RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Barbell exercises for women: squat, deadlift, hip thrust, press and row

Published October 29, 2026

The best barbell exercises for women are the back squat, split squat and step-up for legs, the deadlift, Romanian deadlift and hip thrust for glutes and hamstrings, the bench press, overhead press and landmine press for chest, shoulders and arms, and the barbell row for your back. Most gyms have a 20 kg (45 lb) bar and many also a 15 kg (33 lb) one; start with the empty bar or a light one, and add 2.5 to 5 kg at a time. Train 2 to 4 days a week with 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 12 reps, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure.

  1. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  2. Barbell Deadlift Glutes, Lower Back
  3. Romanian Deadlift Hamstrings, Glutes
  4. Hip Thrust Glutes
  5. Barbell Bench Press Chest
  6. Barbell Overhead Press Shoulders
  7. Barbell Row Upper Back, Lats

Squats and single-leg lifts

The back squat is the main leg lift, and the box squat is the version to learn it with or to use when deep squats bother your knees or hips. Split squats and step-ups balance out the two sides and train each glute harder.

Quads, glutes and inner thighs, squat

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The bar on your back lets you load your legs more heavily than with dumbbells or a kettlebell, so this is where most of your leg strength comes from. Squat to at least thighs level with the floor and add weight in small steps.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar across your upper back below the neck, hands just outside your shoulders, and unrack it.
  2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little.
  3. Breathe in, tighten your stomach as if bracing for a punch, and sit down between your heels.
  4. Stand back up keeping your chest and hips rising together.

Cues

  • Breathe and brace
  • Chest and hips rise together
  • Whole-foot pressure

Common mistakes

  • Hips shooting up first out of the bottom: lighten the bar and keep your chest rising with them.
  • Letting the stomach go soft between reps: re-brace at the top of each one.

Swap for: Front Squat, Box Squat

Build a session with Barbell Back Squat
Log it in RIRLift

Quads and glutes, squat to a box

Box Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Sitting back to a knee-high box teaches the squat with a built-in depth target, and the pause on the box takes the bounce out. It is a good first squat and a lasting option if deep squats are uncomfortable.

How to do it

  1. Set a box behind you at about knee height and unrack the bar onto your upper back.
  2. Push your hips back and sit down onto the box without losing tension.
  3. Pause briefly on the box with your stomach braced.
  4. Stand up by driving your feet into the floor.

Cues

  • Stay tight on the box
  • Sit back, not down
  • Drive through your heels

Common mistakes

  • Relaxing onto the box: touch it, do not collapse on it.
  • Rocking back to gain momentum: stand straight up.

Swap for: Barbell Back Squat, Front Squat

Build a session with Box Squat
Log it in RIRLift

Quads and glutes, split stance

Barbell Split Squat

Quads, Glutes

With the bar on your back and one foot forward, each leg handles most of the load on its own. It shows and fixes differences between your left and right sides that a squat hides.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar on your upper back and step into a long split stance, front foot flat, back heel up.
  2. Brace and lower your back knee straight toward the floor.
  3. Stop with the back knee an inch above the floor and the front thigh about level.
  4. Stand up through the front foot without stepping, and finish one side before switching.

Cues

  • Long stance
  • Straight down and up
  • Weight over the front foot

Common mistakes

  • A short stance that pushes the front knee far forward and lifts the heel: lengthen it.
  • Rocking forward and back instead of moving vertically: picture an elevator.

Swap for: Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat, Dumbbell Split Squat, Jefferson Split Squat

Build a session with Barbell Split Squat
Log it in RIRLift

Glutes and quads, single leg

Barbell Step-Up

Quads, Glutes

Driving up onto a bench with the bar on your back works the glute of the front leg hard. Keep the box at knee height and use a light bar until your balance is solid.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar on your upper back and face a sturdy bench or box at about knee height.
  2. Place one whole foot on the box.
  3. Drive through that foot to stand up on the box, keeping your torso steady, and bring the other foot up.
  4. Step down slowly with the trailing leg, keep the working foot on the box, and repeat for the set.

Cues

  • Whole foot on the box
  • Top leg lifts you
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing off the floor with the trailing leg: keep its toes light.
  • A box so high that you have to lunge forward to get up: start at knee height.

Swap for: Step-Up, Kettlebell Step-Up, Barbell Split Squat

Build a session with Barbell Step-Up
Log it in RIRLift

Deadlifts and hip thrusts

These three load your glutes and hamstrings more heavily than any other tool can. The deadlift trains the whole back of your body, the Romanian deadlift stretches the hamstrings under load, and the hip thrust works the glutes at the top of the movement.

Glutes, back and hamstrings, hinge

Barbell Deadlift

Glutes, Lower Back

Lifting the bar from the floor works your glutes, hamstrings, back and grip in one movement, and it is usually the lift where you can handle the most weight. Expect it to become your heaviest lift within a few months.

How to do it

  1. Stand with the bar over your mid-foot and grip it just outside your legs.
  2. Drop your hips until your shins touch the bar, flatten your back, and pull the slack out.
  3. Push the floor away and stand up tall, then lower the bar the same way.

Cues

  • Bar against the legs
  • Push the floor away

Common mistakes

  • Jerking the bar off the floor: take the slack out first on every set.

Swap for: Trap Bar Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Rack Pull

Build a session with Barbell Deadlift
Log it in RIRLift

Hamstrings and glutes, hinge

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

Starting from standing and lowering the bar to mid-shin keeps tension on the hamstrings through a long stretch, so it builds the back of your thighs and the lower glutes. Use it as your second hinge of the week.

How to do it

  1. Stand with a barbell at your thighs, hands just outside your legs, feet under your hips.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back, sliding the bar down your thighs.
  3. Stop when your hamstrings are fully stretched, usually just below the knee, with your back flat.
  4. Push your hips forward to stand up, glutes tight at the top.

Cues

  • Hips back
  • Bar stays on your legs
  • Back flat

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat: keep them soft and still.
  • Reaching for the floor: stop where your back would round.

Swap for: Weighted Back Extension

Build a session with Romanian Deadlift
Log it in RIRLift

Glutes, hip extension

Hip Thrust

Glutes

With your back on a bench and the bar padded across your hips, the hip thrust lets your glutes work against heavy loads without your lower back or knees limiting you. It is the most direct barbell lift for glute size.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your shoulder blades against the long side of a flat bench and roll a padded bar over your hips.
  2. Plant your feet flat about hip width apart, close enough that your shins are vertical at the top.
  3. Drive through your heels and lift your hips until your torso and thighs form a straight line.
  4. Hold the top for a second with your chin tucked, then lower your hips most of the way down and repeat.

Cues

  • Chin tucked, ribs down
  • Shins vertical at the top
  • One-second squeeze

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to get higher: stop when your hips are level with your knees and squeeze your glutes there.
  • Feet too far out, which turns it into a hamstring exercise: bring them in until your shins are vertical at lockout.

Swap for: Dumbbell Hip Thrust, Smith Machine Hip Thrust, Glute Bridge

Build a session with Hip Thrust
Log it in RIRLift

Presses and rows

Presses build your chest, shoulders and the backs of your arms, and rows build the upper back. Pair every press with a row so your back keeps up with your chest and shoulders.

Chest, shoulders and triceps, press

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

The bench press is the main barbell lift for your chest and the backs of your arms. Set up with your shoulder blades squeezed together and a slight arch, and use safety bars or a spotter when you push close to failure.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, and squeeze your shoulder blades back and down into the pad.
  2. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulder width, unrack it, and hold it over your shoulders with locked elbows.
  3. Lower the bar to your lower chest, around nipple height, with your elbows angled roughly 45 to 70 degrees from your sides.
  4. Touch your chest without bouncing, then press the bar up and slightly back until it is over your shoulders again.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades stay pinned
  • Bar to the nipple line
  • Drive your feet into the floor

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: let them sit a bit closer to your ribs so your shoulders stay comfortable.
  • Lifting your hips off the bench to finish a rep: keep your glutes down and count that rep as your last.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

Build a session with Barbell Bench Press
Log it in RIRLift

Shoulders and triceps, vertical press

Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders

Pressing the bar from your collarbones to overhead builds your shoulders and arms and makes your trunk brace hard. Progress is slow here, so use the smallest plates you can find.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar in a rack at collarbone height and grip it just outside your shoulders, wrists stacked over your elbows.
  2. Unrack it onto your upper chest, take one step back and set your feet about hip width apart.
  3. Squeeze your glutes, brace your abs so your ribs stay down, and take a big breath.
  4. Press straight up, pulling your chin back so the bar clears your face.
  5. Once the bar passes your forehead, push your head through until the bar sits over the middle of your foot with your arms locked.
  6. Lower it along the same line to your upper chest and re-brace before the next rep.

Cues

  • Glutes tight, ribs down
  • Chin back, bar straight up
  • Head through at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish reps, which turns the lift into an incline press: lower the weight until your torso stays vertical for the whole set.
  • Pressing the bar forward around your face: pull your chin back and keep the bar close enough to brush your nose.
  • Stopping short of lockout: finish every rep with the bar over your mid-foot and your arms straight, or the rep doesn't count in your log.

Swap for: Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Landmine Press, Machine Shoulder Press

Build a session with Barbell Overhead Press
Log it in RIRLift

Shoulders and upper chest, angled press

Landmine Press

Shoulders

Pressing the loaded end of a bar anchored in a corner, with both hands on the sleeve, moves in an arc that most shoulders find comfortable. It is the press to use when straight overhead pressing pinches.

How to do it

  1. Wedge one end of an empty barbell into a landmine or a corner, and load the free end with plates.
  2. Stand facing the loaded end, feet about shoulder width, and lift the end of the bar to your upper chest.
  3. Wrap both hands around the sleeve end, elbows under the bar and close to your ribs.
  4. Squeeze your glutes and keep your ribs down, then press the bar up and forward along its arc until your arms are straight.
  5. Let your shoulder blades reach forward at the top, then lower under control until the bar is back at your chest.

Cues

  • Both hands on the sleeve
  • Press where the bar wants to go
  • Ribs down, glutes tight

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish the rep: if your chest tips back as the set goes on, take a plate off and keep your ribs stacked over your hips.
  • Pushing straight up against the arc: the bar is fixed at the floor, so aim up and forward and let it travel its own path.
  • Elbows flaring out wide: keep them under the bar so the press stays in line with your shoulders.

Swap for: Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Barbell Overhead Press, Kettlebell Overhead Press

Build a session with Landmine Press
Log it in RIRLift

Upper back and lats, pull

Barbell Row

Upper Back, Lats

Rowing the bar to your lower ribs builds the upper back that gives your back shape and balances out pressing. Holding the bent-over position also trains your hamstrings and lower back.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bar at your thighs, hinge forward until your torso is near 45 degrees, back flat.
  2. Row the bar to your lower ribs with the elbows tucked near your sides.
  3. Lower to straight arms and keep the torso angle.

Cues

  • Brace before every rep
  • Bar to the belly button

Common mistakes

  • Standing taller each rep as it gets heavier: if the hinge goes, the set is over.

Swap for: Pendlay Row, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, T-Bar Row

Build a session with Barbell Row
Log it in RIRLift

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

New to the barbell, three days

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets36 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench

You have done some training with machines or dumbbells and want to learn the main barbell lifts and get strong on them.

Alternating two full-body sessions three times a week practices each lift often, which is how the technique sticks. Each muscle group gets about 6 to 9 hard sets a week, and the main lifts stay at 2 to 3 reps in reserve while you learn. Each day has 12 working sets and takes about 50 minutes.

Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Back Squat2 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 3 3 min
Barbell Bench Press1 warm-up set first 3 × 6–10 2 2:30 min
Barbell Row 3 × 8–10 2 2 min
Hip Thrust 3 × 8–12 2 2 min

Open Day A in the session builder

Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 4–6 3 3 min
Barbell Overhead Press1 warm-up set first 3 × 6–8 2 2:30 min
Barbell Split SquatPer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 2 min
Barbell Row 3 × 8–10 2 2 min

Open Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Train Monday, Wednesday and Friday, doing A, B, A one week and B, A, B the next. Start every lift with the empty bar for a warm-up set.
How to progress
Add 2.5 kg (5 lb) to squats and deadlifts, and 1 to 2.5 kg to presses, whenever every set reaches the top of the rep range at 2 reps in reserve. If you miss the bottom of the range two sessions in a row, take 10% off and build back up.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Glutes and strength, four days

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets50 a week
  • Per workout~45 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, Landmine

You have lifted with a barbell for six months or more, you know your working weights, and you want more glute and leg growth while your upper body keeps getting stronger.

Two lower days give glutes and hamstrings about 13 hard sets a week from hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts and deadlifts, plus squats and single-leg work. Two upper days give chest, shoulders and back about 8 sets each. Lower days have 13 working sets and upper days have 12, about an hour each.

Lower A: Squat
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Back Squat3 warm-up sets first 4 × 5–8 2 3 min
Romanian Deadlift 3 × 8–10 2 2:30 min
Hip Thrust 3 × 10–15 1 2 min
Barbell Step-UpPer leg. 3 × 8–12 2 90 s

Open Lower A: Squat in the session builder

Upper A: Bench
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 4 × 5–8 2 3 min
Barbell Row 4 × 8–10 1 2 min
Landmine Press 4 × 8–12 1 90 s

Open Upper A: Bench in the session builder

Lower B: Deadlift
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Deadlift3 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3:30 min
Barbell Split SquatPer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 2 min
Hip Thrust 4 × 6–10 1 2:30 min
Box Squat 3 × 8–10 2 2:30 min

Open Lower B: Deadlift in the session builder

Upper B: Overhead
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Overhead Press2 warm-up sets first 4 × 5–8 2 3 min
Barbell Row 4 × 10–12 1 2 min
Barbell Bench Press 4 × 8–12 1 2 min

Open Upper B: Overhead in the session builder

How to run it
Lower Monday and Thursday, upper Tuesday and Friday. Do the heaviest lift of each day first, while you are fresh.
How to progress
Squats, deadlifts and hip thrusts go up by 2.5 to 5 kg when every set reaches the top of the range at 1 to 2 reps in reserve. Presses move up by the smallest plate available, or add a rep first if your gym has no small plates.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Two days, knees or back that complain

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets25 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Landmine, Flat Bench

You want the strength of barbell training, but deep squats or floor deadlifts flare up your knees or lower back, and you have two gym days a week.

Box squats, hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts from standing and landmine presses keep heavy loading on your legs, glutes and shoulders while limiting depth and spinal bending. Two full-body days give each muscle group 6 to 7 sets a week at 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each day has 12 to 13 working sets and takes about 50 minutes.

Day 1
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Box Squat2 warm-up sets first 4 × 6–10 3 2:30 min
Landmine Press 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Hip Thrust 3 × 10–15 2 2 min
Barbell Row 3 × 8–12 2 2 min

Open Day 1 in the session builder

Day 2
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Romanian Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 8–10 3 2:30 min
Barbell Step-UpPer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
Barbell Bench Press 3 × 8–10 2 2:30 min
Hip Thrust 3 × 8–12 2 2 min

Open Day 2 in the session builder

How to run it
Leave two or three days between the sessions, for example Monday and Thursday. Set the box squat height where your knees and back feel fine, and lower it 2 to 3 cm at a time as long as they stay that way.
How to progress
Use double progression: work up to the top of the rep range at 2 reps in reserve, then add 2.5 kg. Lower the box before adding weight to the box squat if depth is your goal.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is the best barbell workout for women?

A full-body plan built on the squat, deadlift, hip thrust, bench press, overhead press and row, done two or three days a week. Women train the same lifts as men; the starting weights are just lighter.

How much should a beginner woman lift with a barbell?

Start with the empty bar, 15 or 20 kg (33 or 45 lb), and add weight each session until a set of 8 leaves you with 2 or 3 reps in reserve. That number is your starting weight; it is different for every lift.

Will lifting barbells make women bulky?

No. Muscle builds slowly over months of training, and you control how much you add by how you eat and train. What changes first is shape: firmer legs and glutes, more defined shoulders and arms.

Which barbell exercise is best for the chest?

The bench press. It trains your chest, the fronts of your shoulders and your triceps together, and you can add weight to it for years.

How many days a week should women lift barbells?

Two to four. Three full-body days suit beginners because you practice each lift often. Four days of upper and lower sessions suit you once each workout gets long.