10 Powerful Deadlift Alternatives

Deadlifts are an amazing compound exercise but not everyone likes them. Discover alternatives to deadlifts with similar benefits.

The main benefits of deadlifts come from strengthening your glutes, lower back, hamstrings, forearms, erector spinae, upper back, core, and shoulder muscles. This can for example help you improve your posture.

Whether you don’t enjoy deadlifts, you want more back or knee-friendly options, or you want an alternative for any other reason, these alternatives to deadlifts can offer you some or all of the same benefits.

1. Back squats

Squats are one of the, if not the most, popular leg exercises, and for a good reason. They are great for training a wide variety of leg and other muscles.

By choosing the back squat as your weighted variation you also train your back and core muscles similar to deadlifts. Take the following steps to do a back squat:

1. Find a squat rack and place the barbell at about chest height. Add the desired number of weight plates. If there are any safety bars adjust them to the right height.
2. Stand under the barbell, push your shoulders up so that the barbell rests on your higher back, and hold it there with your hands.
3. Unrack the barbell and take a few steps back so that you have room to squat. Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width.
4. Slowly lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height. You will likely have to bend forward for balance but keep your back in a straight line throughout the movement.
5. Push yourself up again into starting position by stretching your legs.
6. Rerack the barbell after your desired number of repetitions.

Back squats are just one variation of a barbell squat. You can also hold the bar in other places for slightly different ratios of muscle engagement.

However, most other variations are generally farther from being the perfect deadlift alternative.

One potential downside or upside of back squats is that they do not train your forearm muscles. You also need a barbell rack for this exercise.

2. Good mornings

Take the following steps to do a good morning with a barbell:

1. Find a squat rack and place the barbell at about chest height. Add the desired number of weight plates. If there are any safety bars adjust them to the right height.
2. Stand under the barbell, push your shoulders up so that the barbell rests on your higher back, and hold it there with your hands.
3. Unrack the barbell and take a few steps back so that you have room to squat. Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width.
4. Tilt your upper body forward as far as is comfortable with a good posture (but not farther than a horizontal line). At the same time bend your knees a small amount.
5. Return to the position in step 3 in a controlled motion.
6. Rerack the barbell after your desired number of repetitions.

The good morning may look similar to a back squat but you go a lot less through your knees. This makes it so you focus more on the lower back training and less on your leg muscles.

If you implement the right technique this makes good mornings a knee-friendly alternative to deadlifts to train your lower back, glute, and hamstring muscles.

While a barbell is generally the most popular equipment option for good mornings, you can also use resistance bands, a smith machine, dumbbells, a cable machine, etc., or whatever convenient weights you have at home.

3. Hip thrusts

Hip thrusts are similar to glute bridges but instead of doing them on the ground, you will need a bench or any other stable object of the right height.

Take the following steps to do a hip thrust:

1. Sit right in front of the bench or other object you will use with your back slightly over the edge. Make sure the object is stable. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width in a position where your knees will be at a 90-degree angle in the next step. You can hold resistance at hip height to make the exercise harder.
2. Move up your hips until your body is in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
3. Slowly lower your body again.

Hip thrusts are mainly a deadlift alternative that engages your glutes but this exercise does engage your lower back and hamstring muscles to some extent.

Even more so if you hold any hip thrust equipment on your hips.

One downside of hip thrusts is that they can require a bit more equipment and time to set up compared to deadlifts. You also engage your quadriceps, forearm muscles, and upper back muscles a lot less with hip thrusts.

4. Farmer’s walk

The farmer’s walk is a resistance training exercise where you simply pick up one or two weights from the ground and walk a certain distance or time. Make sure you keep your posture upright and your palms facing your body.

This exercise option does certainly not offer all of the same benefits as a deadlift. You will engage your leg, lower back, and core muscles but not as much as when doing a heavy deadlift.

The farmer’s walk is a nice alternative to deadlifts in terms of training endurance in the forearm (grip) and trapezius muscles.

So when combined with an exercise like a good morning or even a back squat, a farmer’s walk can be part of a strength training program with similar benefits as the deadlift.

5. Hack squats

The hack squat machine is a leg gym machine that is basically a machine squat at a slanted angle. It has a platform to put your feet on and a shoulder pad to lift the weights.

To use it you simply adjust the machine for your personal size, select your desired weight, put your feet on the pad at about shoulder width, and put your shoulders under the pads.

After that, unlock the safety and push the weight up and down like you would with a normal squat.

If you don’t like the compound aspect of deadlifts, targetting many muscles at the same time, hack squats may be a good alternative for focusing more on your leg muscles alone.

Another potential benefit is that hack squats are generally easier on your lower back than deadlifts. You will also have to worry less about balancing or grip strength.

All of these aspects can help you focus more on building leg muscle which in turn may help you build more muscle faster.

6. Kettlebell swings

Kettlebells are versatile workout equipment options. One of the movements you can use them for is a kettlebell swing. This exercise can serve as a deadlift alternative at home or in the gym.

Take the followings steps to do a kettlebell swing:

1. Stand up straight with your arms stretched and one kettlebell in your two hands.
2. Bend through your knees and move the kettlebell backward a small amount to initiate the full swings. Keep your back and shoulders straight throughout the exercise.
3. Swing the kettlebell forward until your arms are about horizontally at shoulder height. Stretch your legs throughout this swing.
4. Swing the kettlebell downward and backward between your legs as far as you safely can.
5. Alternate between the positions in steps 3 and 4.

Before increasing the weight of your kettlebell make sure you can do a swing with the right technique with lighter kettlebells.

The kettlebell swing engages similar muscles like your glutes, lower back, hamstrings, forearm muscles, and quadriceps.

However, with kettlebell swings, there is slightly more focus on cardiovascular training, and slightly less focus on muscle strength training, compared to a deadlift.

This can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your personal situation and training goals.

7. Lunges

Walking lunges are a great no-equipment alternative to deadlifts for training your leg muscles. Especially if you make the effort of putting your weight mainly on your front leg.

Take the following steps to do two walking lunges:

1. Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width.
2. Take a big step forward so that you get into a position where both of your knees are at a 90-degree angle. Your front foot should be flat on the ground and your back foot should only touch the ground with the ball of the foot (front).
3. Move your back foot forward and get into the same position as step 2 but with your other foot in the front.

It is definitely also possible to do weighted lunges by holding free weights in your hands or a barbell on your shoulders. By doing this you get a more back-friendly alternative to deadlifts for training your leg muscles.

A downside of lunges is that you do have to use some balance. This can pull your attention away from training your leg muscles as much as possible.

8. Back extensions

It is generally recommended to use the back extension machine or roman chair at your gym for this next deadlift alternative.

Take the following steps to do a back extension with the dedicated machine:

1. Take place in the back extension machine. Keep a straight back for now. Make sure you are locked in place safely.
2. Slowly bend down as far as you can while keeping your back straight. The bending movement comes from your hips, not your lower back.
3. Move up your upper body in a controlled motion until your body is in a straight line.

There are many ways to make back extensions weighted and in turn more challenging for your muscles. Some examples include holding a weight plate, dumbbell, barbell, etc.

Back extensions are a good way to train your lower back, erector spinae, glutes, and hamstrings, without really engaging your quadriceps or grip muscles as much.

A downside is that not all gyms have a back extension machine or something similar. In that case, you may have to stick to the other options on this list.

9. Bent-over rows

Bent-over rows are generally done with a barbell so this exercise may seem out of reach at home.

However, you can also other back exercise equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, a cable machine, resistance bands, etc.

Take the following steps to do a bent-over row with a barbell:

1. Load the desired number of weight plates on the barbell and stand in front of it.
2. Put your feet at about shoulder width, grab the barbell with an overhanded grip, and lift up the barbell with your legs until you stand up straight. Keep your back straight throughout the exercise.
3. Slightly fold your knees and tilt your upper body forward until it is at about a 45-degree angle with the ground. Let your arms hang down to the ground for now but hold the barbell tightly.
4. Bend your elbows until your hands reach your body. The goal is to mainly make your back muscles support this movement. Keep your arms close to your body, your upper body in a straight line, and your feet in the same position during the movement.
5. Lower your hands again to the position of step 3 in a controlled motion.

Bent-over rows still help you train your lower back, core, and erector spinae muscles.

Even so, the main focus of the exercise is your latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius upper back muscles.

If you like the leg muscle training from deadlifts, bent-over rows are not the exercise you are looking for.

10. Bulgarian split squats

For Bulgarian split squats, you want a step, bench, or any other stable object at about knee height. Once you have that, take the following steps to do a Bulgarian split squat:

1. Stand in front of the stable object with your back toward it. Keep about half a leg distance between you and the object.
2. Move one leg back and put the foot of this side on the object. The top of your foot should lean on the surface of the object.
3. Slowly lower your hips by bending the knee of your stretched leg until your hip is at about the height of your knee of the previously stretched leg. Use your arms for balance if needed.
4. Push yourself up again into the position of step 2.
5. Repeat the same number of repetitions on the leg of the other side to keep your muscle distribution balanced.

Bulgarian split squats are one of the best exercises available for training your leg muscles when you don’t have a lot of leg exercise equipment available.

If you do have a lot of weights available and you just want an alternative to deadlifts for training your leg muscles without engaging your lower back as much, Bulgarian split squats can be a great option too.

One potential downside is that Bulgarian split squats do require some balancing. This can take your focus away from training as much leg muscle mass as possible in the shortest amount of time.