Barbell American Deadlift
The American deadlift is a barbell Romanian deadlift in which you finish each rep by squeezing your glutes to tuck the pelvis slightly under, instead of simply standing tall. It trains the hamstrings through a long, stretched range like an RDL and adds a deliberate glute contraction at the top.
Also called: American Deadlift, American Deadlifts, Barbell American Deadlifts, Glute-Centric RDL · Equipment: barbell · Pattern: hinge
Step by step
- Set the bar in a rack just below hip height, take a double-overhand grip just outside your hips and step back with your feet about hip-width apart, toes pointing forward.
- Stand tall with the bar resting against your thighs, knees soft and shins vertical.
- Push your hips back and let your torso tip forward, keeping the bar in contact with your thighs as it travels down.
- On the way down, hold a slight arch in your low back so your pelvis stays tipped slightly forward and you feel the stretch in your hamstrings.
- Go down until your hamstrings reach a strong stretch, usually around or just below the knees, with your low back still in the same position.
- Drive your hips forward to stand, and as you reach the top squeeze your glutes hard so your pelvis tucks slightly under. The bar may drift slightly forward as the hips come through.
- Keep your low back still as you squeeze; the tuck comes from the glutes, not from rounding the spine. Reset to the start position for the next rep.
- Hips back, bar on the thighs
- Slight arch on the way down
- Feel the hamstrings stretch
- Squeeze your glutes to tuck the pelvis at the top
- Low back stays still, the pelvis moves
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head) | Prime mover | B |
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | D |
| Hamstrings: semitendinosus | Prime mover | C |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | D |
| Forearm flexors | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Rounding the low back to tuck the pelvis
Fix: Squeeze the glutes to tuck the pelvis and keep the low back still.
Over-arching on the way down
Fix: Keep the arch slight, just enough to feel the hamstrings stretch.
Bar drifting away from the thighs on the descent
Fix: Keep the bar dragging along your thighs all the way down.
Squatting the weight down
Fix: Push the hips back and keep your shins vertical.
Standing tall without the squeeze
Fix: Finish every rep with a hard glute squeeze at the top.
What the research says
Muscle growth · first choiceStrengthGeneral fitnessSport performance
- Effort — A meta-analysis found muscle growth rises as sets get closer to failure, but going all the way to failure adds only a small extra benefit.
- Volume — A meta-analysis found muscle growth rises with weekly sets, with most of the benefit from roughly 10 or more weekly sets per muscle and smaller gains beyond that.
- Long muscle length — Research on the hamstrings found training at longer muscle lengths produced more growth than training at shorter lengths, which is the stretched bottom this lift shares with the RDL.
- Glute emphasis — There is no published research comparing the American deadlift with a standard Romanian deadlift for glute activation or growth.
Log the barbell american deadlift in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.