The Hex Bar Deadlift
The hex bar deadlift is one of my favorite exercises and my preferred deadlift variation both for myself and the individuals I work with. In my opinion, if you’re an endurance athlete looking for an exercise to develop lower body strength and power, then there aren’t many options better than the hex bar deadlift.
As I’ve written about before, the hex bar deadlift is sort of a hybrid movement that combines elements of a squat and conventional (straight bar) deadlift. While the straight bar deadlift is still a great exercise and the one you’ll see most people doing in the gym, there are a few reasons why I will usually steer people to the hex bar once they’ve mastered the basic hinge and squat patterns:
Easier to learn
Unlike the straight bar deadlift, which is a very technical movement that takes a good amount of practice to master, most people can learn the hex bar deadlift in a single session and start adding load to the bar pretty quickly.
Safer to execute and load heavy
The hex bar aligns the load to the lifter’s center of mass. This allows for greater quad engagement, a more upright torso, and less stress on the spine compared to the straight bar deadlift, which has the load positioned in front of the body. The hex bar setup usually allows people to lift considerably more weight than they could with a straight bar, and in a safer manner.
More accommodating for taller lifters and those with mobility restrictions
Many people don’t have the best leverages for straight bar deadlifting or lack the mobility to even get into a good starting position. The aforementioned setup of the hex bar and the option to use either the high or low handles makes deadlifting more accessible to taller lifters and those with mobility restrictions (note that if you’re hell-bent on straight bar deadlifting or that’s all you have available, then pulling off blocks or pins in the power rack can help you get in a better starting position for your leverages).
For certain sports and activities the hex bar might have greater specificity and transfer than the straight bar deadlift. In rowing, for example, the setup, joint angles, and leg drive that occur during the initial push of a rowing stroke is almost identical to deadlifting with a hex bar.
For these reasons I’ll often select the hex bar deadlift as the primary lower body lift to build lower body strength and power, and use other bilateral and unilateral squat and deadlift variations (like Romanian deadlifts and front/goblet squats) as accessory movements to build muscle and work on imbalances. This way we don’t entirely neglect the more traditional squat and hinge patterns, but just remove some of the risk that comes with having a heavy bar on your back or in front of your body.
The main purpose of strength training for endurance athletes is to help reduce your risk of injury and improve performance in their endurance sport. Since the deadlift isn’t a competitive lift for runners and cyclists (and 99.99% of the population), I’m happy to take the exercise that is simpler, safer to execute, and that will yield the same (or even greater) strength and performance benefits.
Here are some tips for executing the hex bar deadlift:
Stand in the center of the bar with feet shoulder-width apart (or roughly your “jump stance”) with feet turned out slightly.
Hinge down to the bar and grasp the center of the handles. Your arms should be straight up and down and stacked over your ankles.
Tuck your chin, brace your core, and make your back flat (imagine a dowel resting on your back and maintaining 3 points of contact on the back of your head, between shoulder blades, and tailbone).
Take the slack or the “click” out of the bar (ease the bar off the floor, don’t yank it).
Drive with your legs (think about pushing the floor away from you, instead of pulling the bar off the floor with your arms).
Push the hips through to finish.
Note, you can make the hex bar deadlift more of a hinge or a squat by changing your hip position. Higher hips/straighter legs = more of a hinge and more glutes/hamstrings. Lower hips/more knee bend = more of a squat and more quads and glutes.
The main downside with the hex bar is that they aren’t as common in gyms as a standard barbell, though you can usually find one at most athletic/college weight rooms and even commercial gyms outside of Planet Fitness. If you already have a home gym and weight plates then a basic hex bar is a relatively affordable piece of equipment that can help take your strength training to the next level. Personally, I would purchase a hex bar before a standard barbell, but it also depends on what else you plan on doing (i.e., squats, bench/overhead press).
Another consideration is that the standard hex bar usually weighs between 45-55lbs by itself. When you throw a couple of 10lb bumper plates on there the minimum weight will be at least 65lbs to start, which might be too much for someone just getting started. For this reason it is usually a good idea to start off by building a base of strength with some basic squat and hinge movements before jumping right into hex bar deadlifts.
Let me know if you have any questions or are interested in getting started with strength training!