What you'll gain

• Builds hamstring size and strength through a deep loaded stretch.

• Develops glute strength at the lockout for full hip-drive power.

• Reinforces clean hinge mechanics that carry over to deadlifts.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Stand with feet hip-width apart and grip the bar just outside the knees with arms extended.

2. 2

   Stand tall holding the bar at the hips, then unlock the knees with a small soft bend.

3. 3

   Push the hips back and lower the bar down the legs by hinging at the hips, keeping the back flat.

4. 4

   Continue lowering until you feel a strong stretch in the hamstrings, with the bar staying close to the legs.

5. 5

   Drive the hips forward and squeeze the glutes hard to stand back up to the starting position.

6. 6

   Lock out the hips at the top with a tall chest, reset your breath, and repeat for clean reps.

Common Mistakes

• Locking the knees fully straight, which turns the lift into a back-stress machine 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 crushes the lower back at the bottom range.

• Bending the knees too much, which turns the lift back into a regular deadlift.

About This Exercise

The barbell stiff leg deadlift is a hinge-pattern lift performed with only a small bend in the knees. The bar is lowered down the legs by hinging at the hips, loading the hamstrings and glutes through a deep stretch, before being driven back up to standing by squeezing the glutes. Compared to a regular deadlift, the focus moves off the lower back and onto pure hamstring and glute work. For app builders programming hypertrophy and athletic prep, this is one of the most useful hamstring lifts in the library. Ship it as accessory inventory in pull-day flows, hamstring blocks, and runner-focused programs, and use it as a teaching piece for lifters who need to feel a real hamstring stretch under load.

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