Workouts
What Is a Bro Split? The 5-Day Workout, Evidence and Home Version
A bro split trains one muscle group per day, five days a week. Get the classic template with sets and reps, the research on frequency, and who it suits.
Workouts
Deadlift Alternative: The Best Swaps for Every Reason and Every Kit List
By Nadia Popescu, Strength & Conditioning Writer · Updated 10 November 2026
The best deadlift alternative depends on why you're dropping the deadlift. If you have no barbell, use a dumbbell or kettlebell deadlift. If the lift aggravates your lower back, switch to a trap bar deadlift, a cable pull-through or a hip thrust. If your hips are the issue, a high-handle trap bar pull or a rack pull shortens the range so you never have to sit into the deep bottom position. And if you're really after bigger hamstrings or glutes, Romanian deadlifts, Nordic curls and hip thrusts will do more for those muscles than the conventional deadlift does. Below you'll find the swaps grouped by reason, then by the kit you own, with how to do each one and how to programme it.
Quick pick: match the swap to your reason
| Your reason for swapping | Best deadlift alternatives |
|---|---|
| No barbell, training at home | Dumbbell deadlift, kettlebell deadlift, single-leg deadlift |
| Lower back pain or fatigue | Trap bar deadlift, cable pull-through, hip thrust, back extension |
| Hip pain or poor hip mobility | High-handle trap bar deadlift, rack pull, glute bridge |
| Want more hamstring | Romanian deadlift, stiff-legged deadlift, good morning, Nordic curl |
| Want more glutes | Hip thrust, glute-biased back extension, cable pull-through |
| Want to keep lifting heavy | Trap bar deadlift, rack pull, sumo deadlift |
Already settled on the Romanian deadlift or the trap bar and need a swap for those? We've covered them separately in our Romanian deadlift alternatives and trap bar deadlift alternatives guides.
What a deadlift alternative needs to replace
A conventional deadlift is a hip hinge with a heavy load in your hands. Your glutes and hamstrings extend the hips, your quads help break the bar from the floor, your spinal erectors hold your back flat, and your grip, lats and upper back keep the bar close. No single exercise copies all of that, so the honest answer is that you'll usually swap one lift for two.
The research on the trap bar shows how much a small change in load position matters. In a study of 19 male powerlifters, the hexagonal bar gave lower peak moments at the lumbar spine, hip and ankle than a straight bar, and a higher one at the knee. The lifters also pulled a heavier 1RM with it (265kg against 245kg on average). A second study of 20 experienced deadlifters measured muscle activity with EMG. The trap bar produced more vastus lateralis (quad) activity, while the straight bar produced more biceps femoris (hamstring) activity on the way up and more erector spinae activity on the way down.
That trade is the whole logic of this guide. Move the load into line with your body and you take stress off the back and hips but shift work to the quads. Keep the load in front and the hips hinging, and you keep the hamstrings and back working hard. Choose based on which of those you want.
Deadlift alternatives when you have no barbell
Dumbbell deadlift
Hold a dumbbell at each side, push your hips back until the bells reach mid-shin, then stand tall. Because the weights hang beside your legs rather than in front, it behaves a lot like a trap bar pull, just lighter. Our dumbbell deadlift guide covers setup and cues. It's the best all-round swap for home training if you own adjustable dumbbells that go reasonably heavy.
Kettlebell deadlift
Stand with a kettlebell between your feet, hinge down, grip the handle with both hands and drive through the floor. It's the friendliest way to learn the hinge, since the handle sits right under your centre of mass. The catch is load: once a single 32kg bell feels easy, switch to two bells or a heavier variation. See the kettlebell deadlift page for progressions, and our best kettlebells UK roundup if you're buying.
Single-leg deadlift
Holding one dumbbell or kettlebell, hinge on one leg while the other reaches back behind you. You need roughly half the load to get a hard hamstring and glute stretch, which is exactly why it suits limited home kit. Balance is the hard part at first, so touch a wall with your free hand for the first couple of weeks. Full technique is on our single-leg deadlift page.
Deadlift alternatives for lower back pain
A quick word first. These swaps lower the load on the spine, but they don't treat anything. If your back pain is new, getting worse, or comes with pins and needles or leg weakness, see a GP or physio before you train through it.
Trap bar deadlift
The trap bar deadlift is the first thing to try if the conventional pull leaves your lower back sore. You stand inside the frame with neutral handles at your sides, your torso stays more upright, and the Swinton study above recorded lower peak lumbar loading for the same lift. You still get a heavy, full-body pull. If you don't own one, our best trap bar UK guide lists the hex bars worth buying, including bar weights.
Cable pull-through
Face away from a low cable with a rope between your legs, hinge back, then drive your hips forward to stand tall. The cable pulls you backwards rather than straight down, so there's very little compression on your spine and you can focus on squeezing the glutes. It's a strong choice for higher reps. Setup details are in our cable pull-through guide.
45 degree back extension
Lock your feet in a back extension bench, set the pad just below your hip crease, and hinge down and up with a flat back. Done as a hip hinge it trains the glutes and hamstrings; done with a rounded spine it shifts towards the erectors. Start with bodyweight and only add a plate once 3 sets of 15 feel easy.
Deadlift alternatives for hip issues
People with hip impingement or stiff hips often struggle at the very bottom of a pull, where the hips are most flexed. The fix is usually to shorten the range rather than abandon hinging.
High-handle trap bar deadlift
Most hex bars have two handle heights. The raised handles cut several centimetres off the range, and a study of 31 strength-trained adults found the lift distance was 22% shorter with a high-handle hex bar than a conventional deadlift. Less depth means less hip flexion at the start.
Rack pull
Set a barbell on safety pins or blocks at knee height and pull from there. The rack pull skips the bottom of the lift completely, so tight hips stop being the limiting factor and you can still handle heavy weight. Lower the pins a notch every few weeks if your hips tolerate it.
Glute bridge
On the floor with knees bent, drive your hips up and squeeze. A glute bridge works the hips through extension without any deep flexion, so it's usually the most comfortable option on a bad day. Load it with a dumbbell across your hips once bodyweight reps are easy.
Deadlift alternatives for more hamstring
The conventional deadlift isn't a great hamstring builder because your knees bend and straighten through the lift. Keep the knees soft and fixed, and the hamstrings do far more of the work.
Romanian deadlift
Start standing, soften your knees, then push your hips back and slide the bar down your thighs until you feel a strong stretch behind them. The Romanian deadlift is the go-to hamstring hinge. The stiff-legged deadlift is a close cousin with even less knee bend.
Good morning
With a bar on your upper back, hinge forward until your torso is near parallel and stand back up. The good morning puts the load far from your hips, so you'll use much less weight than a deadlift, and it's brutal on the hamstrings. Keep it light and controlled.
Nordic curl
Kneel with your heels anchored and lower your body forwards as slowly as you can. The deadlift barely trains the hamstrings at the knee, and the Nordic curl fills that gap with heavy eccentric work. Do it with nothing but a partner or a sturdy sofa to hook your heels under.
Deadlift alternatives for more glutes
Hip thrust
Sit with your upper back against a bench, a bar or dumbbell across your hips, and drive up until your body is flat from knees to shoulders. The hip thrust loads the glutes hardest at full hip extension, the point where a deadlift gets easiest. If you only want one glute move, make it this.
Glute-biased back extension
Turn your feet out, round your upper back slightly and think about pushing your hips into the pad. This version moves the work away from the lower back and onto the glutes. Many lifters feel it more than any other hinge.
Our glute exercises guide has more options if you want to build a whole session around the glutes.
Deadlift alternatives by equipment
| Kit you own | Best deadlift alternatives |
|---|---|
| Trap bar | Trap bar deadlift, high-handle trap bar deadlift, trap bar RDL |
| Barbell and rack | Rack pull, Romanian deadlift, good morning, hip thrust |
| Dumbbells | Dumbbell deadlift, dumbbell RDL, single-leg deadlift, hip thrust |
| One kettlebell | Kettlebell deadlift, single-leg deadlift, kettlebell swing |
| Cable machine | Cable pull-through, cable RDL with a straight bar |
| Gym machines | 45 degree back extension, hip thrust machine, leg curl |
| Bodyweight only | Single-leg deadlift, glute bridge, Nordic curl, hip hinge drill |
If you're kitting out a garage or spare room and want to cover most of this list, the home gym hub groups our reviews of trap bars, kettlebells, benches and dumbbells in one place.
One swap rarely covers everything
The deadlift trains grip, upper back, glutes, hamstrings and quads at once. Most single alternatives cover two or three of those. A trap bar deadlift plus Romanian deadlifts, or a dumbbell deadlift plus hip thrusts, gets you closer than any one move on its own.
Common mistakes when swapping out the deadlift
Swapping for the wrong reason. If your back hurts because you round it under heavy load, the same habit will follow you into a trap bar or rack pull. Fix the hinge pattern first; our hip hinge guide walks through it.
Going too heavy too soon. Single-leg deadlifts and good mornings need far less weight than a deadlift. Starting at half your usual load is sensible, and a quarter is fine for good mornings.
Losing the hamstring work. Trap bar pulls lean on the quads, as the EMG data shows. If you switch to the trap bar full-time, add Romanian deadlifts or Nordic curls so the back of your thighs keeps getting trained.
Never progressing. A swap still needs progressive overload. Add a rep, a set or a couple of kilos each week or two, or you'll stall.
How to programme deadlift alternatives
Treat heavy swaps (trap bar deadlift, rack pull) like the deadlift: 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps, once or twice a week, with 2 to 3 minutes' rest. Dumbbell, kettlebell and single-leg deadlifts work best at 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps, since you'll rarely have enough weight for low reps. Pull-throughs, back extensions and glute bridges suit 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20, often at the end of a session.
A simple home lower-body day could look like this: dumbbell deadlift 4 x 8, single-leg deadlift 3 x 10 per side, hip thrust 3 x 12, then Nordic curls 3 x 4. That covers the hinge, the hamstrings at both joints and the glutes, with nothing more than a pair of dumbbells and a bench. For more ideas on the back of the thigh, our hamstring exercises guide lists more moves.
Recommended reads
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to the deadlift?
For most people it's the trap bar deadlift. You stand inside the frame, so the load stays in line with your body, and a biomechanics study found it lowered peak loading on the lumbar spine and hips compared with a straight bar while letting lifters pull more weight. If you don't have a trap bar, a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell deadlift copies the same idea at lighter loads.
What can I do instead of deadlifts with a bad back?
Pick a hinge that takes shear off the lower spine: the cable pull-through, a 45 degree back extension done as a hip hinge, a hip thrust, or a trap bar deadlift with the high handles. Start light and stop any movement that brings on sharp or radiating pain. Back pain that lasts more than a few weeks, or comes with numbness or leg weakness, needs a GP or physio, not a clever exercise swap.
Can I replace deadlifts at home without a barbell?
Yes. A pair of dumbbells or one kettlebell covers the dumbbell deadlift, kettlebell deadlift, single-leg deadlift and a dumbbell Romanian deadlift. With no weights at all, single-leg deadlifts, glute bridges and Nordic curls still train the back of your body, although you'll run out of challenge sooner than with a loaded hinge.
Are hip thrusts a good replacement for deadlifts?
They replace the glute work, not the whole lift. Hip thrusts load the glutes hard at full hip extension, but they barely train your grip, upper back or hamstrings in a stretched position. Pair them with a Romanian deadlift or Nordic curls if the goal is to cover everything a deadlift does.
Do I need to deadlift to build a strong back?
No. The deadlift is an efficient way to load the whole posterior chain at once, but you can build the same muscles with a mix of rows, back extensions, hinges such as the Romanian deadlift and some heavy carries. Plenty of strong people never pull a conventional deadlift from the floor.
Is the rack pull a good deadlift alternative?
It's a good option if the bottom of the lift is the problem, for example tight hips or a back that rounds as the bar leaves the floor. Pulling from knee height lets you handle heavy weight with a more upright torso. It doesn't train the start position, so it's better as a temporary swap or an extra than a permanent replacement for full-range pulling.
Related guides
Workouts
Chin Up Alternatives: 12 Swaps for Home, Gym and Sore Elbows
The best chin up alternatives, sorted by your problem: can't do one yet, no bar at home, or elbow and shoulder pain. Keeps the underhand biceps bias.
Workouts
Kroc Row: How to Do It, Rep Ranges and Why It Builds a Big Back
How to do the Kroc row: setup, cues, how much body English is fine, rep ranges of 20+, straps, muscles worked, mistakes, variations and programming.
Workouts
Lunge Alternative: 10 Swaps for Walking and Reverse Lunges, by Reason
The best lunge alternatives grouped by why you're swapping: bad knees, poor balance, no room for walking lunges, or more glutes vs quads. Cues and sets for each.
Best Exercise is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This comes at no extra cost to you and never influences our independent reviews or rankings.