10 Best Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift Alternatives for Hamstring Strength

The Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift is done standing with a barbell. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Clean Deadlift, the Good Morning and the Romanian Deadlift. Seven harder versions, among them the Reverse Band Deadlift and the Sumo Deadlift, are listed below as progressions rather than swaps.

The Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift keeps your knees still and hinges purely at the hips until you feel the stretch in your hamstrings, and every swap here stays on a barbell. The closest swap is the Clean Deadlift, which keeps you on the same bar for the same hamstrings, though you squat down to grip it from the floor and drive up through bent, flared knees instead. If you want that knees-still hinge instead, the Romanian Deadlift gives you one you already know.

Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift

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

How to Do the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift

The steps for the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift itself, so you can judge how close each substitute below really is.

Hamstrings, with glutes, lower back · Barbell · Intermediate · Compound

  1. Grasp a bar using an overhand grip (palms facing down). You may need some wrist wraps if using a significant amount of weight.
  2. Stand with your torso straight and your legs spaced using a shoulder width or narrower stance. The knees should be slightly bent. This is your starting position.
  3. Keeping the knees stationary, lower the barbell to over the top of your feet by bending at the hips while keeping your back straight. Keep moving forward as if you were going to pick something from the floor until you feel a stretch on the hamstrings. Inhale as you perform this movement.
  4. Start bringing your torso up straight again by extending your hips until you are back at the starting position. Exhale as you perform this movement.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

The 10 Best Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift 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. Harder versions are tagged as progressions and kept out of the top spot even when they score higher.

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

  1. Clean Deadlift

    1. Clean Deadlift

    95% match

    Hamstrings · Intermediate · Compound

    It uses the same equipment and still works the hamstrings.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. Begin standing with a barbell close to your shins. Your feet should be directly under your hips with your feet turned out slightly. Grip the bar with a double overhand grip or hook grip, about shoulder width apart. Squat down to the bar. Your spine should be in full extension, with a back angle that places your shoulders in front of the bar and your back as vertical as possible.
    2. Begin by driving through the floor through the front of your heels. As the bar travels upward, maintain a constant back angle. Flare your knees out to the side to help keep them out of the bar's path.
    3. After the bar crosses the knees, complete the lift by driving the hips into the bar until your hips and knees are extended.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: hamstrings, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift
  2. Reverse Band Deadlift

    Progression

    2. Reverse Band Deadlift

    92% match

    Hamstrings · Advanced · Compound

    Pick this when you want a harder version that still works the hamstrings.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. Set the bar up in a power rack. Attach bands to the top of the rack, using either bands pegs or the frame itself. Attach the other end of the bands to the bar.
    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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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
    • Primary muscle: hamstrings, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift

Why You Might Need a Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift Alternative

You reach for a swap for plain reasons: you want to pull from the floor instead of starting standing, a wide stance sits better with you, or the hinge you know feels stale and you want a fresh stimulus on the same muscles. Every alternative still uses a barbell and still trains hamstrings through a hip hinge, so nothing changes your equipment problem, only stance, grip and how much else gets pulled in along the way. Some swaps add a wider sumo stance, some add bands or chains to change how the weight feels off the floor, and the Good Morning puts the bar across your shoulders instead of in your hands the way the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift does.

How to Choose the Right Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift Substitute

Start with the Clean Deadlift if a full pull off the floor suits you: same bar, but you squat down to grip it and drive up through bent, flared knees, so your legs do the first part of the lift before your hips finish it. If a wide stance suits your hips better, the Sumo Deadlift sets your feet out near the collars with your hands inside your knees, and you spread the floor as you drive up. For the same slight-knee hinge without a jump in load, the Romanian Deadlift pushes your hips back with your shins vertical, much as this lift does, and the Good Morning moves that hinge onto a bar racked across your shoulders. The chain and band variations then change how heavy the bar feels through the lift.

Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift FAQ

How does the Clean Deadlift differ from the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift?

The Clean Deadlift starts with the bar on the floor: you squat down to grip it, then drive up and flare your knees as you stand. The Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift instead starts standing with the bar in your hands and keeps your knees still while you hinge from the hips the whole way, so the change is a bent-knee start from the floor, with your legs driving the bar past your knees before your hips finish the pull.

Which swap is easiest for someone still learning this hinge?

The Romanian Deadlift pushes your hips back with only a slight knee bend, just like this lift, so the setup barely changes. The Good Morning racks the bar across your shoulders instead of your hands, which takes the grip out of the lift while you learn the hinge. Save the Sumo Deadlift, the Reverse Band Deadlift and the chain and band variations for once that hinge feels solid.

Do any of these alternatives need a wider stance?

Yes. The Sumo Deadlift, Sumo Deadlift With Bands, Sumo Deadlift With Chains and Reverse Band Sumo Deadlift all use a wide stance instead of the narrow pull of the Stiff-legged Barbell Deadlift. That stance puts your hands inside your knees and has you spread the floor as you drive, with the lift still finishing by driving your hips into the bar.

How do bands or chains change these alternatives?

They change how heavy the bar feels through the lift. The Reverse Band Deadlift, Reverse Band Sumo Deadlift, Sumo Deadlift With Bands and Sumo Deadlift With Chains all add resistance that builds or eases as you move, so the hinge gets harder or easier at different points instead of staying constant like the plain barbell version.

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