The deadlift is my favorite lift. It works both upper and lower body. It is a natural movement that can come in handy anytime you need to pick something up. Deadlifts are great for your posture. I can spend a ton of time telling you why deadlifts are amazing.

A deadlift is also one of the most efficient compound lifts you can do. It works so many of your muscles in a single movement. Because it’s so efficient, a good deadlift bar will pay for itself in the time you save not having to focus on each muscle group on its own. A great deadlift bar lets you work a ton of muscles in just a few minutes.

If you are looking for the best value hex deadlift bar, get the CAP Barbell Olympic Hex Bar. This is a commercial grade hex deadlift bar that is made from zinc-plated solid steel and holds standard 2-inch plates. This is the bar I would recommend for anyone who is looking to become a competitive powerlifter. The only people who would need a more expensive bar are those who are planning on lifting extremely high weights (750lbs or more).

Hex Versus Standard Deadlift Bar

Deadlifting using a hex bar (also known as a trap bar) is a little bit different than using a standard straight bar. The most obvious difference is the hand position. With a hex bar you hold your hands and arms in a natural position, while with a conventional straight bar you hold your hands in front of you. This has an effect of slightly changing the way the deadlift is performed when using a hex bar.

These differences lead to a lot of benefits (and a few cons) for using a hex bar for deadlifting.

The Benefits Of A Hex Bar

There are a lot of benefits for using a hex deadlift bar over a conventional bar. No bleeding shins is one.

Easier On The Back

Deadlifting with a hex bar is still deadlifting. The deadlift is a hinge movement, which will obviously work your back. A hex deadlift bar has a slightly less bent over position. Because of this, a hex bar deadlift is using legs a bit more. Many people notice that a hex deadlift works their quads a little more and their lower back less.

The lift is still a deadlift, and is not near a squat in terms of muscles used or body movement, but a hex bar is a bit more squat-like. Because of this slight change in movement, the back takes less pressure.

There are many people who are not able to deadlift using a conventional Olympic bar because of injury, but are able to do so using a hex bar.

Easier To Learn/A More Natural Movement

Deadlifting with a hex bar is a much more natural movement than a conventional deadlift. You do not have to learn to keep your balance while keeping a bar in front of you, but not too far in front of you. Your arms to your side is a more natural movement. This makes a hex bar great for someone who is new to weight lifting.

One of the most common mistakes when deadlifting is pulling your back too far back when reaching the top of the lift. This leads to a hyperextended spine, which can lead to injuries. A hex bar does not provide the same inclination to lean backwards at the top of the lift. This is one less way to get injured while lifting.

Better Grip

You no longer need a mixed grip. Everyone who deadlifts eventually reaches a point where their natural grip starts to slip and they usually end up switching to a mixed grip, which can lead to muscle imbalances or bicep injuries. Because a hex bar does not roll like a conventional bar, there is no need to mix or change your grip.

A hex bar uses our natural arm and hand postures. When you stand, your arms are at your side and your palms face each other. This is the same arm and hand position that you take when using a hex bar.

Great For The Inflexible

A hex deadlift bar has slightly higher handles than a conventional bar. There are simply too many people who stubbornly deadlift from the floor, when they clearly do not have the hip flexibility to do so safely. These people will often compensate by rounding their back in an unhealthy way that can lead to injury.

A hex bar allows people with less flexibility to safely deadlift. This is a choice. You can continue to deadlift in the same manner as you did with a conventional bar, but because you do not have a bar directly in front of your shins, you can also bend your keens a bit more and your hips a bit less and lift slightly more squat like. This freedom allows anyone to lift safely no matter how flexible they are.

The Negatives Of A Hex Bar

Overall I think a hex bar is great. But there are a few things you should be aware of when using a hex bar.

Can Be Difficult To Use For Shorter Lifters

A hex bar’s handles are a set width apart. A conventional bar can be gripped at any width. For shorter people, the handles of a hex bar may be too wide apart for them to lift comfortably. If you are short, be sure to try out a hex bar before buying one to make sure that the handles are not too wide for you.

Not Used In Compeitions

Sometimes someone on the Internet claims that a hex bar deadlift is not a real deadlift. This is a silly argument. These are often the same people who recomend the sumo deadlift as a deadlift alternative, even though the sumo deadlift is much more similar to a squat than a hex bar deadlift. These people are silly and should probably be ignored. At least I’ve never heard a convincing argument behind their claims.

However, it is true that if you plan to compete, you should focus mainly on a conventional deadlifting bar. A hex bar can certainly be used in your weightlifting routine, but the main focus should be on the lifts you will be performing in your competition. This is almost always going to be a standard bar deadlift, not a hex bar deadlift.

The Best Hex Deadlift Bars

CAP Barbell Olympic Hex Bar

This is a great, solid steel hex deadlift bar that is suitable for commercial use. It’s a great addition to any gym or home gym. It comes in a bunch of cool colors and is coated with super high grade, military coating technology. However, I am perfectly happy with the original metal uncolored version of the bar.

CAP Barbell has been in business over 30 years and is a great producer of weightlifting products.

Pros
* Affordable
* Commercial Quality
* Cool Color Options

Synergee Barbell Trap Bar

If you are looking for a higher quality hex bar, this Synergee barbell is amazing. The welding is noticabliy cleaner than the CAP barbell. Synergee also offers a great guarantee, so you know that your bar is free of defects. The grips seem a bit more grippy than the CAP barbell.

While this is a higher quality product than the CAP barbell, it is also more expensive, and I just don’t believe more people need to get a high quality bar for a home gym. If you are a gym owner and looking for a hex bar, the quality of the Synergee trap bar is likely worth the extra price. Your customers will notice and appreciate the quality difference.

Pros
* Higher Quality
* Solid Steel

Valor Fitness Super Hex Trap Bar

This is a crazy cool design for a hex bar. It’s fat from your standard hex bar and has a lot of features that you never knew you needed until you heard about them.

The first cool feature is a rotating grip handle. This bar comes with three different grip handle sizes which can be rotated in. This allows different users to choose which ever grip they enjoy more. This is great for a gym where many people will be uses this hex bar. These different grip sizes can also be used for different exercises. I found that the largest grip size was great at hitting my forearms.

Another cool feature is that the bars that the plates go onto are elevated. This makes loading and unloading weights onto the bar a lot easier than a standard hex barbell.

Finally, the bar itself has rubber stoppers attached to the bottom to help ensure that the bar does not destroy the floor that it is on.

This is a very unique bar with some cool functionality that a standard bar does not include. Whether you need these extra features is up to you. I thought they were pretty cool.

Note that this bar weighs 60lbs, which is more than your standard 45lbs bar.

Pros
* Three Grip Sizes
* Elevated Plate Bars For Easier Loading
* Protective Rubber On Bar