endurance and drills a fast hip extension, which is why it comes out of powerlifting programs for lifters with a slow deadlift lockout. It will not build maximum strength or much size, so do not make it your main hinge. Anyone whose lower back reacts badly to repeated fast hinging should use kettlebell swings instead.

Intermediate

Dimel Deadlift

Borrowed from Westside Barbell, the Dimel deadlift is a light, snappy hinge run for higher reps to build hamstring and glute strength-endurance and reinforce a quick hip snap. The bar only travels to about mid-shin as you punch the hips back and rebound them forward with rhythm. Keep the load moderate; this is speed and posterior-chain work, not a max-effort pull.

Equipment: Barbell
Body part: Glutes, Hamstring
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus, Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement: Hinge

How to do it

1
Load a light bar and hold it at the hips with a shoulder-width grip.
2
Soften the knees and keep them roughly fixed throughout.
3
Push your hips back sharply, letting the bar slide to mid-shin.
4
Feel a strong hamstring stretch, then snap the hips forward to stand.
5
Keep a steady, quick cadence for the prescribed high reps.
6
Maintain a flat back and brace on every rep despite the pace.

Tips

Stay light; the point is speed and hamstring load, not a heavy grind.
Drive the hips back rather than bending the knees to reach the bottom.
Stop the set the moment your back rounds or the snap disappears.

Variations

Common mistakes

The bar gets loaded like a Romanian deadlift, and at that weight the hips cannot snap, so a speed exercise turns into a slow set of heavy hinges.
Pushing the set to 25 or 30 reps because the weight is light lets the back round in the last few, which is the one thing this exercise cannot afford.
Depth creeps past mid-shin toward the floor, which sends the hips further back than they can hold at speed and leaves the low back at end range every rep.
The knee angle opens and closes with the rhythm, so the bar path becomes a shallow squat and the hamstrings never get the stretch that makes this work.
The finish becomes a thrust into hyperextension, leaning back at the top of all twenty reps, which adds up fast on the lower back.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the dimel deadlift should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Sets of 15 to 20 with a light bar, three or four sets, is the classic prescription. Start around 30 to 40 percent of your deadlift, which will feel far too easy, and keep it there until the hip snap is automatic. Progress by adding sets or sharpening the speed, not by loading the bar up.
What can I do instead of the dimel deadlift without a barbell?: A kettlebell swing trains the same fast hip snap and hamstring stretch with one bell and is the closest match. A dumbbell Romanian deadlift for higher reps works too, though it is slower and misses the rebound. A band pull-through is the low-equipment option and keeps the same hips-back, hips-snap rhythm.
What is the dimel deadlift good for, and who should avoid it?: It builds hamstring and glute strength-endurance and drills a fast hip extension, which is why it comes out of powerlifting programs for lifters with a slow deadlift lockout. It will not build maximum strength or much size, so do not make it your main hinge. Anyone whose lower back reacts badly to repeated fast hinging should use kettlebell swings instead.

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