How to do a Deadlift
Reviewed by JP Michelsen, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
About Deadlift
Target muscles worked
Instructions for Proper Form
Deadlift is one of the three powerlifting movements. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), and is great for developing strength in these muscles. It’s a staple in most programs, and is often used as a metric for tracking strength.
- Stand in an upright posture with your feet at shoulder-width apart and angled out slightly positioning a loaded barbell an inch away from the front of your lower legs.
- Hinge at the hips and flex your knees to drop down allowing your shins to drop forward to touch the barbell.
- With your arms extended, grip the barbell with either double overhand grip or alternate grip next to your lower legs while keeping your chest up.
- Maintain this rigid spinal posture throughout the exercise.
- Pull the barbell in a vertical path next to your body by extending your hips and knees until you are back to a standing upright posture.
- Lower the barbell in a duplicate path it came up with.
Common Form Mistakes
Rounded Back
Rounding your back as you pull the weight off the floor is going to increase your risk of injury, and make this exercise less effective. Prior to beginning the lift, pull your shoulders back, and brace your lower back. Pull up on the weight, without lifting it off the ground. Once you’ve confirmed that you’re in a good position, start your lift.
Not Close Enough
The bar should be right up against your shins or just an inch or so away. Having the bar further away is going to place more tension on your lower back, and make it much easier for your back to round as you lift the weight off the floor.
Weight & 1 Rep Max Calculator
Average Deadlift standards by male, female, weight, age and height
Use this calculator to see Fitbod's possible first recommendations for you. This would be your starting line, based on more than 4.5 billion logged sets from 1.1 million users.
- beginner8reps60lbs1 Rep Max75lbs
- intermediate8reps75lbs95lbs
- advanced8reps100lbs125lbs
Enter your stats to calculate your Reps & Weight
Alternative Exercises to Deadlift
1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 25,610 TIMESThis exercise is a variation on Romanian Deadlifts. Like other Romanian Deadlifts, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets your hamstrings and glutes. The use of dumbbells can help with some limitations in mobility, and is a great starting point for anyone working towards performing Deadlifts or Romanian Deadlifts with a barbell.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Dumbbells
2. Seated Leg Curl
98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 21,075 TIMESSeated Leg Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. Because a vast majority of lower body exercises tend to be compound movements, this exercise is a great way to isolate the hamstrings for building muscle mass, and developing strength. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability, allowing you to focus on exertion more than stabilizing the movement.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Leg Curl Machine
3. Romanian Deadlift
98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 15,199 TIMESRomanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets your glutes, and hamstrings. Unlike the standard Deadlift, this variation focuses mostly on driving your hips forward to raise the weight, and restricts movement in your knees. This is a great exercise for building strength, and can translate well to other exercises that utilize a hip hinge.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells
4. Lying Hamstrings Curl
95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 12,746 TIMESLying Hamstring Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. There’s a relatively short list of isolation exercises for lower body muscle groups. Because of this, this is a great addition to a lower body workout in order to build strength and muscle mass in the hamstrings specifically. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement, allowing you to focus on exertion rather than stabilizing the movement.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Leg Curl Machine
5. Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift
84.6 mSCORESWAPPED 8,017 TIMESSmith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. Like other Romanian Deadlift variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. The use of a Smith Machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement. This allows you to focus on exertion, or learning the movement rather than focusing on stability.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Smith Machine
6. Kettlebell Sumo Squat
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 7,402 TIMESKettlebell Sumo Squat is a squat variation. Like other squat variations, this exercise is a compound movement that targets the hamstrings, glutes and quads. Positioning your feet wider than you would for a standard squat helps to recruit the inner thigh, as well as help individuals with mobility limitations.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Kettlebells
7. Kettlebell Swing
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 5,857 TIMESKettlebell Swing is a compound, explosive movement that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. This is a great exercise for improving power and explosiveness. It's especially helpful in developing glute drive which can help improve a number of different exercises, and sport performance.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Kettlebells
8. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 5,830 TIMESSingle Leg Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. Like other Romanian Deadlift variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. Performing this exercise on one leg, is a great way to identify, and help address, discrepancies in mobility, strength, and stability between sides. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to improve their ability to perform a large number of other compound lower body movements like Squats, Lunges, or even Olympic lifts.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Dumbbells
9. Trap Bar Deadlift
92.7 mSCORESWAPPED 4,727 TIMESTrap Bar Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. Like other variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets your lower body, and rear chain (backside of the body). Using a Trap Bar can make this a much more accessible variation than a standard Deadlift, as it places less tension on your lower back, and is generally easier to perform correctly than a standard Deadlift.
- Intermediate
- Quads
- Trap Bar
10. Good Morning
90.4 mSCORESWAPPED 3,811 TIMESGood Morning’s are a compound exercise that primarily target muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), but especially the hamstrings, and lower back. While this can be an effective exercise, there is some risk to performing this exercise with a loaded barbell on your back. If you’re unfamiliar with this exercise, try starting with a dumbbell variation as you learn the movement.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells
- Squat Rack