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I'd like to get the benefits of the traditional barbell deadlift in my routine, but I only have dumbbells to train with.

Doing a traditional deadlift with dumbbells seems almost the same as a dumbbell squat. So instead I've been doing dumbbell squats and straight-back straight-leg dumbbell deadlifts on different days. Is there a better way to get the deadlift benefits with dumbbells? Everything I've read says that the traditional barbell deadlift is one of the best strength exercises ... so I don't want to miss out. If I have to, I'll buy a bar ... but I'd rather just stick with dumbbells and conserve the space inside my house.

When you do the squats you have the dumbbells at your sides with a semisupinated grip. When you do the deadlifts, have them in front of you with pronated grip. You could probably use the sumo stance by pushing the dumbbells together in front of you so you can grip them semisupinated. Or just use 1 with a 2-handed grip if it is possible to load enough weight on it. You can do a front squat by either using your arms to help support them, which would allow the most weight, or just hold 1 in front of you with a 2-handed grip. There are lots of ways to do it.

Yes, you correctly described how I do dumbbell squats.

So it sounds like I can get the benefits of a barbell deadlift by placing the dumbbells such that I will use a pronated grip. I'll try something like that and see how it goes.

There's probably a similar conversation out there but "search" is not working for me on this website right now.