Romanian vs. Stiff Leg Deadlifts

Based on last week’s survey results, this week we’re talking about deadlifts. We have a bunch of guides for grip, variations, and some ancillary focuses that can help improve your lifts. As usual, we’re including a survey below where you can share specific questions. Let us know what you want to see. And thanks for being part of the community!

This Week’s Resources

• The Right Way To Do Hex Bar Deadlifts

• Gym Bag Recommendation: The CORE Duffel (KNKG)

• Romanian Deadlift vs. Stiff Leg Deadlift

• How to Get The Right Deadlift Grip Width

• Why Bracing Is Necessary for Squats and Deadlifts

• How Powerlifting Helped Me Lose 41kg (Women’s Health)

• Pulling The Slack Out of The Bar During Deadlift

• Are Bands or Chains Better for Powerlifting? (YouTube)

• 10 Best Dumbbell Back Exercises for Strength and Size

• Strength Training and Mental Health in Teen Well-Being (MSN)

• How to Fix Your Deadlift Lockout Position

Common Mistakes with Hex Bar Deadlifts

Here are the two most common mistakes we see with hex bar deadlifts:

1. Not Keeping Your Knees in Line With Your Feet

Some lifters spread their feet too far out, causing their ankle and foot arches to collapse. As a result, they find themselves shifting their center of mass too far forward.

2. Yanking the Barbell off the Floor

The hex bar deadlift can require a lot of effort, but the common problem is that some people yank the barbell off the floor so that their lower back rounds.

It is important to try to pull the slack out of the barbell first to let the whole body build up tension so that it is ready to engage to lift the bar off the floor. This dramatically reduces your risk of injury.

Today’s Newsletter Sponsor

The Best Gym Bag for Powerlifters

We recently ranked the best gym bags for powerlifters, and we have one top choice for 2025. It’s durable and wide enough for a lifting belt and shoes (squat shoes and deadlift shoes).

If you’re looking for a deep dive, read the full review. It has multiple photos from a bunch of angles, including what it looked like when we put our powerlifting gear inside.

Short version: It’s big enough and tough enough for powerlifters. There’s also an external lifting belt attachment and an internal laptop sleeve.

How Planks Can Help Powerlifters

We said we wanted to talk about some ancillary exercises that will help with deadlifts. So let’s talk about planks. One of our coaches shares the deep dive on planks, including how to progress to more advanced forms.

The main takeaway for deadlift: Planks help with bracing and stability.

If you want to be a vicious squatter, deadlifter, and even a strong bench presser, you need to build a rock-solid core.

And one of the best, most effective ways to do that? Planks.

Deadlift Grip Width

Your deadlift grip width might seem like an insignificant talking point when it comes to your powerlifting technique. However, I commonly see lifters grip the bar with such glaring faults that if they just tweaked a couple of small things they would be lifting a lot more weight.

So what should your grip width be when deadlifting?

Want to maximize your grip for deadlift? The key is to hold maximal weights for longer at the top of each rep.

Once you finish the lift, squeeze and hold the bar in your hands for 10 seconds. This will be the most specific method for increasing grip strength. You’ll also want to pick an effective grip, either double overhand, mix-grip, or hookgrip.

We also have an in-depth guide to deadlift snatch grip.

As a deadlift variation, snatch grip deadlifts predominantly target the posterior chain muscles: glutes, hamstrings, and trunk muscles (abdominals and lower back muscles).

The glutes and hamstrings handle most of the work because a large amount of hip extension occurs to lift the barbell from the floor to a standing position. That said, the quads are recruited more with the snatch grip deadlift because of the lower starting position.

Pulling The Slack Out Of The Bar

Setting up the deadlift effectively requires you to take the slack out of the bar before initiating the movement. Pulling the slack out of the bar allows you to build tension through your whole body, making you more capable of controlling the barbell under load.

How do you pull the slack out of the bar? It’s a three-step process that requires you to take a big breath, tighten your lats and hamstrings, and actively pull up on the bar before lifting the barbell off the floor.

Here are the three steps:

• Step 1: Breath In and Pull Slack

• Step 2: Bring Hips To Barbell

• Step 3: Initiate Movement

We cover each of these in detail (with photos) in the full guide.

Romanian Deadlift vs. Stiff Leg Deadlift

Which type of deadlift is better, Romanian (RDL) or Stiff Leg (SLDL)? Although they may look like the same exercise, they have key differences. Both exercises can be used in your programming, but the slight differences in these lifts will determine how and why they are programmed.

Read the full guide for a complete comparison. But for a quick recommendation, one of our coaches recommends the RDL for hamstrings. That’s because research shows Romanian deadlifts offer higher muscle activation in the hamstring muscle, specifically the semitendinosus, than stiff leg deadlifts.

That said, the opposite is true for glutes. SLDL, when done properly, activates the glutes more effectively.

More Highlights This Week