Barbell Suitcase Deadlift

How to do it

1. Stand beside a loaded barbell so it lies parallel to your feet, with the middle of the bar level with your foot.
2. Hinge down and grip the centre of the bar with the near hand, feet about hip-width apart.
3. Set the back flat, chest up, and brace the trunk so the load cannot bend you sideways.
4. Stand up by driving the floor away, keeping the shoulders level and the bar balanced.
5. Lock out tall, then lower the bar under control without letting the torso tip.
6. Finish the set on one side, then turn around and do the other.

Common mistakes

• Leaning away from the bar. The trunk resists the sideways pull by bracing, not by tilting; the shoulders stay level.
• Gripping off-centre. If the bar tips, the hand is not in the middle; find the balance point before pulling.
• Letting the bar drift into the leg. It rises straight beside the leg without touching it; a bar that scrapes the thigh is being pulled at an angle.
• Loading it like a deadlift. The one-arm grip and the sideways load limit it long before the legs do.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Quads

Secondary

• Abs
• Calves
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Spinal Erectors
• Traps
• Obliques
• Quadratus Lumborum