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Trap Bar or Straight Bar Deadlift? What Four Studies Show About Load, Joint Loading and Training Results

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A trap bar, also called a hex bar, lets the lifter stand inside a hexagonal frame with neutral-grip handles at the sides, while a straight barbell sits in front of the shins. Buyers weighing the two for a home gym are often told that the trap bar is simply “better”. This article summarises the abstracts of four studies published between 2011 and 2025 and states what each can and cannot support. Most involved small groups of strength-trained lifters in short experiments, so the results are small-sample evidence. It is general information about training equipment, not medical advice.

Study one: 19 male powerlifters across eight loads

Swinton and colleagues, in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2011), had 19 male powerlifters perform deadlifts with a straight barbell and a hexagonal barbell at 10 to 80 per cent of their one-repetition maximum (1RM), lifting at maximum speed. The lifters managed a heavier 1RM with the hexagonal bar (265 kg against 245 kg on average). The bar design changed the resistance moments at the joints, giving lower peak moments at the lumbar spine, hip and ankle and a higher peak moment at the knee. Across the submaximal loads, peak force, peak velocity and peak power were greater with the hexagonal bar. The authors concluded that the greater mechanical stimulus suggests the hex-bar deadlift is generally the more effective exercise.

Study two: a one-repetition maximum comparison in 31 lifters

Lockie and colleagues, in the same journal (2018), compared a conventional deadlift with a high-handle hex-bar deadlift in 31 strength-trained subjects (21 men and 10 women), each completing a 1RM in both lifts while a linear position transducer measured the bar. Subjects lifted more with the hex bar (about 154.5 kg against 134.7 kg). The lift distance and duration were 22 and 25 per cent shorter, and peak power, peak velocity and peak and mean force were higher, although more total work was done in the conventional deadlift. The authors noted that greater force can be generated with the hex bar, which could have implications for strength adaptations over time.

Study three: 3RM lifts by 11 strength-trained women

Gundersen and colleagues, in the same journal (2025), compared conventional, sumo and hex-bar deadlifts in 11 resistance-trained women, using the last repetition of a three-repetition maximum. In this study the loads were similar: about 103.2 kg for conventional, 101.5 kg for sumo and 99.7 kg for hex bar. Conventional and sumo lifts produced larger hip joint moments near lockout, while the hex bar produced greater bar velocity, larger knee moments and greater hip and knee flexion. The authors suggested that the hex bar may be beneficial for targeting the knee extensors and bar speed, and that sumo and conventional deadlifts may better target the hip extensors near lockout.

Study four: eight weeks of half squats or trap bar deadlifts

Hagerupsen and colleagues, in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation (2024), randomised 22 recreationally active women to twice-weekly training for eight weeks with either barbell half squats (10 women) or trap bar deadlifts (12 women). The half squat group tended to improve half squat 1RM more (21.0 kg against 13.1 kg), and the trap bar group tended to improve trap bar deadlift 1RM more (18.4 kg against 11.7 kg), although the confidence intervals for both differences included zero. There were no between-group differences for sprint, jump or lean mass. For both groups combined, jump height, sprint times and lean mass improved. The authors concluded that exercise selection matters less than applying heavy loads and targeting the relevant muscles. This study did not include a straight-bar deadlift, so it says nothing about trap bar against straight bar.

Reading the four together

  • Heavier loads on the hex bar were seen in two studies with 1RM tests, but the 3RM study in women found similar loads across the three lifts, so a heavier load is not guaranteed.
  • Joint loading differs. In the two studies that measured joint moments, hex-bar lifts loaded the knee more and the hip less (and, in the first study, the lumbar spine less) than straight-bar lifts. These are measurements of joint moments during lifts, not evidence about injury risk, which none of the studies measured.
  • No study followed lifters for long enough to show that one bar builds more strength or muscle. The only training trial compared a different pair of exercises.

Practical points for a home set-up

  • A trap bar is a different lift, not a modification of a straight-bar deadlift; the evidence suggests it shifts work from the hip towards the knee and shortens the range of movement.
  • A person who already owns a straight barbell and a rack (see the barbell specifications guide and the rack comparison) may find the evidence too thin to justify buying a second bar solely for performance.
  • Plates for either bar should suit the sleeve, as explained in the plate standards guide.
  • For programming questions about how much to lift, see the guides to rest intervals and free weights against machines.

The bottom line

Studies of trained lifters found that a hex bar produced different joint moments, higher bar velocity and, in two of them, a heavier 1RM than a straight-bar deadlift. The eight-week trial found no clear difference between trap bar deadlifts and half squats for strength, power or lean mass. None of the four followed lifters long enough to show that either bar builds more muscle, and none measured injury. The choice is best made on the lift wanted and the space available.

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