Legs · Compound

Stiff Leg Barbell Deadlift

A deadlift variation with minimal knee bend that isolates the hamstrings and lower back through a full hip hinge. Keeping the knees nearly straight puts the hamstrings under stretch earlier and harder than a Romanian deadlift, which makes it the more aggressive of the two for hamstring development. It punishes ego loading quickly, so it is best treated as a moderate-weight stretch-focused builder.

By Macros Inc Team Verified by Alex Dedmon Updated August 2026

Intermediate Barbell Compound Hinge
stiff-leg-barbell-deadlift-poster
  • Level Intermediate
  • Equipment Barbell
  • Primary Muscles Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back
  • Movement Compound Hinge

Demonstration

Watch the Form Demo

Technique

How to Do the Stiff Leg Barbell Deadlift

  1. Stand holding a barbell at hip height, feet at hip width.
  2. Unlock the knees just slightly and fix that angle for the whole set.
  3. Push your hips back and lower the bar down your legs with a flat back.
  4. Descend until the hamstring stretch peaks, usually around mid-shin.
  5. Drive the hips forward to stand tall, squeezing the glutes at the top.
  6. Keep the bar tracking close to your legs throughout.

Anatomy

Muscles Worked

legs
Primary muscles
Hamstrings
Secondary muscles
Glutes Lower Back

Do This

Form Cues

  • Keep the knees almost straight, with just a soft unlock.
  • Push the hips back and let the bar travel down the legs.
  • Stop when the lower back is about to round.
  • Feel for the stretch, not the floor. The rep ends where the hamstrings say it does.

Avoid This

Common Mistakes

  • Bending the knees to reach further down.
  • Rounding the back to touch the floor.
  • Loading it like a conventional deadlift. This is a hamstring exercise.
  • Confusing it with a Romanian deadlift and bending the knees more as the weight gets heavy.

More to Explore

Variations & Related Exercises

Variations of this lift

Trains the same muscles

Put It Into Practice

Workouts Featuring This Lift

Advanced Guide 8-Week Deadlift Specialization Program

8-Week Deadlift Specialization Program

Eight weeks built around one goal: a bigger deadlift. Heavy pulling, targeted variations, and the posterior chain work that turns…

Duration 8 Weeks
Frequency 3x / Week
Level Advanced
Read guide →