The STACK Exercise of the Week will help you improve your overall sports performance—including strength, speed, conditioning and flexibility. This week, we highlight the Trap Bar Deadlift, an exercise that builds lower-body strength and power.
Who’s Doing It
Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers center
Muscular Benefits
Increases lower-body strength and power
Increases core strength, particularly in the lower back
Sports Performance Benefits
The Deadlift is one of the foundational exercises for all sports. It teaches you to put more power into the ground, which directly translates to increased speed, quickness and jumping ability—and overall improvement in your sports skills.
The Trap Bar variation is preferred for athletes who are new to the lift or have difficulty getting into a low stance. Since Hibbert is over seven feet tall, he uses this variation to minimize the risk of injury to his back.
Trap Bar Deadlift How To
Assume athletic stance in center of trap bar
Squat down and grasp trap bar handles
Fully extend elbows, stick chest out and look straight ahead
Simultaneously extend hips and knees to stand up
Squeeze glutes to complete movement
Repeat sequence in reverse to lower bar to ground
Repeat for specified reps
Sets/Reps: 4x3
Coaching Points
Perform exercise from squat rack pins if height requires it
Push feet into ground and drive hips forward to lift weight
