I went from hurting my back every single time i deadlifted trying to conform to the conventional only mindset to nearly doubling my max pull in less than a year with a trap bar. Absolutely my favorite exercise by an arm and a leg!
Sounds like your form may have been off. Or additionally, you also could have tried sumo deadlift or rack pulls from just above the knee. However, this variation also provides Deloaded stress from the lower back.
Maybe. I have a really long torso so it always felt like the pressure went straight to my low back. If I had access to a professional coach I definitely could’ve optimized my form on conventional, but at this point I don’t really care for it. I stand by the idea that trap bar pulls are best for mere mortals like me just it because it’s safer, easier to teach, and less stressful to the body.
@@petercook438 form has no impact on injuries, you were deadlifting too much, squatting too much, or doing other kinds of hinge-based work too much. i.e. you had excessive lower and mid back stresses that would lead to repeated back tweaks. form does not matter for this whatsoever even if it is ridiculously bad. Konstantins konstantinovs deadlifted 939 pounds beltless with a very round back. worry about modulating fatigue as opposed to fixing technique.
@@codycow2637 The video was originally 14 minutes, I never time them and if I just wanted money I'd make drama videos. Not low demand segments on realistic natural training. Have a good day.
Was told by several PT’s to just “train bench and curls/stop working out” because of my low back. To hell with the professionals, I’m pain free with high bar squats and trap bar deads!!
Those PT's need to get a new job, they're playing it way too safe. Telling someone to stop working out their lower body is the worst thing they can do for their health and longevity in the long-term.
Hells yea buddy, after I hit my 700lbs on the high handle like yourself I switched to a low single handle trapbar. I've hit 600 on that and it got me to a 500lb squat. It does not fatigue your CNS like a conventional or sumo but you still reap a tonne of benefits. The Trapbar is a fantastic tool and I have the vlogs to prove it👊. Thanks for getting me into the Trapbar Alex, cheers.
@@copeenthuisiast5453 why would you say that without even seeing him, smdh... My son just turned 14 and pulls 245 for 3 reps on trap bar. I see him easily getting 500 by 17 so why can't this kid be pulling 440? Don't project your weakness onto others bud...
Great video man. I REALLY like deficit work in general, and the trap bar makes it possible to even use truly MASSIVE deficits so that the bar is essentially starting _below_ the tops of your feet, which a straight bar doesn't allow. I credit higher rep large deficit (~6-10 inches) pulls in general for a lot of my erector strength/size. It's way harder and definitely limits the weight but for size it's excellent. People are often underwhelmed by my strength numbers of the core lifts, but pulling 12x150kg from a 10 inch deficit and low handles on the trap bar or 10x140kg on a snatch grip 8 inch deficit on a normal bar will slap some meat on your back for sure. Definitely better for more advanced trainees though with a better sense of body positioning and bracing.
Tore both my hamstrings deadlifting with straight bar, I’m in 40’s now and only ever use this for dead’s, keeps that upper back girdle thick and doesn’t beat your lower back and hamstrings up too much.
Me too. My shoulders NEVER felt great ans kept getting injured. I tried everything. I gave up straight bar work years ago; bench, oh press, deadlifts, squats, you name it. I prefer (and so do my shoulders) doing trap bar, kettlebell presses, and ss bar. I can definitely do normal barbell deadlifts but not much reason to anymore.
@@papasitoman I always found conventional deadlifts difficult so did sumo but I feel that trap deads give me the best of both worlds. I'm not bothered as much about powerlifting anymore either and just want to train without constant niggles.
Been doing the trap bar deadlift for 2 months. I have only just gotten back to the gym after a two year injury break. I'm up to 6x185kg (408lb) for my third set... You can climb fast but must have the mindset and genetics like old mate says. I have not used a straight bar in nearly 10yrs and avoided the deadlift due to a serious lower back injury until I found the trap bar. Game changer!!
I’ve been watching your channel for years, before watching you I believed that only deadlifts with a regular barbell would yield results. But trap bar deadlifts are so underrated. It’s shame it’s this way and it feels like it’s purist mentality that if it ain’t regular barbel it can’t yield strength results. Thank you for your videos they have improve my gains and helped me out a lot in my lifting journey.
Unpopular opinion but only reason why trap bar isnt used in competitions is the fact that it was invented after barbell deadlifts became part of the sport. Trap bar gives you a much better ability to maximise the weight you are pulling (which is the goal in sports like powerlifting after all).
I’m glad you made this video! The best back/deadlift gains I ever made were from alternating between the conventional deadlift and the trap bar every other lower body workout.
Switched to trap bar to save my lower back, recently hit 635 for 2, months back I tried conventional and was happy to hit 500 fairly easily, so now I'm always recommending for others to try out the trap bar because it does translate over to straight bar deads. Going from repping 405 to 635 came quick, I should try 675 at some point soon but then my gym's trapbar has no more space unfortunately... I'll eventually buy my own at some point. Thanks for highlighting the benefits and giving voice to what I felt like was a great alternative! I was stressing my lower back too much elsewise and it made recovery brutal. Now... not much to complain about! Plus neutral grip allows me to not have to do mixed grip or use straps so I appreciate the ease to grip with just chalk. (Came back to add the edit, did get 675 earlier this year, but def was no more room on the sleeve now... thinking about buying my own, but in the interim, working on getting the reps up which will give me a while to keep grinding for now).
This exercise is underrated I have only seen a handful of people using it at the Gym .I feel it’s safer then conventional deadlifts .I have added this in my routine while trying to build strength overtime 💪🏽
THE best part of trap bar is the 'push the ground away' skill set it develops. when an expert says that trap bar deadlifts have no carryover to standard deadlifts it's a scream out that they are bs artists
In the case of the rouge trap bar deadlift bar, regarding the height of the high handle variation, you can just stand on a plate or 2 if need be in order to increase the range of motion accordingly to the shorter range of motion caused by the handles being higher
We have a trainer at my gym that's a strong proponent of the trap bar deadlift, a lot of people use the one I built which has high handles, low handles, and easy load feature. My personal record on the high handles without trap bar is 752 lbs. I have the video up on UA-cam of me doing it there's obvious form breakdown, but I got it.
Lifelong natural here. Did 710lb for 3 recently (Have a video of it on IG). Probably could have gotten one more, but didn't risk. With that being said it took me many years of lifting to slowly crawl my way up to that. I've been lifting for about 15 years, though I only seriously started deadlifting on a regular basis about 11 years in.
Low handle trap bar does get tricky in that you really have to make sure you get your hands in the dead center of that handle or it will want to turn to the front or rear. Guys with really wide hands benefit here, and you really want to use a slightly different grip than you would with a straight bar. You want to try to widen your palm as much as possible and not have the bar sit as low as you would with a straight bar because the bar will not roll out of your hands.
I love Trap Bar Deadlifts, along with Shrugs and Rows, for mass myself, despite my good deadlifting leverages(I'm short but have relatively short torso and long arms), especially on the traps(no pun intended)! Personally, I feel the traps working the most doing TBD's mostly due to the weight placement being completely aligned with the upper traps. Absolute strength-wise, I'm not that good as I'm pretty light at only 145-150 lbs, but I have been able to build up to a 509 lb 1 rep max and a 365 lb 15 rep max with these, and both are extremely brutal! Keep up the great work Alex! Been following since 2017!
What bro? U weigh 150 and can lift 509??? U are very strong! Those are elite numbers to me especially for a non athlete person. Crazy, I wish I could touch those numbers
@@capac2 I suppose it counts as elite for my current bodyweight, even though it's not really that high up there in terms of absolute #'s. It's uploaded in my channel as a short actually, if you wanna see it. 😉😄✊
@@capac2 I have pretty good leverages for pulls, plus I appear to be predominantly fast twitch, but listening to guys like Alphadestiny certainly helps tap into my true potential, regardless of genetics. You'll hit big #'s yourself sometime soon too, just trust the process!
I only use trapbar for my deadlifts now. Currently at 150kg for 3-5 reps. lower back is happy. my wrists are happy. im an older lifter and conventional barbell deadlifts were just never going to work well for me
Totally agree with your opinion on this video. I’m nearly 55 years old and can no longer do traditional deadlifts due to lower back “wear and tare”. I can do trap bar dead lifts, though. I use the high grip, although it’s way less than 8” (not what i tell the wife!) but my plates are a smaller diameter than standard olympic plates so the high grip is off-set slightly. I don’t usually go too much over about 130-140 kg, but it works and doesn’t destroy my back and cripple me for 2 weeks. I love your dedication to natural lifting and can attest to the fact that it’s definitely a consistency game. You can keep making progress well into middle age, with a patient, mature approach. The health benefits are also worth it, trust me.
I purchased a trap bar years ago from Al Gerald by way of powerlifting u.s.a. magazine just used it today light weight low reps to maintain my condition I was 30 something when I first got it I'm 50 plus now my heaviest ever was 589 for 3 it was all I could get on my bar now I'm being little more cautious and less wreck less but still can go that heavy but only with my power belt on the benefits are total body conditioning and whole body muscle tone and lower body fat the trap bar to me is a whole Gym within one movement your quads, hips, abs, forearms, traps everything benefits from one simple very safe movement.
I had a trap bar made because of your videos years ago, went back to alot of bodyweight training for jiu-jitsu, but have just started on them again, my best pulls were 270kg for 6 reps and had alot left in the tank... Thank you bro, you've motivated me to get back into them BIG TIME
This movement has been the centerpiece to my training the past 5 years or so. I'm going to pull 1103lb on it this weekend, with the goal of getting the unofficial atwr of 1160 by the end of the year.
only one at the gym using it! started to with lower back and knee issues. it allows me to keep proper posture and balance. I never use low grip. I will use high with pads for warmups and then just high grip after warming up with heavier weight. right now, I'm lifting 330 at age 60, 2 reps x3. in addition, I use the trap bar for bent over rows, trap work and shoulder press. its a very under use piece of equipment! thank you for your videos. hope to see more trick with the trap bar
Every time a new video comes out I’m amazed by the growth and maturation of this channel. Started from the absolute bottom and now we here. No disrespect at all but if there was an award for most improved UA-cam strength training channels, this one wins
I love it. I was able to pull 4 plates on the trap bar on the low handles before I pulled it conventionally. I had a wrist ligament injury that prevented me from pulling conventionally with a pronated grip but I could've pulled in a neutral grip without much pain. I had no clue that I was strong enough to do it since even before the injury, I actually didn't deadlift at all. My numbers on the lower handle are pretty much the same numbers that I can pull conventionally. My pr rn is 515 on the high handle without really training it that much. I can only go up to 6 plates on the one in my gym so i recently started being more frequent with the lift to hit it .
I like mixing it up and adding trap bar deadlift sessions as supplementary sessions to get in the volume. For me conventional is king, however for frequency, and getting extra in the volume this is great. You don't feel as taxed from these as you would on conventional.
Hey Alex, great video. As a 6’2 lifter with long legs I tried earnestly to figure out the conventional deadlift but no form cues or assistance/mobility work has ever helped with the low back pain from them. The high handle trap bar has been my best friend and has kept me being able to deadlift. I never get any back pain doing it.
Exact same story for me. Why should I allow myself to lift with poorer leverages as compared to a shorter person, for whom a normal bar is proportionally the same height to them as a trap bar now is to me
Tried it for the first time today, and its my new favorite excersize in the gym. It feels way more natural than the conventional deadlift i have been doing for years. I am switching to this style
After 7 months of training, I have achieved a 485 pound trap bar deadlift at 5'8 180 pounds. During that time, I went from 30 inch pants to 34 inch pants. The gains are real. If it weren't for you, I never would have bought my trap bar. Mark Rippatoe from starting strength thinks trap bar deadlifts are dumb. Will there ever be a response video? As someone who performs the movement regularly, his opinion seems misguided.
Hey Alpha, been training for months in cali park Jean Brillant in Montreal (Cote des Neiges). Ppl have added a barbell and some weights used in road construction (some 50s, 30s "plates" that can be attached to the barbell). It is great because gives you access to heavy squats, deadlifts, rack pulls, even weighted pushups and pullups if you have a belt or a backpack. Hope to see you there one day, I take great inspiration from your videos (even before I knew you lived in Montreal !)
I wanted to save money in the long run so I bought a hex bar and 4 plates, so like 225lbs. I do a few sets every other day and that seems to work well. I started laughing during your video because I don't really know what I'm doing with the hex bar but I had already set up blocks to stand on. Seems my instincts were right!
Hell yeah now we’re talking. This has helped my standard DL so much, but there are blocks I do trap bar DLs exclusively. I don’t compete, so I’m just using what feels great for my back and body, and the trap bar has been awesome
I just hit High Handled 400lbs x 4 reps as a rep PR on Tuesday. Weighing about 178lbs rn. I haven’t tested my 1RM in a long time but I have hit 430lbs in the past. Chasing 500 now!!
I have monster doms in my traps right now because I did those a few days ago. Lats took some serious damage too, wich is crazy considering lats are a secondary muscle in that movement and very hard to get sore
Damn. This advice is golden. Felt a tweak in my lower back a couple of weeks ago and been working around the conventional deadlifts. Will be doing this weekend at Some-point. Btw back is looking tremendous.
Yeah that's probably my favorite way of doing farmer walks without the implements. Super effective, efficient, and saves space especially for home gym owners.
Currently at 500# 1RM as of the other day and climbing. I'm gonna be one of those 1 percent that gets to at least 700 and you've definitely been a big help along the way. One of the best thing I ever did which you explained in great detail on one of your videos is the RDL with trap bar. I just recently went through a 3 week period of just bringing my 6rm up to 346 and didn't do any regular trap bar deadlift during that time just SSB ATG squats and heavy 6rm RDLs and after that 3 weeks I decided to go for a max and BOOM clean 500lb 1rm. I'll be milking the benefits of the RDLs for the foreseeable future. They build crazy brute strength in the glutes and hams for the pulling portion. I figure by the time I'm hitting 450ish on RDLs for 6rm I'll be close to 700. Anyways sorry for over sharing just hype about how strong I'm getting after fighting a shoulder injury for so long. Keep up the good work Alex. Been with you since you had the Kung Fu movie beard💪😅🤷👌👍
Be careful if you have shoulder separation doing heavy deadlifting of any kind. It commonly can stretch out further and pop-up the clavicle even further or three separate and include ligament damage. They are fantastic though, dead lifts are amazing overall!
I've been using low handle trap bar deadlifts with a weightlifting shoe on and I feel more explosive when doing squats and I added an inch on to my standing vertical jump.
Without a doubt Alex. I'd extremely agree it's so much better I'm done it I did it last week and it felt so good I could feel my actual cause in my entire lower body
Yeaahhh I love especially the hex barbell Farmer's Carry because I can additionally work my triceps along with my legs, I especially love doing the trap bar deadlift using the low handles more like a deficit deadlift except it doesn't hurt my back like the deficit deadlift does.
I have very cold adapted morphology, short ass arms and a crazy long back. I'm 2m tall with 32 inch legs. My squat 5RM after a cycle and a half of starting strength is 140kg and my 5RM on conventional deads is 125 ish with extreme pressure on my lower back. I've been unwavering with sticking to full Rippetoe orthodoxy, because his methods are so very effective for novices, however I really think it's time for hex bar pulls or rack pulls because I have t rex arms.
I recently started doing deadlifts regularly and seriously and I gotta admit one the best excercises I have ever tried I feel like it really helps with fixing posture
I really like high handle tb dl because I feel it in my upper back. It feels like better "whole body" stimulus. If I really want to isolate my quads low handle is obv preferable but I typically prefer something like hack or bg split squat for quad isolation.
Theres only just a few dudes and myself using the Hex Bar / Trap Bar at our gym. Def going to probably get one for my own gym, I do love using it! I also do Shrugs on ours at the gym. Feels perfect for it
Alex, what are your thoughts on plyometric calisthenics, i.e. jump squats, plyo dips, explosive pull ups, etc.? I find them functional, fun, and great for conditioning. Do you think they have a place in a strength training program?
I have perfect form on conventional DL and lower back goes out way too much. TrapBar deads have kept me going no injuries. The big difference btween the two is the sheer force on your lower back DL is not a one size fits all
A few guys at the guy use the bar for shrugs, but I'm the only one hitting deads ruefully with it. Farmers walks are another great exercise I use trapbar for.
Trap bar is great, I hit 5 reps of 140kg at a bodyweight of 68/69kg after 6 weeks of training. I try to rotate low and high handles, one time I do heavy high handle and lower intensity low handles the other day, the other time I switch things.
I’ve got the bells of steel bare naked power bar 2.0 and love it. I’m local to rogue in Columbus, OH so I do buy a lot from them and pick up there and want to grab an OPB eventually. Rogues trap bar is a bit pricey and there’s a wait on them right now. I considered this bells of steel trap bar. Would you recommend it?
Should’ve mentioned how the trap bar deadlift is much closer to the conventional deadlift, while sumo deadlift is closer to a squat.
I regret not mentioning the squat hinge continuum by Greg Nuckols so I'm pinning your comment instead.
Hey bro, where should I add this too? Back or leg day?
@@narutolol3199 it is a compound that hits both legs and back... You can keep it on a pull day but on the next day i suggest u give hamstrings rest
@@jacksparrow9182 thanks, I tore my ankle last year playing pick up basketball so I gave up on working out
Yeah,that's a bunch of hooey.
If done correctly it's a squat.
I went from hurting my back every single time i deadlifted trying to conform to the conventional only mindset to nearly doubling my max pull in less than a year with a trap bar. Absolutely my favorite exercise by an arm and a leg!
Awesome man!!
Sounds like your form may have been off. Or additionally, you also could have tried sumo deadlift or rack pulls from just above the knee. However, this variation also provides Deloaded stress from the lower back.
Or rack pulls just below the knee as well
Maybe. I have a really long torso so it always felt like the pressure went straight to
my low back. If I had access to a professional coach I definitely could’ve optimized my form on conventional, but at this point I don’t really care for it. I stand by the idea that trap bar pulls are best for mere mortals like me just it because it’s safer, easier to teach, and less stressful to the body.
@@petercook438 form has no impact on injuries, you were deadlifting too much, squatting too much, or doing other kinds of hinge-based work too much. i.e. you had excessive lower and mid back stresses that would lead to repeated back tweaks. form does not matter for this whatsoever even if it is ridiculously bad. Konstantins konstantinovs deadlifted 939 pounds beltless with a very round back. worry about modulating fatigue as opposed to fixing technique.
Tell em dude tell themmm. The Hex Bar is the future. Bodybuilders are not Powerlifters, plenty of options & methods, to hell with tribal dogma.
Well put brother!
@@AlexLeonidas started doing them yesterday and now yo start talking about them damn that a coincidence.
Bought my hex bar. I now enjoy doing rdl vs the barbell
@@mibz1117 Fantastic, I bought a Hex around 2014.
@@citizengain I'm looking to buy the open end hex bar. Seems more versatile
HELL YES! The trap bar completely transformed my entire life. It's basically getting jacked set to easy mode.
Alex your back during this cut is looking the best it’s ever been. Incredibly well developed thick back 💪
Thank you Yuqi!
@@codycow2637 respect the hustle
@@codycow2637 The video was originally 14 minutes, I never time them and if I just wanted money I'd make drama videos. Not low demand segments on realistic natural training. Have a good day.
Was told by several PT’s to just “train bench and curls/stop working out” because of my low back. To hell with the professionals, I’m pain free with high bar squats and trap bar deads!!
Those PT's need to get a new job, they're playing it way too safe. Telling someone to stop working out their lower body is the worst thing they can do for their health and longevity in the long-term.
Check out the landmine barbell belt squat. Also front squats and goblet squats give you the most vertical torso.
@@domepiece11 I’ll check that out for sure thank you!!
Watch knees over toes if your back hurts
Hells yea buddy, after I hit my 700lbs on the high handle like yourself I switched to a low single handle trapbar. I've hit 600 on that and it got me to a 500lb squat. It does not fatigue your CNS like a conventional or sumo but you still reap a tonne of benefits. The Trapbar is a fantastic tool and I have the vlogs to prove it👊. Thanks for getting me into the Trapbar Alex, cheers.
Do you do the trap bar on leg day? Or how far between leg day and trap bar day?
Trapbar has always been my favorite! And you were a huge reason I stood by it all these years instead of idolizing conventional
Likewise brother and I'm glad you stuck to your guns! Screw the elitists.
@@AlexLeonidas Does differnt muscle groups respond better with different rep volume.
Today I hit a deadlift PR for trap bar - 200kg at 17 years old - and I must say it felt awesome, no strain on lower back whatsoever
Using high or low handles? I’m not sure which one is better for building quads
@@CaliforniaBound-lu3zl high handle id say
@@copeenthuisiast5453 why would you say that without even seeing him, smdh... My son just turned 14 and pulls 245 for 3 reps on trap bar. I see him easily getting 500 by 17 so why can't this kid be pulling 440? Don't project your weakness onto others bud...
How much do you weigh roughly ?
@@itismeanttobe I used to weigh roughly 86kg when I did that. Now I weigh 89kg and bench 130kg
Great video man. I REALLY like deficit work in general, and the trap bar makes it possible to even use truly MASSIVE deficits so that the bar is essentially starting _below_ the tops of your feet, which a straight bar doesn't allow. I credit higher rep large deficit (~6-10 inches) pulls in general for a lot of my erector strength/size. It's way harder and definitely limits the weight but for size it's excellent.
People are often underwhelmed by my strength numbers of the core lifts, but pulling 12x150kg from a 10 inch deficit and low handles on the trap bar or 10x140kg on a snatch grip 8 inch deficit on a normal bar will slap some meat on your back for sure. Definitely better for more advanced trainees though with a better sense of body positioning and bracing.
I love using the trap bar!I like to combine the deadlifts then immediately go into some farmers carries.
Really digging that u giving us lots of strength standards recently bro
I'm happy to hear that brother, more standards on the way!
At 37 years old this is the only way I deadlift these days. Even with a bad lower back I can do these pain free.
Tore both my hamstrings deadlifting with straight bar, I’m in 40’s now and only ever use this for dead’s, keeps that upper back girdle thick and doesn’t beat your lower back and hamstrings up too much.
@@scottw3780 mate ive just been out for 6 weeks due to deadlifting with a straight bar , never again , just bought a trap bar
I only do trap bar deadlifts so I was very curious about this awesome video!
I've switched to safety bar squats and trap bar deadlifts recently, been finding it much more enjoyable and so has my shoulders and back
Me too. My shoulders NEVER felt great ans kept getting injured. I tried everything. I gave up straight bar work years ago; bench, oh press, deadlifts, squats, you name it. I prefer (and so do my shoulders) doing trap bar, kettlebell presses, and ss bar. I can definitely do normal barbell deadlifts but not much reason to anymore.
@@papasitoman I always found conventional deadlifts difficult so did sumo but I feel that trap deads give me the best of both worlds. I'm not bothered as much about powerlifting anymore either and just want to train without constant niggles.
Been doing the trap bar deadlift for 2 months. I have only just gotten back to the gym after a two year injury break. I'm up to 6x185kg (408lb) for my third set... You can climb fast but must have the mindset and genetics like old mate says.
I have not used a straight bar in nearly 10yrs and avoided the deadlift due to a serious lower back injury until I found the trap bar. Game changer!!
I’ve been watching your channel for years, before watching you I believed that only deadlifts with a regular barbell would yield results. But trap bar deadlifts are so underrated. It’s shame it’s this way and it feels like it’s purist mentality that if it ain’t regular barbel it can’t yield strength results. Thank you for your videos they have improve my gains and helped me out a lot in my lifting journey.
Unpopular opinion but only reason why trap bar isnt used in competitions is the fact that it was invented after barbell deadlifts became part of the sport. Trap bar gives you a much better ability to maximise the weight you are pulling (which is the goal in sports like powerlifting after all).
@@petrinafilip96 Awesome point!
@@petrinafilip96 strongman deadlifts are more trap bar oriented, they do high deadlifts, frame deadlifts etc.
Abs are popping brother! Would love a core training video with your current movements/strategies this cut
I’m glad you made this video! The best back/deadlift gains I ever made were from alternating between the conventional deadlift and the trap bar every other lower body workout.
Switched to trap bar to save my lower back, recently hit 635 for 2, months back I tried conventional and was happy to hit 500 fairly easily, so now I'm always recommending for others to try out the trap bar because it does translate over to straight bar deads.
Going from repping 405 to 635 came quick, I should try 675 at some point soon but then my gym's trapbar has no more space unfortunately...
I'll eventually buy my own at some point. Thanks for highlighting the benefits and giving voice to what I felt like was a great alternative! I was stressing my lower back too much elsewise and it made recovery brutal. Now... not much to complain about! Plus neutral grip allows me to not have to do mixed grip or use straps so I appreciate the ease to grip with just chalk.
(Came back to add the edit, did get 675 earlier this year, but def was no more room on the sleeve now... thinking about buying my own, but in the interim, working on getting the reps up which will give me a while to keep grinding for now).
YOU'RE LITERALLY READING MY MIND. I started doing these earlier this week and they feel so amazing and fun.
I love the trap bar! It's super underrated and just feels so damn good :)
Best feeling deadlift ever!
I'm currently focusing on conventional. But i do trap bar romanian deadlifts. they feel amazing with no back fatigue.
This exercise is underrated I have only seen a handful of people using it at the Gym .I feel it’s safer then conventional deadlifts .I have added this in my routine while trying to build strength overtime 💪🏽
How has it gone for you?
THE best part of trap bar is the 'push the ground away' skill set it develops. when an expert says that trap bar deadlifts have no carryover to standard deadlifts it's a scream out that they are bs artists
Word!!
In the case of the rouge trap bar deadlift bar, regarding the height of the high handle variation, you can just stand on a plate or 2 if need be in order to increase the range of motion accordingly to the shorter range of motion caused by the handles being higher
That's a great point Noah! Standing on plates would solve this.
We have a trainer at my gym that's a strong proponent of the trap bar deadlift, a lot of people use the one I built which has high handles, low handles, and easy load feature. My personal record on the high handles without trap bar is 752 lbs. I have the video up on UA-cam of me doing it there's obvious form breakdown, but I got it.
Lifelong natural here. Did 710lb for 3 recently (Have a video of it on IG). Probably could have gotten one more, but didn't risk. With that being said it took me many years of lifting to slowly crawl my way up to that. I've been lifting for about 15 years, though I only seriously started deadlifting on a regular basis about 11 years in.
Low handle trap bar does get tricky in that you really have to make sure you get your hands in the dead center of that handle or it will want to turn to the front or rear. Guys with really wide hands benefit here, and you really want to use a slightly different grip than you would with a straight bar. You want to try to widen your palm as much as possible and not have the bar sit as low as you would with a straight bar because the bar will not roll out of your hands.
I love Trap Bar Deadlifts, along with Shrugs and Rows, for mass myself, despite my good deadlifting leverages(I'm short but have relatively short torso and long arms), especially on the traps(no pun intended)! Personally, I feel the traps working the most doing TBD's mostly due to the weight placement being completely aligned with the upper traps.
Absolute strength-wise, I'm not that good as I'm pretty light at only 145-150 lbs, but I have been able to build up to a 509 lb 1 rep max and a 365 lb 15 rep max with these, and both are extremely brutal! Keep up the great work Alex! Been following since 2017!
What bro? U weigh 150 and can lift 509??? U are very strong! Those are elite numbers to me especially for a non athlete person. Crazy, I wish I could touch those numbers
@@capac2 he 🧢
@@capac2 I suppose it counts as elite for my current bodyweight, even though it's not really that high up there in terms of absolute #'s. It's uploaded in my channel as a short actually, if you wanna see it. 😉😄✊
@@capac2 I have pretty good leverages for pulls, plus I appear to be predominantly fast twitch, but listening to guys like Alphadestiny certainly helps tap into my true potential, regardless of genetics. You'll hit big #'s yourself sometime soon too, just trust the process!
I only use trapbar for my deadlifts now. Currently at 150kg for 3-5 reps. lower back is happy. my wrists are happy. im an older lifter and conventional barbell deadlifts were just never going to work well for me
Totally agree with your opinion on this video. I’m nearly 55 years old and can no longer do traditional deadlifts due to lower back “wear and tare”. I can do trap bar dead lifts, though. I use the high grip, although it’s way less than 8” (not what i tell the wife!) but my plates are a smaller diameter than standard olympic plates so the high grip is off-set slightly. I don’t usually go too much over about 130-140 kg, but it works and doesn’t destroy my back and cripple me for 2 weeks.
I love your dedication to natural lifting and can attest to the fact that it’s definitely a consistency game. You can keep making progress well into middle age, with a patient, mature approach. The health benefits are also worth it, trust me.
I purchased a trap bar years ago from Al Gerald by way of powerlifting u.s.a. magazine just used it today light weight low reps to maintain my condition I was 30 something when I first got it I'm 50 plus now my heaviest ever was 589 for 3 it was all I could get on my bar now I'm being little more cautious and less wreck less but still can go that heavy but only with my power belt on the benefits are total body conditioning and whole body muscle tone and lower body fat the trap bar to me is a whole Gym within one movement your quads, hips, abs, forearms, traps everything benefits from one simple very safe movement.
I had a trap bar made because of your videos years ago, went back to alot of bodyweight training for jiu-jitsu, but have just started on them again, my best pulls were 270kg for 6 reps and had alot left in the tank...
Thank you bro, you've motivated me to get back into them BIG TIME
This movement has been the centerpiece to my training the past 5 years or so. I'm going to pull 1103lb on it this weekend, with the goal of getting the unofficial atwr of 1160 by the end of the year.
Holy shit what bar do you use? Mine only holds like 700lbs
I don't believe you!
only one at the gym using it! started to with lower back and knee issues. it allows me to keep proper posture and balance. I never use low grip. I will use high with pads for warmups and then just high grip after warming up with heavier weight. right now, I'm lifting 330 at age 60, 2 reps x3. in addition, I use the trap bar for bent over rows, trap work and shoulder press. its a very under use piece of equipment! thank you for your videos. hope to see more trick with the trap bar
My BoS trap bar just came in a couple days ago, excellent timing Alex! Thank you.
Awesome man, hope you love it as much as I do! Quality trap bar 🔥👍
Every time a new video comes out I’m amazed by the growth and maturation of this channel. Started from the absolute bottom and now we here. No disrespect at all but if there was an award for most improved UA-cam strength training channels, this one wins
Much love Matthew!!
@@AlexLeonidas You're up early.
I love it. I was able to pull 4 plates on the trap bar on the low handles before I pulled it conventionally. I had a wrist ligament injury that prevented me from pulling conventionally with a pronated grip but I could've pulled in a neutral grip without much pain. I had no clue that I was strong enough to do it since even before the injury, I actually didn't deadlift at all. My numbers on the lower handle are pretty much the same numbers that I can pull conventionally. My pr rn is 515 on the high handle without really training it that much. I can only go up to 6 plates on the one in my gym so i recently started being more frequent with the lift to hit it .
I like mixing it up and adding trap bar deadlift sessions as supplementary sessions to get in the volume. For me conventional is king, however for frequency, and getting extra in the volume this is great. You don't feel as taxed from these as you would on conventional.
Hey Alex, great video. As a 6’2 lifter with long legs I tried earnestly to figure out the conventional deadlift but no form cues or assistance/mobility work has ever helped with the low back pain from them. The high handle trap bar has been my best friend and has kept me being able to deadlift. I never get any back pain doing it.
Exact same story for me. Why should I allow myself to lift with poorer leverages as compared to a shorter person, for whom a normal bar is proportionally the same height to them as a trap bar now is to me
I’m 6’2 too and never hurt my back doing conventional deadlifts, might be technique, you should seek a coach maybe
This sort of helped my anxiety over the using the bar or not and whether to geek out over high or low handles
Thanks man
love my trap bar
like you said the change in angle makes the pull feel better and can go heavier especially off the high handles
Great analysis, imo best lift to learn especially for beginners. My new gym has a small collection of trap bars which im currently enjoying.
Tried it for the first time today, and its my new favorite excersize in the gym. It feels way more natural than the conventional deadlift i have been doing for years. I am switching to this style
After 7 months of training, I have achieved a 485 pound trap bar deadlift at 5'8 180 pounds. During that time, I went from 30 inch pants to 34 inch pants. The gains are real. If it weren't for you, I never would have bought my trap bar. Mark Rippatoe from starting strength thinks trap bar deadlifts are dumb. Will there ever be a response video? As someone who performs the movement regularly, his opinion seems misguided.
Finally some love for the trap bar! No more back issues, going 190 kg+ now💪💪 cheers!
The cut is going great man
Hey Alpha, been training for months in cali park Jean Brillant in Montreal (Cote des Neiges).
Ppl have added a barbell and some weights used in road construction (some 50s, 30s "plates" that can be attached to the barbell).
It is great because gives you access to heavy squats, deadlifts, rack pulls, even weighted pushups and pullups if you have a belt or a backpack.
Hope to see you there one day, I take great inspiration from your videos (even before I knew you lived in Montreal !)
Getting shredded to the bone my man, great job so far!! It's not easy to do, especially as a natural
the hex is my main lift, and to support it I do a deficit Landmine RDL with much lower weight to really stretch the hamstrings
I wanted to save money in the long run so I bought a hex bar and 4 plates, so like 225lbs. I do a few sets every other day and that seems to work well. I started laughing during your video because I don't really know what I'm doing with the hex bar but I had already set up blocks to stand on. Seems my instincts were right!
My max with a normal barbell was 70kg, I recently used a trap bar and on my first go I hit a new PR of a 100KG for 2 Reps!
No one uses the trap bar at my gym which is great for me, think a lot of people are missing out especially those with back problems
Hex bar is the best deadlift variation for pretty much everyone outside of powerlifters.
Keep up the good content. One of the best channels for info.
You need to back up..
Hell yeah now we’re talking. This has helped my standard DL so much, but there are blocks I do trap bar DLs exclusively. I don’t compete, so I’m just using what feels great for my back and body, and the trap bar has been awesome
I just hit High Handled 400lbs x 4 reps as a rep PR on Tuesday. Weighing about 178lbs rn. I haven’t tested my 1RM in a long time but I have hit 430lbs in the past. Chasing 500 now!!
Good stuff Kyle!!
Alex you should discuss snatch grip high pulls and how they blow up the traps/delts.
Check out Alec Enkiri! I acknowledge the benefits but don't really have a lot of training experience with them.
I have monster doms in my traps right now because I did those a few days ago. Lats took some serious damage too, wich is crazy considering lats are a secondary muscle in that movement and very hard to get sore
Suggested sets and reps per week for novice lifter?
Damn. This advice is golden. Felt a tweak in my lower back a couple of weeks ago and been working around the conventional deadlifts. Will be doing this weekend at Some-point. Btw back is looking tremendous.
You couldn’t handle a real mans exercise? Lol
@@annoyingmanchild9612 yeah you go be a real man and fuck up your lower back. yes sir eee, you are the alpha manliest man ever.
dont forget the stiff leg trap bar deadlift! or trap bar row. shrugs of couse too. very diverse and essential piece of equipment
I used the hex bar for farmers walk
Never used it to deadlift. Might start using it for deadlift since it cross over to regular deadlift lifts.
Farmer carries are OP
Yeah that's probably my favorite way of doing farmer walks without the implements. Super effective, efficient, and saves space especially for home gym owners.
Very good presentation. Well thought out and presented. I'm coming from the Mark Rippitoe camp but this all makes sense.
Currently at 500# 1RM as of the other day and climbing. I'm gonna be one of those 1 percent that gets to at least 700 and you've definitely been a big help along the way. One of the best thing I ever did which you explained in great detail on one of your videos is the RDL with trap bar. I just recently went through a 3 week period of just bringing my 6rm up to 346 and didn't do any regular trap bar deadlift during that time just SSB ATG squats and heavy 6rm RDLs and after that 3 weeks I decided to go for a max and BOOM clean 500lb 1rm. I'll be milking the benefits of the RDLs for the foreseeable future. They build crazy brute strength in the glutes and hams for the pulling portion. I figure by the time I'm hitting 450ish on RDLs for 6rm I'll be close to 700. Anyways sorry for over sharing just hype about how strong I'm getting after fighting a shoulder injury for so long. Keep up the good work Alex. Been with you since you had the Kung Fu movie beard💪😅🤷👌👍
Amazing back...amazing advice... amazing motivation. Thx Alex. Ps. I miss the beard bro
I built the trap bar at my gym and one for at home too. They also have a low handle only version at my gym.
thanks Alex, i always come to your channel for new exercises. I am new to weightlift so its new to me lol.
Be careful if you have shoulder separation doing heavy deadlifting of any kind. It commonly can stretch out further and pop-up the clavicle even further or three separate and include ligament damage. They are fantastic though, dead lifts are amazing overall!
A fabulous and very informative video. Thank you.❤
I'm a tall dude and Trap Deadlifts feel so much better than conventional/sumo deads
Same, how tall are you?
I'm tall too and have been worried about how conventional barbell deadlifts would feel. Glad to see this is a good option for me.
I've been using low handle trap bar deadlifts with a weightlifting shoe on and I feel more explosive when doing squats and I added an inch on to my standing vertical jump.
I've just started doing these! Might start floor presses and hip thrusts too soon!
Without a doubt Alex. I'd extremely agree it's so much better I'm done it I did it last week and it felt so good I could feel my actual cause in my entire lower body
3:05 just rewatched this today while searching for trap bar content from you... what a timing for this video thank you brother
Much love OG
Yeaahhh I love especially the hex barbell Farmer's Carry because I can additionally work my triceps along with my legs, I especially love doing the trap bar deadlift using the low handles more like a deficit deadlift except it doesn't hurt my back like the deficit deadlift does.
Just hit a 600lb trap bar deadlift today. That's a 60lb PR from earlier this year.
I have very cold adapted morphology, short ass arms and a crazy long back. I'm 2m tall with 32 inch legs. My squat 5RM after a cycle and a half of starting strength is 140kg and my 5RM on conventional deads is 125 ish with extreme pressure on my lower back. I've been unwavering with sticking to full Rippetoe orthodoxy, because his methods are so very effective for novices, however I really think it's time for hex bar pulls or rack pulls because I have t rex arms.
Great video Alex, would love to see a video on trap bar farmers carries. Do you ever incorporate those in your workouts?
I recently started doing deadlifts regularly and seriously and I gotta admit one the best excercises I have ever tried I feel like it really helps with fixing posture
I really like high handle tb dl because I feel it in my upper back. It feels like better "whole body" stimulus. If I really want to isolate my quads low handle is obv preferable but I typically prefer something like hack or bg split squat for quad isolation.
I'm taking up trap bar deadlifts on the 8th November. I did barbell deads for 4 years and fancied changing up a different bar.
Alex is the absolute standard for a THICCCCC back.
*Bugenhagen enters the chat*
and lean
Trap Bar > Conventional ( for me personally) this is my primary DL movement started doing them about 3 years ago and never looked back!!
great video again🙌 i love the trap bar
Theres only just a few dudes and myself using the Hex Bar / Trap Bar at our gym. Def going to probably get one for my own gym, I do love using it! I also do Shrugs on ours at the gym. Feels perfect for it
I agree the trap bar is useful in absence of farmer handles. What are your thoughts on the connection between androgen receptor density and power?
Alex, what are your thoughts on plyometric calisthenics, i.e. jump squats, plyo dips, explosive pull ups, etc.? I find them functional, fun, and great for conditioning. Do you think they have a place in a strength training program?
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I bought my own for my home gym.
So far 330 pounds by 5 on high handle for 3 sets.
330lbs ripped
I have perfect form on conventional DL and lower back goes out way too much. TrapBar deads have kept me going no injuries. The big difference btween the two is the sheer force on your lower back DL is not a one size fits all
Great video bro
Holy fu, Alex. Your physique was always great but with this cut, holy crap!
A few guys at the guy use the bar for shrugs, but I'm the only one hitting deads ruefully with it. Farmers walks are another great exercise I use trapbar for.
🗣🗣🗣
Back is looking anabolic as fuck. Great progress ove the years dude
Very nice assessment.
Trap bar is great, I hit 5 reps of 140kg at a bodyweight of 68/69kg after 6 weeks of training. I try to rotate low and high handles, one time I do heavy high handle and lower intensity low handles the other day, the other time I switch things.
Trap bar deadlift is also very efficient for sports athletes aswell🤙🏽
I’ve got the bells of steel bare naked power bar 2.0 and love it. I’m local to rogue in Columbus, OH so I do buy a lot from them and pick up there and want to grab an OPB eventually. Rogues trap bar is a bit pricey and there’s a wait on them right now. I considered this bells of steel trap bar. Would you recommend it?
This will solve my issues i need to get a trap bar seems more comfortable than a standard deadlift bar.
Personally wide grip with barbell works best for me. Better range of motion and can go heavier. Easier to just leave on the rack too.