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Deficit deadlift

What is a deficit deadlift?

A deficit deadlift is a conventional deadlift performed while standing on a low, stable platform. The bar stays on the floor, so the start is lower relative to your feet than in a normal deadlift.

Exercise illustration: Both feet on a low stable platform, plates outside it on the floor, then standing lockout.

How do you perform a deficit deadlift?

Set up

  1. Choose a flat platform that fully supports both feet and cannot rock or slide. Keep the bar and its plates on the surrounding floor.
  2. Stand on the platform with the bar over the middle of your feet. Grip outside your legs and settle into a braced start with straight arms.

Execution

  1. Push through your feet to lift the bar, keeping it close as your knees and hips straighten.
  2. Finish standing tall without leaning back or pulling the bar farther upward.
  3. Move your hips back to lower the bar, bending the knees when it passes them.
  4. Let the plates settle on the floor and rebuild the start before the next repetition.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing a platform that is too high

    Lower the deficit if you cannot reach the bar with a stable start.

  • Standing on an unstable stack

    Use a purpose-built platform or a flat, secure surface supporting your whole stance.

Where it fits in a session

Use it as the pulling variation chosen for the session before tiring hinge accessories.

Keep the platform height consistent. Start with a small elevation and a load that lets you keep the same braced position throughout.

Muscles worked

Front
Front — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
Back
Back — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Primary

Secondary

Select a muscle name to locate it.

Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Variations

  • Anatomical illustration of a barefoot male figure performing a conventional barbell deadlift, drawn twice side by side against white. On the left he is at the start: hips back, knees bent, torso angled forward over a loaded barbell held in a double-overhand grip with both palms facing him, arms straight and hands just outside his knees. The glutes and the backs of both thighs are shaded red. On the right he stands upright at lockout, seen from behind, the bar held at arm's length across the front of his thighs; the shading is on the glutes, the backs of both thighs and the calves, with a faint wash over the upper back and rear shoulders. The lower back is not shaded in either frame, and the fronts of the thighs are not in view.
    DeadliftStarts with both lifter and plates on the same floor.
  • Anatomical illustration of rack pulls in two side-view positions: a barbell resting on power-rack safety arms below the knees, then held at the thighs, with the glutes and back highlighted.
    Rack pullStarts with the bar raised on supports.

Frequently asked questions

How high should the platform be?

Start with a small elevation. Increase it only if you can keep a deliberate start and balanced finish; extra height is not a goal by itself.

Is this a rack pull?

No. A rack pull raises the bar. A deficit deadlift raises the lifter while the bar stays on the floor.

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