6 Alternatives to the Barbell Deadlift (That Might Just Be Better)

Apr 27, 2023

Bored of the barbell? These deadlift variations will spice up your programme and add size and strength to your whole body

With the exception of maybe the bench press, no other lift seems to have garnered such a hardcore ride-or-die fanbase than the deadlift. An obsession among many, it's believed – in certain circles – that one can't be serious about training if you're not deadlifting.

Frankly, we call BS.

The truth is, unless your sole aim is to get very, very good at barbell deadlifting, there's no reason whatsoever to solely prioritise the barbell deadlift.

When you break it down, it's simply a loaded 'hinging' movement that works the hamstrings, glutes, back and grip. The biggest benefits of hinging with a barbell? It's easy to add weight, and barbells are ten-a-penny.

When performed correctly, there's nothing inherently dangerous about the barbell deadlift, but for most people there are a litany of reasons to get your fix of hinging, bending and lifting, elsewhere. From limb length to injury history, your individual requirements should dictate which deadlift variation(s) dominate your programming, not peer pressure from Instagram powerlifters.

With that in mind, we’ve got 6 alternatives to the barbell deadlift that you can incorporate into your workouts. Don't follow the crowd, you do you. And dare we say it, some of these deadlift alternatives might even be better...

Specifically designed for the purpose of keeping weightlifters with lower back injuries pulling heavy from the floor, the design of a hex or ‘trap’ bar allows trainees to step inside of the centre of mass. When compared to a barbell deadlift, where your shins keep you positioned just behind the weight, this enables you to drop your hips lower and use an enormous amount of quad drive, heavily mitigating lower back involvement.

The neutral grip handles also allow for a much stronger grip on the bar while being far more forgiving on your arms and shoulders.

Perfect for carries, jumps and most deadlift variations you can think of (including keeping those hips high and putting the emphasis back onto the glutes and hamstrings).

Essentially, copy and paste all of the benefits mentioned for the trap bar deadlift and add a whopping increase in flexibility of range of motion.

With two weights that you’re able to manipulate freely through space, the dumbbell deadlift allows you to discover and capitalise on the most effective, pain-free range of motion for your own physiology. Stand behind the resistance, in the centre of, or even lower the dumbbells down behind your body for an extreme quad burn. Dumbbells may just be the most versatile and accessible entry on this list.

It's not all sunshine and PBs however. One of the biggest drawbacks of the dumbbell deadlift is the comparatively large 'range of motion'. Beginning from the floor, the handles of a set of dumbbells are going to result in a vastly lower pick-up than that of a barbell – this can be problematic for some trainees who struggle to create tension in (or even reach) this position. This can be quickly mitigated by lowering your bells onto low block or a bench, or by switching out your dumbbells for kettlebells and reaping all of the same benefits, with a slightly more forgiving pick-up height.

'Landmine' training is an incredible tool for everyone, from beginners, to those working around injuries and limitations, right through to athletes looking to unlock the sport's specific potential of the barbell.

The landmine deadlift 'locks you' into a pretty linear range of motion, just like a resistance machine, while also giving you enough freedom to find a comfortable position for your own anatomy. You can lift from multiple angles – from directly in front of the bar, to behind, to the side, to create a different stimulus and hit a variety of muscles.

Gripping the thick, rolling end of a barbell can be difficult, especially for those of smaller stature or with relatively untrained grip strength but that's nothing a lifting strap won't cure, right?

A true test of ‘functional’ strength with enormous carryover to everyday tasks. The inherent ‘unliftability’ of a sandbag stems from the fact that, despite the best technique and all of the lifting cues in the world, seldom are two reps ever the same.

The undulating, dynamic nature of the sand shifting inside of a loosely filled bag means each rep puts up a fight, while the rolling, impossible to grip, rock hard nature of a bag that's packed to the brim presents its own set of difficulties.

As with the other entries on this list, the freedom to attack the lift from a multitude of angles is the true magic here. But, what's unique to the sandbag (beyond the fact each set feels like you’re going head to had with a bag of angry alligators), is that once you get the bag in your lap, you’re able to manoeuvre it so close to your body that it becomes an incredibly tactile cue for creating a powerful, spine protecting braced position.

To reap the full benefits of the sandbag deadlift, don't just hoist it from the floor – sumo style – for touch-and-go reps. No, take the time to lap the bag before standing it up.

Ironically, a lift that you’re probably more used to seeing performed by behemoth-like strongmen is probably one of the most accessible, low skill, attainable ways to safely train nearly every muscle in your body.

Much like the landmine deadlift, a big enough tyre locks you into a 'lever-like' range of motion that guides you effortlessly in the right direction so that you can put the real effort into pushing the floor away with all your might.

Pushing your body firmly against the tyre wall, keeping your arms straight against the rubber, dropping your chin down onto the top of the tyre, all of these things are, completely by accident, some of the best safety features you could hope to build into a piece fitness of fitness equipment.

If you’re going for a full tyre flip you'll eliminate the eccentric or lowering portion of the lift. Excellent for safely developing power and athletic prowess. Stop at the half way mark, before the ‘clean’, and simply lower back to the ground under control to build the eccentric back in, building big hamstrings and dump-truck glutes in the process.

Newton's second law of motion is ‘F = ma’, or ‘force, equals mass, times acceleration’.

Cool. What does that mean for us tin slinging luddites? Well, it means you can make something ‘heavier’ by lifting it faster.

Yay, science.

Alright, admittedly it's not quite that simple. Simply 'going faster' is definitely subject to the law of diminishing returns, or else boxers would have deltoids the size of the Death Star and high jumpers would have legs like tree trunks. But it is true to say that we can make muscle's work significantly harder by making them move faster.

This is where the kettlebell swing comes in.

The epitome of the hinge pattern, a kettlebell swing lights up your posterior chain faster than a Brit's barbecue at the first sign of sunshine. You may not be able to swing anywhere near your deadlift PB, but what you can swing, you can swing hard and you can swing fast.

Heavy kettlebell swings utilise the same constellation of muscles as your garden variety deadlift, but allow you to do so at much lighter weight. That being said, the key here is to go heavy. It's all too easy to get lackadaisical with a lighter weight kettlebell and go through the motions, allowing the bell to do the lion's share of the work. Pick a kettlebell that forces you to accelerate hard off of the hips to get it up, and you’ll be rewarded with perky glutes, athletic hamstrings and the grip strength of a silverback gorilla.

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