What is a deadlift?

In one line

A deadlift is an exercise in which you grip a barbell resting on the floor with both hands and lift it by straightening your hips and knees until you stand upright.

What is a deadlift?
The lift where you stand up with a bar from the floor
At the gym you often see people grip a heavy barbell on the floor and stand up with it. That exercise is the deadlift. This post explains what the deadlift movement is and which muscles it uses.
In one line
Grip the bar on the floor and stand up straight
A deadlift is an exercise where you grip a barbell resting on the floor with both hands and lift it by raising your body until you stand upright. At the top, the knees are straight and the shoulders are pulled back. Then the bar is lowered back to the floor.
What lifts the bar
Straightening the hips and knees
When you grip the bar, your hip joints (where the legs meet the trunk) and knees are bent. The bar rises as these two joints straighten together. The arms stay straight and simply hold the bar; they do not bend to pull it up.
Muscles used ①
The erector spinae along the spine
The long group of muscles running up and down along the spine is called the 'erector spinae'. These muscles straighten the spine and keep the natural curve of the lower back. When researchers measured the small electrical signals muscles give off as they work, this muscle group worked hard in the deadlift.
Muscles used ②
Front of the thigh, buttocks, back of the thigh
The front-thigh muscle, the 'quadriceps', also worked hard along with the erector spinae. The buttock muscle, the 'gluteus maximus', and the back-of-thigh muscles, the 'hamstrings', work too, but less than those two.
Two styles
Feet narrow, or feet wide
The usual style with the feet close together is called 'conventional', and the style with the feet set much wider is called 'sumo'. In a study that analysed competition video, the sumo stance was more than twice as wide, and the bar travelled a shorter distance.
Different muscles by style
Sumo: front of thigh; conventional: calves
In a study where people who already lifted weights did both styles, the front-thigh muscles worked harder in the sumo style. The calf muscles worked harder in the conventional style. Even with the same bar, the share each muscle takes on changes with the width of the feet.
A competition lift
The last of the powerlifting lifts
The deadlift is one of the three lifts in 'powerlifting', a sport where people compete on how much barbell weight they can lift, and it comes last, after the squat and the bench press. Under international rules, the lift counts only when the lifter stands upright with the knees straight and the shoulders back.
A common myth
Is the deadlift only a lower-back exercise?
It is true that the erector spinae works hard. But the movement that raises the bar is the straightening of the hips and knees, and the front-thigh muscles worked hard along with the erector spinae. With the buttocks and the back of the thigh working too, it is not just a lower-back exercise.
Summary
Lift the bar by straightening the hips and knees
A deadlift is an exercise where you grip a barbell on the floor and lift it until you stand upright. It is not only a lower-back exercise: you straighten the hips and knees and use the thigh, buttock and back muscles together. Related terms: squat, compound exercise, powerlifting.