Train your quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, lower back, forearms and traps with the trap bar deadlift.
Written byTom McCormick Last updatedJuly 28, 2023
The trap bar deadlift is an incredibly effective exercise. It's kind of a hybrid squat/deadlift lift. Obviously you're lifting the bar off the floor in your hands, but the movement pattern is more like a squat. This allows you to create a deeper knee angle than with conventional deadlifts.
The trap bar deadlift is an incredibly effective exercise. It's kind of a hybrid squat/deadlift lift. Obviously you're lifting the bar off the floor in your hands, but the movement pattern is more like a squat. This allows you to create a deeper knee angle than with conventional deadlifts.
As a resulttrap rodrequires the quadriceps to work harder than with a straight bar.This means you can train quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, lower back, forearms and traps with the trap bar deadlift. This makes it perhaps the most effective exercise there is.
I lovedeadlift met trapbarand often program it into my client's training programs and mine. Typically, the trap bar deadlift is used one day a week as the main lift, and we use this exercise as an indicator lift. If your numbers increase from week to week, that's a pretty good sign that the program is working.
Benefits of the Trap Bar Deadlift
If you haven'tI've tried the trap bar deadlift before, I encourage you to incorporate this into your training regimen.
Here's a quick overview of the benefits of the trap bar deadlift:
- Trains almost the entire body
- Causes more quad activation than regular deadlifts
- Reduces the strain on the lower back due to a more upright torso angle
- Greater forces are required than conventional deadlifts
- Produces higher peak power than deadlifts
- This allows you to achieve higher bar speeds than straight bar deadlifts
The trap bar deadlift is great, but it could be even better with a little adjustment.
By matching the resistance profile of an exercise to the strength curves of the working muscles, the effectiveness of an exercise is increased. This allows you to challenge the muscles throughout the entire range of motion. This creates a greater stimulus over a larger area – which means more profit.
The trap bar deadlift is an extension movement pattern. This movement pattern has an increasing strength curve - you become stronger throughout the range.
You are weakest at the bottom and strongest at the top, so the most difficult point in a squat is at the bottom. Likewise, the hardest part of a deadlift is getting it off the floor. Once it's past your knees, it's generally easy and simple to keep it out.
So the total weight on the bar is limited by what you can move off the floor (your weakest position). This means your muscles have to work at maximum capacity to initiate the lift, but for every inch afterward there are more mechanical benefits. It meansthe muscles don't have to work as hard. So you work with it maximum at the beginning of the lift.
There is a simple solution to this problem that can make the entire range of the lift equally demanding. Try adding a band to the bar and as you lift, the tension on the band increases.
Dooradapting the lift to your capabilitieshelps you challenge your muscles across the entire range and makes you a more effective muscle builder. On a rep-for-rep basis, you get a much higher incentive. This makes each repetition harder, but it also means you get a much higher muscle-building stimulus.
The video shows how to put on the straps and perform the lift:
Being tall is great in most walks of life. Reaching out of the closets, playing basketball, seeing your favorite band in concert... yes, your height works to your advantage.
Building muscle mass is a completely different story! It's not easy to work out orangutan-length arms and legs that are better suited to a giraffe. Therefore, you should optimize your time in the gym by training in a way that suits your structure. To flush every ounce of potential from your frame, do what works for you. Not what works for the typical fitness bro.
That's why I created my Long-Limbed Lifter program. I'll give you the exact exercises, sets and reps to get the best possible results. If you would like to know more, click this link.
