Barbell Deadlift

🎯 Lower back🏋️ BarbellIntermediateCompoundCalves (2°)Forearms (2°)Glutes (2°)Hamstrings (2°)Lats (2°)Middle back (2°)Quadriceps (2°)Traps (2°)

How to do the barbell deadlift

  1. Stand in front of a loaded barbell.
  2. While keeping the back as straight as possible, bend your knees, bend forward and grasp the bar using a medium (shoulder width) overhand grip. This will be the starting position of the exercise. Tip: If it is difficult to hold on to the bar with this grip, alternate your grip or use wrist straps.
  3. While holding the bar, start the lift by pushing with your legs while simultaneously getting your torso to the upright position as you breathe out. In the upright position, stick your chest out and contract the back by bringing the shoulder blades back. Think of how the soldiers in the military look when they are in standing in attention.
  4. Go back to the starting position by bending at the knees while simultaneously leaning the torso forward at the waist while keeping the back straight. When the weights on the bar touch the floor you are back at the starting position and ready to perform another repetition.
  5. Perform the amount of repetitions prescribed in the program.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first; the glutes finish hip extension.

The hamstrings, lats, middle back, quadriceps and traps take a share of the work as well.

Every exercise for:Lower backCalvesForearmsGlutesHamstrings

How this movement works

The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

Every exercise using:Barbell

These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 12 are listed at intermediate level.

Related exercises

Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →

ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.