Quads · Compound movement
Car Deadlift
A compound exercise for the quads, with the back, glutes, hamstrings, forearms and traps working too. No equipment needed.
Progression
Progression: manual
- Primary muscle
- Quads
- Secondary muscles
- Back, Glutes, Hamstrings, Forearms, Traps
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Advanced
How to perform the Car Deadlift
- Set up inside the frame (or apparatus), take your grip on the handles at your sides, and hinge with the hips back, chest up, and a flat braced back.
- Pull the slack out of the frame and set your whole trunk hard before the weight breaks the ground.
- Drive through the legs and extend the hips to stand the frame up, keeping the handles tracking straight up alongside your body.
- Lock out tall with the hips through, then lower under control back to the ground and reset your brace before the next rep.
- Perform the prescribed reps or work for a rep count in a time cap, recording the load and the reps or time. A frame deadlift is scored by load and reps-in-time, not a single number.
Default progression: manual.
Common mistakes
- •Rounding the back on the pull instead of hinging with a flat, braced spine and driving through the legs.
- •Letting the handles drift forward rather than tracking them straight up alongside the body.
- •Failing to lock out the hips at the top, leaving the rep short of a full stand.
- •Bouncing the frame off the ground between reps instead of resetting the brace each time.
Variations & alternatives
Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or the main lift has stalled.
Use this exercise in a program
The Car Deadlift fits into hypertrophy and strength splits that prioritize quads volume.
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