Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
Reviewed by Dylan Maurick, Physiotherapist
The Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift is a balance-focused exercise that strengthens the hips and legs while improving control.
Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
Muscles Worked: Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
The bodyweight single leg deadlift mainly trains your glutes and hamstrings as they control the hip hinge and help you stand back up on one leg. Your lower back muscles keep your torso steady so your spine stays in a strong position, while your quads and upper back help you balance and hold posture. Because you are standing on one leg, this move also challenges side-to-side control more than a regular deadlift. Research on single-leg deadlift variations found notable stance-leg muscle activation and balance-related demands during the movement, especially when maintaining control on one leg (Jeong & Park, 2025).
Technique and form
How to perform the Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, weight evenly distributed, and maintain a tall posture with shoulders back and core engaged.
- Shift your weight onto your right foot, keeping a slight bend in the right knee while maintaining a neutral spine.
- Hinge forward at the hips while simultaneously extending your left leg behind you, keeping it in line with your torso as you exhale.
- Continue lowering your torso until it's nearly parallel to the floor, ensuring your back remains flat and your supporting knee slightly bent.
- Keep your arms hanging straight down or extend them forward for balance while maintaining shoulder retraction throughout the movement.
- Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings as you inhale and return to the starting position by driving through your standing heel.
- Maintain a controlled tempo throughout the exercise, focusing on hip hinge mechanics rather than rounding your back.
- Complete all repetitions on one leg before switching to the other side, ensuring equal work on both legs.
Important information
- Keep your hips square to the ground throughout the movement to prevent rotation and maintain proper form.
- If you're struggling with balance, position yourself near a wall or sturdy object for support, or gaze at a fixed point on the floor.
- Start with a smaller range of motion and gradually increase as your balance and strength improve.
- Engage your core continuously to protect your lower back and maintain stability during the exercise.
Is the Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift good for muscle growth?
Yes, especially for beginners or as a high-rep accessory. The bodyweight single leg deadlift can help train your glutes and hamstrings through a unilateral hip-hinge pattern, though direct evidence from hamstring exercise research is more about loading characteristics than proving this variation is superior for muscle growth (Van Hooren et al., 2022).
- Strong glute and hamstring tension — The working leg has to slow you down on the way down and drive you back up, which puts a lot of work on the back of your hip and thigh. That makes this a useful choice when you want to train those muscles without heavy equipment.
- Balance makes the target leg work harder — Standing on one leg adds a stability demand that changes how your lower body works during the hinge. Research on single-leg deadlift variations shows clear stance-leg muscle activation and center-of-pressure demands during the movement, not just a stretch feeling (Jeong & Park, 2025).
- Easy way to clean up your hinge — If you struggle to feel your hamstrings in a regular deadlift, this version teaches you to sit the hips back, keep your torso solid, and avoid shifting weight into your toes. That often carries over well to loaded moves like the dumbbell deadlift.
- Best when progressed with reps, pauses, or load — Bodyweight alone can stop being challenging once your balance improves. To keep building muscle, add a pause near the bottom, slow the lowering phase, or move on to a loaded hinge variation instead of doing endless easy reps.
Programming for muscle growth
Do 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps per leg with 45-75 seconds rest between sides. Train it 2-3 times per week, usually after your main lower-body lift or as part of a legs accessory block. Use the lower end of the rep range if balance is the limiter, and the higher end if you can keep your hips level and feel the glute and hamstring working the whole set.
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FAQ - Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
The Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift primarily targets your posterior chain, with emphasis on the glutes and hamstrings. It also engages your core muscles and smaller stabilizers throughout the hip complex while challenging your balance and proprioception.
To make it easier, hold onto a wall or sturdy object for balance, reduce your range of motion, or keep your non-working foot closer to the ground. To increase difficulty, extend your arms overhead, slow down the eccentric (lowering) phase, or hold a brief pause at the bottom position.
The most common mistakes include rounding your lower back, rotating your hips instead of keeping them square, rushing through the movement, and not hinging properly at the hips. Focus on maintaining a neutral spine, moving with control, and keeping your standing knee slightly soft rather than locked.
For optimal results, include the Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift 1-3 times weekly, performing 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions per leg. This frequency provides enough stimulus for strength development while allowing adequate recovery, especially if you're also doing other posterior chain exercises.
Yes, when performed correctly, this exercise can help alleviate certain types of back pain by strengthening the posterior chain muscles that support proper posture. The focus on hip hinging rather than spine flexion teaches proper movement patterns that transfer to daily activities, potentially reducing back strain.
Workouts with Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
Scientific References
Jeong J, Park I · Sports (Basel, Switzerland) (2025)
Muscle forces and fascicle behavior during three hamstring exercises.
Van Hooren B, Vanwanseele B, van Rossom S et al. · Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports (2022)
Sources are peer-reviewed academic publications from PubMed.
Bodyweight Single Leg Deadlift
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