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Trap Bar Deadlift

Trap Bar Deadlift demonstration
  • Quads
  • Glutes
  • Hamstrings

Equipment: Other

New to this

Your first trap bar deadlift

What weight should I start with on the trap bar deadlift?

Start with the empty trap bar. Weigh it first, because they vary more than any other bar in the gym: most are 45 to 60 lb, and some open-back models are closer to 35.

Do 2 sets of 5, then add 20 lb and do 2 more if the first sets moved cleanly. Most people can trap bar deadlift 10 to 20 lb more than they can conventional deadlift on day one, because the handles sit beside you instead of in front.

What usually goes wrong on the trap bar deadlift?

You lift with your back rounded. Set your chest tall and pull the slack out of the bar before anything leaves the floor. If your back still rounds, the weight is too heavy for now.

You start with your hips too high, so it turns into a stiff-legged pull. Drop your hips until your shins are close to vertical and you can see your chest in a mirror.

You bang the bar down. Lower it under control to about knee height, then let it go the rest of the way. Dropping it from the top is how the handles bruise your thighs.

If the trap bar is in use

Every gym has one trap bar and it lives wherever someone left it. These are all hip hinges with a bar in your hands, and any of them trains the same thing.

How to do it

  1. For this exercise load a trap bar, also known as a hex bar, to an appropriate weight resting on the ground. Stand in the center of the apparatus and grasp both handles.

  2. Lower your hips, look forward with your head and keep your chest up.

  3. Begin the movement by driving through the heels and extend your hips and knees. Avoid rounding your back at all times.

  4. At the completion of the movement, lower the weight back to the ground under control.