Trap Bar Deadlift

The trap bar deadlift is a strength exercise where you stand inside a trap bar and lift it from the floor. It trains your glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings through a hinging movement. Because the handles sit at your sides, your torso can stay more upright than in a straight-bar deadlift. This is a bilateral, intermediate-level lift.

Step inside the trap bar and set your feet about hip-width apart or slightly wider, toes pointing forward or slightly out. Bend at your hips and knees to grip the handles in the middle of your palms. Keep your chest up, your back flat, and your shoulders over or just in front of the handles. Your eyes should look forward, not down.

Brace your core, then push the floor away through your whole foot. Extend your knees and hips together until you stand tall at the top, hips fully squeezed forward and shoulders stacked over your hips. Lower the bar by pushing your hips back and bending your knees, keeping control until the weights rest on the floor. Reset your position before each rep.

Take a deep breath in through your nose before you pull and tense your core like you are about to be poked in the stomach. Exhale once you reach the top or after the bar is back on the floor. Because this lift loads the spine, keep a neutral back and only use a weight you can control. To make it easier, reduce the load or the number of reps. To make it harder, add weight gradually or pause just above the floor on each rep.

Fault: The lower back rounds as the bar leaves the floor. Fix: Pull your shoulder blades back and down, keep your chest tall, and only pull from a position where you can maintain a flat back.

Fault: The hips shoot up first and the back does all the work. Fix: Push the floor away with your legs while your torso and hips rise at the same speed.

Fault: The elbows bend and the arms try to curl the weight up. Fix: Keep your arms long and relaxed so your legs and hips move the load.

Fault: The lower back hyperextends and the body leans way back at the top. Fix: Finish standing tall with the hips squeezed forward, then lower under control without arching.