Trap Bar Deadlift

How to perform it

1. 1Preparation and positioning. Use a level platform, secure plates with collars, choose the intended handle height, and clear the landing area. Center the feet inside the frame.
2. 2Starting position. Hinge and bend the knees to take a centered closed grip, brace the trunk, set the shoulders, and remove slack without lifting the plates.
3. 3Concentric phase. Push the floor away and extend the knees and hips while the frame rises level. Keep the trunk controlled and the handles close to the body's centerline.
4. 4Top position / lockout. Stand tall with hips and knees extended without leaning back, shrugging, or forcefully hyperextending the joints.
5. 5Eccentric phase. Hinge and bend the knees to lower the frame under control to the floor; keep both sides level and do not drop it from the top.
6. 6Breathing and bracing. Brace before the pull, maintain it through the hardest portion, and exhale/reset only when the load is stable.
7. 7Valid rep. Both plates leave and contact the floor together, the frame stays controlled, and the rep reaches full standing without hitching, twisting, or bouncing.

Common mistakes

• Reaching for the floor

  Fix: Stop the hinge when hamstring range or trunk control ends; the implement does not need to touch the floor.

• Load drifting forward

  Fix: Keep the load close and balance over the middle of the support foot or feet.

• Squatting the hinge

  Fix: Keep the knee angle relatively stable and send the hips back.

• Leaning back at lockout

  Fix: Finish tall through hip extension without lumbar hyperextension.

Safety

• If spinal symptoms, radiating pain, numbness, or weakness are present, stop and seek appropriate assessment; do not use bracing cues to train through neurological symptoms.
• For heavy barbell work, use correctly set safeties and/or a competent spotter and collars; do not rely on a spotter to rescue a technically uncontrolled repetition.
• Heavy efforts and prolonged breath-holding can produce large acute blood-pressure responses; people with cardiovascular disease or uncontrolled hypertension need medically appropriate intensity and breathing guidance.

Progressions & alternatives

• regressionHigh-handle Trap Bar Deadlift— Reduce strength, balance, or coordination demand while rehearsing the key pattern before returning to Trap Bar Deadlift.
• progressionLow-handle Trap Bar Deadlift— Increase load, range, instability, or skill demand after Trap Bar Deadlift is repeatable through the planned volume with reserve and no technique drift.
• alternativeGoblet Squat— Train a similar primary pattern with a different stability, equipment, or joint-loading profile when Trap Bar Deadlift is impractical or poorly tolerated.