10 Best Deadlift With Chains Alternatives for Strength & Safety

The Deadlift With Chains is done standing with a barbell. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Deadlift With Bands, the Deficit Deadlift and the Stiff Leg Barbell Good Morning.

Deadlift With Chains

Each substitute is scored on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. Read how we rank alternatives

How to Do the Deadlift With Chains

The steps for the Deadlift With Chains itself, so you can judge how close each substitute below really is.

Erector Spinae, with forearms, glutes, hamstrings, middle back, quadriceps, traps · Barbell · Advanced · Compound

  1. You can attach the chains to the sleeves of the bar, or just drape the middle over the bar so there is a greater weight increase as you lift.
  2. Approach the bar so that it is centered over your feet. You feet should be about hip width apart. Bend at the hip to grip the bar at shoulder width, allowing your shoulder blades to protract. Typically, you would use an overhand grip or an over/under grip on heavier sets. With your feet, and your grip set, take a big breath and then lower your hips and bend the knees until your shins contact the bar.
  3. Look forward with your head, keep your chest up and your back arched, and begin driving through the heels to move the weight upward. After the bar passes the knees, aggressively pull the bar back, pulling your shoulder blades together as you drive your hips forward into the bar.
  4. Lower the bar by bending at the hips and guiding it to the floor.

The 10 Best Deadlift With Chains Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Deadlift With Chains on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. The higher the score, the less you change. Cards with a "How to perform it" link open to show the steps; every card title links to that exercise's own alternatives page.

Each link re-ranks the list below for the kit it names. Pick one to hide the substitutes you cannot set up.

  1. Deadlift With Bands

    1. Deadlift With Bands

    99% match

    Erector Spinae · Advanced · Compound

    It uses the same equipment and still works the erector spinae.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. To deadlift with short bands, simply loop them over the bar before you start, and step into them to set up. For long bands, they will need to be anchored to a secure base, such as heavy dumbbells or a rack.
    2. With your feet, and your grip set, take a big breath and then lower your hips and bend the knees until your shins contact the bar. Look forward with your head, keep your chest up and your back arched, and begin driving through the heels to move the weight upward. After the bar passes the knees, aggressively pull the bar back, pulling your shoulder blades together as you drive your hips forward into the bar.
    3. Lower the bar by bending at the hips and guiding it to the floor.

    Sets and reps: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: deadlift hinge, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
    • Primary muscle: erector spinae, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
  3. Sumo Deadlift With Bands

    3. Sumo Deadlift With Bands

    85% match

    Hamstrings · Advanced · Compound

    A looser match: it uses the same equipment, but it works the hamstrings rather than the erector spinae.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. To deadlift with short bands, simply loop them over the bar before you start, and step into them to set up. Ensure that they under the back half of your foot, directly where you are driving into the floor.
    2. Begin with a bar loaded on the ground. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip.
    3. Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
    4. As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
    5. Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.

    Sets and reps: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: deadlift hinge, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
    • Primary muscle: hamstrings, not erector spinae
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Deadlift With Chains
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Deadlift With Chains

Deadlift With Chains FAQ

What muscles does Deadlift With Chains work?

Deadlift With Chains primarily targets the erector spinae along with the glutes and hamstrings as prime movers. The lats and core act as stabilizers to maintain a neutral spine, and the chains change the load curve so the erectors face heavier resistance through lockout.

Find Alternatives for Any Exercise

Search the exercise database and filter the ranked substitutes by the equipment you own.