Barbell Deadlift

Muscles worked by the Barbell Deadlift

Primary

Lower BackErector SpinaeGlutesGluteus MaximusHamstringsHamstring Muscles

Secondary

QuadsQuadriceps FemorisTrapsTrapezius

Also called: erector spinae, spinal erectors, lower back muscles, back extensors, glute, glutes.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Barbell Deadlift

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, bar over mid-foot.
2. Hinge at the hips and grip the bar.
3. Brace your core and lift by extending hips and knees.
4. Stand tall at the top, then lower under control.
5. Repeat.

Form tips

• Keep the bar close to your body.
• Do not round your lower back.

At a glance

Barbell Deadlift in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Bodyweight Good Morning
• Deficit Deadlift
• Dumbbell Deadlift
• Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
• Good Morning
• Hex Bar Deadlift
• Kettlebell Deadlift
• Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlift

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "deadlift",
  "name_en": "Barbell Deadlift",
  "name_de": "Langhantel-Kreuzheben",
  "name_es": "Peso Muerto con Barra",
  "description_en": "A full-body compound lift that primarily targets the posterior chain.",
  "description_de": "Eine ganzkörperliche Grundübung, die hauptsächlich die hintere Muskelkette beansprucht.",
  "description_es": "Un levantamiento compuesto de cuerpo completo que trabaja principalmente la cadena posterior.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae",
    "gluteus_maximus",
    "hamstrings"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "quadriceps",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength",
    "power"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "powerlifting",
    "pull_day",
    "big_three",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "knee_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "deadlift",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand with feet hip-width apart, bar over mid-foot.",
    "Hinge at the hips and grip the bar.",
    "Brace your core and lift by extending hips and knees.",
    "Stand tall at the top, then lower under control.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stehe hüftbreit, Stange über dem Mittelfuß.",
    "Beuge die Hüfte und greife die Stange.",
    "Spanne den Rumpf an und hebe durch Strecken von Hüfte und Knien.",
    "Strecke dich oben vollständig auf, dann kontrolliert absenken.",
    "Wiederholen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "De pie con los pies a la anchura de las caderas y la barra sobre el medio del pie.",
    "Bisagra en las caderas y agarra la barra.",
    "Contrae el core y levanta extendiendo caderas y rodillas.",
    "Ponte completamente erguido arriba y luego baja de forma controlada.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep the bar close to your body.",
    "Do not round your lower back."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Stange nah am Körper.",
    "Den Lendenbereich nicht runden."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén la barra cerca del cuerpo.",
    "No redondees la zona lumbar."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/deadlift-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/deadlift-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "deadlift");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.