9 Best Dumbbell Lower Back Exercises To Forge an Iron Back

Lower Back Anatomy

The lower back is quite a sophisticated piece of machinery of the human body. Housing the spinal cord and many other important nerves leading to the extremities of the body, you can bet that it has some elaborate anatomy going on to accomplish all of that.

First of all, what is the lower back? The lower back makes up the bottom portion of your spinal cord, starting right below the thoracic spine. It is made of five vertebrae, easily numbered L1 through L5. Between the vertebrae are the intervertebral discs which handle the load placed on the vertebrae and also allow for movement. If these discs get injured, it can cause lower back pain or even worse conditions. That’s why it’s important to keep this area strong, so you can prevent injuries and continue lifting and living life for another day.

There are many muscles that make up the lower back, and it’s easiest to categorize them by function. There are five main functions of the lower back – extension, flexion, lateral flexion, rotation, and trunk stabilization. Below is a look into the muscles that perform these movements.

• Extension

Extension here refers to trunk extension – or moving the spine backward. Think of the opposite movement of a crunch, rather than flexing your spine forward, you’re doing the opposite and flexing in the opposite direction. The muscles responsible for this are the erector spinae. It’s a group of muscles running from the base of your neck all the way to the sacrum and they are what allow extension of the trunk. 

• Flexion

Opposite of extension is trunk flexion – or moving the spine forward. These are your classic ab movements, like sit-ups and crunches. They put the lower back into a stretched position which is an important movement pattern to train. The muscles responsible for this are the abdominal wall muscles like the rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques, and the transversus abdominis as well as the psoas major and iliacus muscles found in the anterior side of your core and pelvis.

• Lateral Flexion

As the name suggests, this involves bending the trunk to the side – the same movement that you perform during a dumbbell side bend (like I discuss in the best moves to target your obliques). The only muscle of the lower back that entirely performs lateral flexion is the quadratus lumborum. It is the deepest muscle of the back and originates on the iliac crest and inserts on the transverse process of the lumbar spine and the lower part of the twelfth rib. 

• Rotation

Rotation refers to the trunk twisting from side to side. The muscles responsible for this are the semispinalis, multifidus, and rotatores lumborum. They are found in the deep layer of the muscles of the back and are what enable this rotation movement to occur.

So as you can see, there are a lot of important functions for such a small part of the body. That is why you cannot neglect the lower back and make sure to train it as hard as you do for the main show muscles – like the chest or biceps.

Why You Should Train Your Lower Back

As I’ve discussed in the anatomy section, the lower back is responsible for many different functions of your trunk and spine. It also houses your spinal cord and many other nerves that come off the spine. This leads to one of the first reasons why you should take lower back training seriously.

1. To prevent lower back pain & increase your strength and stability in all movements

Since most of the movements we use during our training revolve around our extremities moving around a fixed trunk, any instability that we have in our core is going to result in reduced power and performance during these movements like a bench press or squat, as well as increase the likelihood that you’ll get injured.

Exercises like a Romanian deadlift or barbell rows require you to hinge at the hips and maintain a neutral spine. If you cannot maintain this position, even without load, you should take a brief pause in training these movements and take the time to train your lower back and core. You never want to have your core or lower back to be the limiting factor for why you couldn’t complete another rep.

Don’t just take it from me, listen to what Bruce Lee had to say, one of the most accomplished martial artists of all time. He trained his core every day and as a result, had one of the most impressive sets of abs of all time. He believed in having “abs of steel” because he knew the importance your core has in everything you do. This includes the often-forgotten lower back.

So, if you wanna maximize your performance in the gym, and obtain a strong, stable, and aesthetic core, make sure to take your lower back training seriously. 

2. Aesthetics

Like most people who get into lifting, getting more aesthetic is a major motivator for why you put tons of hours and effort into the gym. A place that people often overlook is the lower back. Having a well-developed lower back is important as that ties your entire back together. You don’t want to have huge lats, monstrous traps, and thick rhomboids, but then have a smooth lower back. That doesn’t look aesthetic. Make sure to train the lower back, so you can get those nice striations and overall thickness like many of the great bodybuilders of all time.

Dumbbell Lower Back Exercises

The first group of exercises will be isolation movements that directly target your lower back.

1. Hyperextensions

With your feet secure in the hyperextension machine, flex your spine straight down along the machine and grab the dumbbell. From there, do the opposite of the movement you just did and extend your spine as high as you can go before returning back to the starting position. That would be one rep. Repeat until the set is complete.

If you find this exercise too difficult to do weighted, start off with just your bodyweight and progress from there. If anything is causing joint pain, stop immediately and record your form to make sure you are executing the movement properly before attempting the exercise again.

2. Supermans

While lying down on the ground in a prone position (stomach on the ground) with your arms and legs fully extended, grab the dumbbell with your hands and raise both your arms and legs as high as you can before lowering back down to the starting position.

If this is too difficult, just like with the hyperextensions, you can perform the movement with just your bodyweight before progressing to using a dumbbell.

This second group of exercises are compound movements that don’t directly target your lower back, but will still indirectly provide your lower back with plenty of stimulus to grow bigger and stronger.

3. Romanian Deadlift

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Keep a slight bend in your knees and while keeping your core tight, and shoulders back and back to activate your lats, hinge your butt back as far as your hamstring flexibility allows. From there, extend back up by contracting your glutes to the starting position. Keep your back flat while performing this movement. If you round forward at the thoracic spine, you’re taking tension away from your glutes and hamstrings and putting it directly onto your lower back which we want to avoid with this exercise. This is not a lower back isolation exercise, rather the lower back serves to stabilize the size while movement occurs at the hips.

4. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

This is just like the Romanian deadlift, except we are working one leg at a time. Again, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, but lift one leg off the ground and bring it back behind you as you execute the movement. This will place a greater load on each individual glute and hamstring as well as place a greater demand on our core and lower back to prevent us from twisting while performing the movement. After performing all the reps with one leg, switch sides and perform the movement on the other leg.

5. Hip Thrust

Lay down with your back on the ground. While holding the dumbbell sideways in your lap, extend your hips into the air by contracting your glutes. Lower back down by flexing your hips until you reach the starting position. If the weighted variation is too difficult, perform the exercise with just your bodyweight before progressing to the weighted variation.

6. Lunges

While holding a dumbbell in both hands and keeping your core tight, step forward until you make a 90-degree angle with both legs. Come back up, and repeat again with the other leg. Continue alternating reps until you complete the set.

7. Reverse Lunges

While holding a dumbbell in both hands and keeping your core tight, step backward until you make a 90-degree angle with both legs. Come back up, and repeat again with the other leg. Continue alternating reps until you complete the set.

8. Bent Over Dumbbell Row

While keeping your core tight and holding dumbbells in both hands, hinge back with your hips until your back is parallel to the ground. From here, row the dumbbells back behind you. Focus on bringing your elbows down and back while keeping your chest up to get the maximal back stimulus.

One-Arm Bent Over Dumbbell Row

To perform this exercise, put the same knee and arm on a bench for support. The opposite leg will be on the ground for support and the opposite hand will be holding the dumbbell. Row the dumbbell back again focusing on driving your elbows down and back while keeping your chest up to maximally activate your back. Keep your core tight and maintain a neutral spine throughout the set. Repeat all reps on one side before switching sides.

9. Suitcase Carry

While holding the dumbbells at your sides and keeping your core tight, take controlled, stable steps again all while maintaining a tight brace. The aim here is to prevent your spine from moving while walking with the dumbbells by your side. This will strengthen your lower back as well as the rest of your core as a whole.

One-Arm Suitcase Carry

For an even greater challenge on the lower back, try the one-arm variation. This variation will place more stress on the side of the lower back not holding the dumbbell. This provides a great stimulus that’ll bulletproof your core and get you those legendary abs of steel.

Programming and Tips for Progression

1. Frequency

Since you don’t need a ton of volume to stimulate a small body part like the lower back, training it about 2 times a week is a good place to start. You can add a couple of direct isolation sets at the end of your back/pull days to round out your back training for the day. If your lower back is a weakness for you – either in strength or aesthetics – consider training the lower back daily with the bodyweight exercises I listed above for no more than two sets per day. This will be more than enough stimulus if your lower back is truly underdeveloped and then you can transition to a more standard approach of about 2-3 times per week with the weight isolation movements.

2. Sets & Reps

Just like I discussed in my rear delt blog post, you don’t want to train a small muscle group with low reps and that’s the same thing here with the lower back. Going with super low reps can put you at risk of injury which is why I recommended training in the higher rep ranges – say 10-20 reps. Save the low rep training for the compound movements which will provide enough of a training stimulus for your lower back. Pair that up with the high-rep isolation movements I listed above and you’ll be golden.

3. Train them heavy with compound movements

Directly training your lower back with low reps would be unwise because you’d be placing a lot of stress on a muscle whose main role is to stabilize the spine. Instead, focus on getting heavy stimulation for your lower back through the compound exercises I listed above like the Romanian deadlift or reverse lunges. Progress the compound movements with standard progression protocols like linear progression, double progression, or dynamic double progression. For the isolation movements, progress them with either double or dynamic double progression schemes. I have examples of each listed below.

4. Progression Schemes

With a linear progression, you stick with a set and rep scheme and aim to add weight from session to session, as long as you hit all reps for all sets during the session. This type of progression scheme is best for heavy, compound exercises. If you fail to hit all reps for all sets for an exercise for multiple sessions in a row, consider switching to either a double or dynamic double progression to continue making gains.

Linear Progression – 5 sets of 5 reps

• Week 1: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 25 lb dumbbell
• Week 2: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 30 lb dumbbell
• Week 3: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 35 lb dumbbell
• Week 4: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 40 lb dumbbell
• Week 5: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 45 lb dumbbell

Double Progression – 3 sets of 10-15 reps

• Week 1: 3 sets of 12, 12, 12 reps with a 10 lb dumbbell
• Week 2: 3 sets of 13, 13, 13 reps with a 10 lb dumbbell
• Week 3: 3 sets of 14, 14, 13 reps with a 10 lb dumbbell
• Week 4: 3 sets of 15, 15, 15 reps with a 10 lb dumbbell
• Week 5: 3 sets of 10, 10, 10 reps with a 15 lb dumbbell

Dynamic Double Progression – 3 sets of 8-12 reps

• Week 1: 3 sets of 8, 8, 8 reps with a 45 lb dumbbell
• Week 2: 3 sets of 10, 9, 9 reps with a 45 lb dumbbell
• Week 3: 3 sets of 11, 10, 10 reps with a 45 lb dumbbell
• Week 4: 3 sets of 12, 11, 11 reps with a 45 lb dumbbell
• Week 5: 3 sets of 8, 11, 11 reps with a 50 lb dumbbell for the first set and a 45 lb dumbbell for the second and third sets

Since you hit the high end of the rep range on the first set in week 4, you would increase the weight you are using in the following week. You would stick with 45 lbs for the second and third sets because you haven’t hit the high end of the rep range yet.

Closing Remarks

So there you have it, the ultimate guide to strengthening and developing your lower back – all with just a dumbbell. Remember to be consistent with your lower back training and follow the tips I outlined above to get that bulletproof lower back and abs of steel.

If you’re looking to take your training to the next level and get personalized one-on-one coaching from Coach Jay, check out my 10-Week Physique Program. You’ll receive a personalized training program, nutrition guide, and more! Check it out here!