Do Trap Bar Deadlifts Work The Hamstrings?

The trap bar deadlift allows you to stand inside a hex-shaped bar frame and grip the handles at your sides. Unlike a traditional barbell, the weight does not start out in front of you, nor do you have to pull it as far. This may allow you to use more weight than in a conventional deadlift. Consult a health-care practitioner before beginning any strength training program.

Execution

To perform the trap-bar deadlift, step inside the bar. Grip the handles on either side of you and arch your back. Stand up by straightening your legs and driving your hips forward. Unlike the conventional deadlift, you do not have to work as hard to pull your shoulders back. Since the weight does not start out in front of you, you generate less strain on your back. Because the handles are higher than the position of a fully loaded barbell, this allows you to start slightly straighter than when performing a standard deadlift.

Hamstrings

The primary functions of your hamstrings remains flexing your knee joint and helping your torso straighten out when you are bent over. This occurs to a degree when performing the trap bar deadlift, but not to the same degree as a conventional deadlift. Your knees do not bend as much, and you do not lean forward as far. You also work through a smaller range of motion, which reduces the workload on your hamstrings. Much of the drive from the floor comes from your quadriceps, the muscles on the front of your thighs.

Training Your Hamstrings

If you wish to train your hamstrings using a deadlift, perform the stiff-legged deadlift. You will need to reduce your training weight from either the trap bar or conventional deadlift when doing so. Pull the bar off the floor as in a conventional deadlift -- hips low, feet shoulder-width and your hands slightly wider than your legs. After standing up, flex your knees slightly, and then keep them in this position throughout the lift. Arch your back and lean forward, allowing the barbell to slide down your legs. If you stretch to the point where your back starts to round, you have gone a little too far. The stiff-legged deadlift works your hamstrings better than other types of deadlift, or even the squat, according to a 1999 study in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research."

Trap Bar Use

To get the most out of your trap bar training, use it as an assistance exercise to support other lifts. The position of the handles allows you to use more weight to work your legs and upper back, but not quite in the same manner as a conventional deadlift. You can use this exercise following a regular deadlift or squat for extra work on these muscle groups, but with less strain on your lower back.