Best way to lift heavy dumbbells off the floor

[Datfox]

I've recently started shrugging with 100lb dumbbells and am slightly concerned about injuring myself while picking them up. Unfortunately there's no space for them on the dumbbell rack so I always have to pick them up off the floor. I'm not very flexible and so in order to pick them up from a squat or deadlift position my back tends to round a fair bit and I'm worried it might potentially lead to injury (I think I may actually have strained a muscle in my back already from doing it). Is there any recommended way to pick them up? I've considered getting into a sort of lunge position because that might help me keep my back straight but short of rolling them to a bench and lifting them up on to that separately I don't know what to do.

Thanks in advance for any help, I realise this is a bit of a weird question.

Edit: I'm not willing to swap back to barbell shrugs if at all possible as it seemed to have a negative impact on my posture.

[DYTrainer]

-Work on flexibility in order to lift correctly
-Lift them with your legs, keep your back flat ( dont round like you said you have, recipe for disaster)
-Could also try taking them one at a time and put them on a bench and then pick up from there, so that you arent really deadlifting them from the floor
-If still cant do it, use lower weight or move to barbell with you could set at waist height.
-When done carry them back to where they belong. Dont be that guy that rolls them back.

[Waosan]

You can use barbell with a rack instead.

[ssteinberg]

Kneel down on one leg. Or pick it up like a dumbell lunge?

[Datfox]

-Work on flexibility in order to lift correctly
-Lift them with your legs, keep your back flat ( dont round like you said you have, recipe for disaster)
-Could also try taking them one at a time and put them on a bench and then pick up from there, so that you arent really deadlifting them from the floor
-If still cant do it, use lower weight or move to barbell with you could set at waist height.
-When done carry them back to where they belong. Dont be that guy that rolls them back.

The thing about working on flexibility to lift correctly though (which I already do every session anyway) is that this is the only lift which requires this sort of flexibility. I have no problem maintaining form while squatting to parallel or deadlifting, even when I'm nearing my 1RM, it's just having to lift from about 8 inches lower that causes an issue. I do everything I can to keep my back straight, including inhaling strongly to maintain body tension but it's very awkward.

Was my suggestion of picking them up from a position similar to that of a lunge a bad idea then?

[juiceboxx03]

Just pick them up one at a time with both hands and set them on something

[Xuaxace]

do you grab them like this?

[DYTrainer]

The thing about working on flexibility to lift correctly though (which I already do every session anyway) is that this is the only lift which requires this sort of flexibility.

Become more flexible is never a bad thing. But it seems the best thing for you to do would just to pick up one at a time ( I'm assuming you can do that correctly ) and put them on a bench in front of you. From there pick up and perform the lift. If you can't do that then the dumbbells are to heavy.

Regarding the "lunge technique". Good luck not hurting yourself trying to do a quasi-lunge with 200lbs.

[Datfox]

do you grab them like this?

Pretty much, I don't think my back is as straight as that though. I may just get somebody to film what I'm doing at the moment to see how bad it looks.

Become more flexible is never a bad thing. But it seems the best thing for you to do would just to pick up one at a time ( I'm assuming you can do that correctly ) and put them on a bench in front of you. From there pick up and perform the lift. If you can't do that then the dumbbells are to heavy.

Regarding the "lunge technique". Good luck not hurting yourself trying to do a quasi-lunge with 200lbs.

Lol. Fair point. Lifting them one at a time should be no problem, I'll just use a bench from now on.

[JoeTommy]

I've recently started shrugging with 100lb dumbbells and am slightly concerned about injuring myself while picking them up. Unfortunately there's no space for them on the dumbbell rack so I always have to pick them up off the floor. I'm not very flexible and so in order to pick them up from a squat or deadlift position my back tends to round a fair bit and I'm worried it might potentially lead to injury (I think I may actually have strained a muscle in my back already from doing it). Is there any recommended way to pick them up? I've considered getting into a sort of lunge position because that might help me keep my back straight but short of rolling them to a bench and lifting them up on to that separately I don't know what to do.

Thanks in advance for any help, I realise this is a bit of a weird question.

Edit: I'm not willing to swap back to barbell shrugs if at all possible as it seemed to have a negative impact on my posture.

DYTrainer really hit this one on the nose, so it would be a waste of time for me to repeat his informative post. If you're honestly having trouble picking them up two at a time, and you're having a hard time bending your knees and keeping your back straight, rolling them over to a flat bench (normally there are a few flat benches near the dumbell rack) and lifting them up one at a time like a single arm row is really the safest way to go for now.

As DYTranier mentioned though, working on your flexibility would also be a huge help.

[wisdommaster1]

Use the force

[Faust24]

Obviously you don't do a full squat. Glute to Calve, because if I squat down that low my arms are longer than the distance to the floor with my back erect.

Stand up
Squat down (butt to calf)
keep back straight
Deadlift them up

If you can't do that then you need to practice full squats.

[Hola Bola]

Just pick them up one at a time with both hands and set them on something

This.

do you grab them like this?

Or this.