Frog Stance Deadlift

The frog stance deadlift is a wide-stance barbell deadlift performed with the toes turned out and the hips close to the bar that trains theglutes and hamstringsand adductors through a short pull. The turned-out feet and open knees let your hips drop lower and nearer the bar than a conventional stance, so the torso stays upright and the lower back carries less. The range is shorter than a sumo pull, with less hamstring stretch at the bottom. Lifters run it as a glute-focused main pull or as a sumo-technique builder early in a lower body session.

What Muscles Does the Frog Stance Deadlift Work?

• Primary: Gluteus maximus, adductor magnus (inner thigh)
• Secondary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, erector spinae (lower back)
• Tertiary: Trapezius, latissimus dorsi, forearm flexors (grip), rectus abdominis

How Do You Set Up for the Frog Stance Deadlift?

Stand with a loaded barbell over your midfoot, feet about one and a half times shoulder width and toes turned out 45 degrees or more. Push your knees out over your toes and drop your hips straight down until your shins touch the bar. Keep your torso near vertical, chest up, and grip the bar inside your knees with a double overhand or mixed grip. Pull the slack out of the bar.

How Do You Perform the Frog Stance Deadlift?

1. Set your hips low with your shins on the bar, knees pushed wide over your toes and your torso close to upright.
2. Drive your feet through the floor and spread the ground apart, keeping the bar dragging up your shins.
3. Stand tall by pushing your hips forward into the bar; the rep is complete when your knees and hips are both locked.
4. Squeeze your glutes at the top for one count without leaning back or shrugging the bar.
5. Sit your hips down and out to lower the bar along your thighs and shins, keeping your knees wide.
6. Set the bar on the floor, reset your brace and re-tighten your grip before the next pull.

What Are the Key Form Cues?

• Knees out from the first pull: push them toward your little toes so the hips travel straight up instead of shooting back.
• Chest up, hips through: think of standing up with the bar rather than lifting it, so the torso angle never changes.
• Wedge your hips into the bar before it leaves the floor and feel the inner thighs load.
• Keep the bar in contact with your shins for the entire pull.
• Finish the rep with the glutes, not with a backward lean of the lower back.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes?

• Loading past your leg strength: the hips rise first, the pull turns into a stiff-leg deadlift; drop the load until hips and shoulders rise together.
• Letting the knees cave inward: the adductors go slack and the bar drifts forward around the knees, so push them out over the toes on every rep.
• Starting with the hips too far from the bar: the torso tips forward and the lumbar spine takes the load in flexion, which is what the wide stance is meant to avoid; get your shins on the bar first.
• Turning the toes out without opening the knees: the hips cannot drop, so the movement becomes a stiff, awkward hinge; open the knees and the toes together.
• Leaning back at the top: the lower back hyperextends under load and the glutes never finish; stand vertical and stop.

What Are the Best Frog Stance Deadlift Variations?

• Semi-sumo deadlift: moderate turnout with feet just outside the hands, for lifters who cannot open the hips fully.
• Deficit frog stance deadlift: standing on a plate adds range and hip mobility demand, for advanced pullers.
• Frog stance rack pull: the bar starts on pins just below the knee, shortening the pull for heavier loading.
• Staggered frog stance deadlift: one foot a few inches behind the other shifts load onto the front glute.
• Kettlebell frog stance deadlift: one kettlebell held between the feet, the easiest place to learn the stance.

How Do You Progress the Frog Stance Deadlift?

• Add 10 pounds once every set hits the top of the rep range with hips and shoulders rising together.
• Work in a 4 to 8 rep range and add one rep per set each week before adding weight.
• Start with 3 sets and add a fourth when the third still breaks the floor with shins on the bar.
• Pause one count with the bar an inch off the floor to expose hip rise before adding load.

How Should You Program the Frog Stance Deadlift?

Program the frog stance deadlift as the first or second lift on a lower body or pull day, after a squat if you run both in one session. Pull it once a week, or twice with one lighter day. Do 3 to 5 sets of 4 to 8 reps with 2 to 3 minutes of rest. Pair it with a Romanian deadlift or a hip thrust so the hamstrings and glutes also get longer-range work.