Stiff-Leg Deadlift
hamstrings
What moves the load, and what it costs
6.0MET
Hamstrings is the prime mover, with the glutes, lower back assisting. A longer range and a harder stretch than a Romanian deadlift, with more load through the lower back. Use less weight and be honest about where your back rounds.
Cue: Keep the knees almost completely straight and lower the bar as far as a flat back allows.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·वर्गवारी: वेट्स, तीव्र·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files stiff-leg deadlift under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 6.0, and at the top end of what a gym floor produces.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so stiff-leg deadlift is filed under रेझिस्टन्स ट्रेनिंग (वजन उचलणे, फ्री वेट किंवा मशीन), पॉवर लिफ्टिंग किंवा बॉडी बिल्डिंग, तीव्र श्रम.
- Take the category's MET value — 6.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 6.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 6.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal/min
स्रोत·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| HamstringsBiceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus | Prime mover | Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius आणि minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | हिप ताणतो (maximus), आणि तो बाजूला नेतो व स्थिर ठेवतो (medius आणि minimus). शरीरातील सर्वात बलवान एकच स्नायुगट. |
| पाठीचा खालचा भागइरेक्टर स्पायनी आणि क्वाड्रेटस लुंबोरम | Synergist / stabiliser | पाठीचा कणा मागे ताणतो आणि बहुतेक वजन उचलताना वाकवणाऱ्या बलाविरुद्ध तो स्थिर ठेवतो. मुख्य हालचाल करणारा स्नायू असण्यापेक्षा हा कितीतरी अधिक वेळा स्थिरक (स्टॅबिलायझर) म्हणून काम करतो. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
बारबेल. प्रत्येक रेप पहिल्यासारखीच दिसली पाहिजे. ती पहिल्यासारखी दिसणे थांबले, की सेट संपला.
PATTERN · HINGE
- Stand tall holding the bar at arm's length in front of your thighs, feet hip width.
- Soften the knees a few degrees and then keep that angle — the knees do not bend further during the movement.
- Keep the knees almost completely straight and lower the bar as far as a flat back allows.
- Push the hips straight back and let the load slide down the front of the legs, keeping it in contact or very close.
- Stop when you feel a strong stretch in the hamstrings and before the back starts to round — for most people that is somewhere between the knee and mid-shin.
- Drive the hips forward to stand, squeezing the glutes at the top without leaning back.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Squatting it instead of hinging.
If the knees keep bending, the hips never travel back and the hamstrings never lengthen. Push the hips towards the wall behind you.
Chasing the floor.
Range is decided by your hamstrings, not by the plates. The moment the lower back rounds, you have gone past the useful range.
Letting the bar drift away from the legs.
Every centimetre forward is extra load on the lower back. Keep it grazing the thighs.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 मिनिटे | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: रेझिस्टन्स ट्रेनिंग (वजन उचलणे, फ्री वेट किंवा मशीन), पॉवर लिफ्टिंग किंवा बॉडी बिल्डिंग, तीव्र श्रम — 6.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 6.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Nothing at all to hand: नॉर्डिक हॅमस्ट्रिंग कर्ल is the closest match — same prime mover, same pattern, no kit.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the stiff-leg deadlift work?
Stiff-Leg Deadlift is a compound movement in which the hamstrings is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, lower back. Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully.
Is the stiff-leg deadlift good for beginners?
No. It rates 4 out of 5 for technical demand — real technical demand — worth having someone watch your first sessions. Build to it through the easier progressions on this page; the romanian deadlift is the usual step before it.
What can I do instead of the stiff-leg deadlift at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the nordic hamstring curl, which trains the same prime mover through the same movement pattern. If you own a little equipment, the single-leg romanian deadlift is closer still. It will not load you as heavily, so use higher reps and slower tempo to make up the difference.
How many sets and reps of the stiff-leg deadlift should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the stiff-leg deadlift burn fat from the hamstrings?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the hamstrings builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
स्रोत·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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