Barbell Deadlift
The deadlift has you bending down to grip a loaded barbell off the floor and standing all the way up with it, driving through your hips and legs while your back stays braced and flat. It's one of the most complete strength exercises there is, pulling in your grip, back, hips, and legs in a single lift, which is why it shows up in nearly every serious strength program in some form.
Why it works
The deadlift asks your entire posterior chain, your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, to work together to extend your hips and stand a heavy bar up off the ground. Your lower back and core hold your spine rigid throughout the pull, acting as the anchor point that transmits force from your legs and hips into the bar, which is why it's classified as the primary muscle worked even though your hips and legs generate most of the actual power. Your traps, lats, and forearms also work hard just to keep the bar locked against your body and your grip from failing, which is part of why the deadlift builds so much total-body strength for the time it takes to perform.
Set up
- Stand with the bar over your midfoot, shins close to but not touching it.
- Bend down and grip the bar just outside your legs, keeping your back flat and your chest up.
- Drop your hips until your shins touch the bar and your shoulders are roughly over it.
- Take a breath and brace your core hard before the bar leaves the floor.
How to do it
- Push the floor away through your whole foot as you begin to stand, keeping the bar close to your shins.
- Keep your back flat and your hips and shoulders rising at the same rate until the bar clears your knees.
- Drive your hips forward to finish the lift, standing fully upright with the bar against your thighs.
- Reverse the movement by hinging your hips back first, letting the bar travel down close to your legs.
- Let the bar touch the floor fully between reps rather than bouncing it back up.
Form cues
- Bar stays close to your shins and thighs the whole lift.
- Push the floor away, don't just pull the bar up.
- Hips and shoulders rise together off the floor.
- Brace your core before the bar moves.
Breathing: Take a full breath and brace before you pull, holding it through the lift, then exhale once the bar is back on the floor.
Common mistakes
Letting the hips shoot up faster than the shoulders at the start of the pull, turning the deadlift into a stiff-legged row.
Fix: Practice with lighter weight and focus on pushing the floor away with your legs so your hips and shoulders rise together.
Rounding the lower back to reach the bar or to finish a heavy rep.
Fix: Reduce the weight until your back can stay flat for every rep, and build the hip hinge pattern before adding load back.
Letting the bar drift forward away from your shins during the pull.
Fix: Actively drag the bar up your legs; a bar that drifts forward makes the lift much harder on your lower back.
Bouncing the bar off the floor between reps instead of resetting.
Fix: Let the bar settle fully and reset your brace and hip position before each new rep, especially at heavier loads.
How to program it
- As a maximal full-body pull, once a week at a heavy working weight is plenty for most lifters; the nervous system and lower back need real recovery time between sessions.
- 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps builds strength well for most lifters, saving true 1 to 2 rep maxes for competition or occasional testing.
- Schedule it as the first heavy lift of the session, since fatigue from other exercises makes the hip hinge harder to control safely.
- Give the lower back at least 48 hours before hitting another heavy hinge pattern, even a lighter one like a Romanian deadlift.
Safety notes
- Learn the hip hinge pattern with light weight or a kettlebell before loading a barbell heavily.
- Stop the set the moment your back rounds under load rather than grinding out the rep; that's the point where injury risk climbs the fastest.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
How many sets and reps should I do for deadlifts?
3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps at a heavy working weight builds strength well for most lifters. Save true 1 to 2 rep maxes for testing days rather than every session.
How often should I deadlift?
Once a week at a heavy working weight is enough for most lifters. It's a demanding full-body pull, and the lower back needs real recovery time before the next heavy session.
Can I deadlift without a barbell?
A trap bar deadlift trains the same hip and leg drive with the load centered around your body instead of in front of it, which is often more comfortable if you don't have access to a standard barbell.
Why does the deadlift hurt my lower back?
This is almost always a sign the back is rounding under load, usually because the weight is heavier than your current hip hinge control allows. Lighten the load and rebuild the pattern with your back flat before adding weight back.
Deadlift vs Romanian deadlift: what's the difference?
The conventional deadlift starts from the floor with a full hip and knee bend each rep. The Romanian deadlift keeps a slight knee bend and only lowers to about shin or mid-shin height, keeping continuous tension on the hamstrings without a full reset.