Stiff-Legged Barbell DeadliftMuscles Worked
The stiff-legged deadlift works your hamstrings most, with your glutes helping extend your hips and your lower back working hard to hold your spine in place. It uses even less knee bend than a Romanian deadlift, so the hamstrings stretch further and the lower back does more.
PrimaryHamstrings
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Hold a barbell with an overhand grip at shoulder width, standing tall with your feet hip width apart or a little narrower.
- Soften your knees just slightly, less than you would for a Romanian deadlift, and keep them there.
- Hinge at your hips and lower the bar along your legs toward your feet, keeping your back flat and your chest proud.
- Go down until your hamstrings are fully stretched or your back is about to round, whichever comes first.
- Drive your hips forward to stand tall again, finishing with your glutes squeezed.
Form tips
- Your hamstring flexibility sets the depth, so stop before your back rounds rather than chasing a set point for the bar.
- Keep the bar close to your shins, because letting it drift forward puts more strain on your lower back.
- Use a weight you can control slowly, since the long stretch makes this lift harder than it looks.
Why it made the list
No. 3 of 12
Best Hamstring Exercises
Similar to RDL but with less knee bend, more lower back involvement. Barbell allows heavier loading.
More hamstring exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift sets in KasMaker and watch your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
