Barbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
A near-straight-leg hinge that loads the hamstrings and glutes through a deep stretch — a pure posterior chain exercise.
How to do it
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and grip the bar just outside your knees with straight arms.
- Stand tall with the bar at your thighs, then unlock your knees into a slight soft bend.
- Push your hips back and lower the bar along your legs, hinging at the hips with a flat back.
- Keep lowering until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, keeping the bar close to your legs.
- Drive your hips forward and squeeze your glutes hard to stand back up to the start.
- Lock out your hips at the top with your chest up, reset your breath, and repeat cleanly.
Key technique cue
Keep the bar close to your legs and your back flat; stop when the hamstrings are fully stretched.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Locking the knees completely, which turns it into a back exercise instead of a hamstring builder.
- ✕ Rounding the lower back at the bottom, which loads the spine instead of stretching the hamstrings.
- ✕ Letting the bar drift away from the legs, which overloads the lower back in the bottom range.
- ✕ Bending the knees too much, which turns it into a regular Romanian deadlift.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds hamstring size and strength through a deep loaded stretch.
- ✓ Develops glute strength at lockout for full hip extension power.
- ✓ Reinforces clean hinge mechanics that carry over to the deadlift.
Progression: from easier to harder
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About the exercise
Barbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts are a hinge performed with only a slight bend in the knees. The bar lowers along the legs as the athlete hinges at the hips, loading the hamstrings and glutes through a deep stretch before driving back up to standing with a glute squeeze. Compared with a regular deadlift, the focus shifts from the lower back to pure hamstring and glute work. It's one of the most useful hamstring exercises for hypertrophy and athletic performance. Use it as an accessory on pull days, in hamstring blocks and in runner programs, and to learn what a real hamstring stretch under load feels like.
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