I have been lifting weights for a very long time. I kept finding myself stuck in a rut or bored with my routine. I hired an online coach who is doing my workout programming for six months. Boy has it shaken up my routine!! I’ve made some lean muscle gains and body composition changes. Still a long way to go, but I’m feeling strong and loving that my legs and glutes are looking better.

The most recent contraption added into my workout routine is the “Trap Bar” to do “Trap Bar Deadlifts” or sorta “Trap Bar Squat-ish Deadlifts”.

Keep in mind that the contraption itself can weight quite a bit more than you may think, so be sure to lift it without weight on it first to determine how much weight you need to add.

Then you stand inside this thing and lift!

• Neutral back and head position
• Knees pointed the same direction as your toes
• Abs tight
• Drive up through the heal of your foot
• Squeeze your butt at the top of the movement and shift your hips forward

I like this YouTube video showing proper form.

Using this contraption has made me more sore in my actual butt checks than anything else I do. I feel safe from injury using this apparatus, therefore I am doing more weight for more sets.

Yesterday I completed 8 sets of 8 reps. As the weight became more and more heavy through each set, I lowered the weight in small increments so that I could still do all 8 reps without compromising good and proper form.

Hurts so good!

I hope you decide to include this exercise into your workout routine. Leave a comment with your thoughts, experience, and results!