# Barbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift: how to do it

- Main muscles: hamstrings, glutes
- Also works: lower back, forearms
- Equipment: barbell
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/barbell_stiff_leg_deadlift/b24afe861d/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Hold the bar against your thighs, hands just outside your legs, feet hip-width apart.
2. Unlock your knees slightly and keep them at that bend.
3. Push your hips back and lower the bar down your legs with a flat back.
4. Stop when your back is about parallel to the floor or your hamstrings won't let you go further.
5. Drive your hips forward to stand tall.

## Cues

- Hips back, not down.
- Bar close, sliding down your legs.
- Flat back, long neck.

## Common mistakes

- Rounding your back to reach the floor.
- Bending your knees into a squat.
- Letting the bar swing out in front.

## The version in our demo

The stiff-leg deadlift: knees nearly straight (soft, about 20° at the bottom), neutral spine, the trunk hinging to parallel with the floor.

## Starting position

Stand tall holding the bar at arm's length against the thighs, overhand grip just outside the legs, feet hip-width (heels about 24 cm apart), toes out a little. Shoulder blades set, chest up, neck in line with the spine.

## The movement

Unlock the knees slightly and push the hips straight back. Keep the knees at the same small bend while the trunk tips forward with a flat back and the bar slides down the front of the legs. Lower until the back is parallel to the floor (or the hamstrings stop you), then drive the hips forward to stand tall without leaning back.

## Breathing

Breathe in and brace at the top, hold it on the way down, breathe out near the top.

## Tempo

0.45 s standing, 1.9 s down, a brief touch at the bottom, 1.5 s up.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Knee flexion, top → bottom | 4° → 20° | ≤ 25° at the bottom |  |
| Shin | to vertical at the bottom | 0–6° forward |  |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 90° (back parallel to the floor) | 80–95° |  |
| Hip flexion at the bottom | 110° | ≤ 115° (hamstring end range with straight-ish knees) |  |
| Bar at the bottom | lower shins, plates 10–13 cm off the floor | plates above the floor |  |
| Bar distance from the legs | 0.8–1.0 cm (slides down them) | ≤ 3 cm |  |
| Bar drift front to back | 5.5 cm | ≤ 6 cm |  |
| Hips behind the ankle at the bottom | 12–15 cm | — |  |

## Sources

1. [ExRx.net, "Barbell Stiff-Legged Deadlift" (knees slightly bent and held, lower the bar by bending the hips with a straight back until the hips can't flex further) and "Barbell Straight-Leg Deadlift" (the waist bends at the end)](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStiffLegDeadlift)
2. [ACE Exercise Library, "Romanian / stiff-legged deadlift" (hinge at the hips, flat back, bar close to the legs)](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/)
3. NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15, stiff-leg deadlift

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/barbell-stiff-leg-deadlift