Learning how to deadlift properly is extremely important. If your going to be performing deadlifts in your workouts (you should be!) you need to learn how to deadlift properly in order to prevent injuries and perform the exercise correctly. Performing an exercise with poor form is far less effective and will hinder your strength and muscle gains. Let me explain to you exactly how to deadlift properly!
How To Deadlift Properly
The deadlift is one of the best weight training exercises you can do. The deadlift works your back, Traps, legs, forearms as well as your grip strength. The biceps and abdominal muscles are also stimulated during the movement but to a far lesser extent. The deadlift movement is one of few weight training exercises that mimics real life situations. Take for example the bench press and compare it with the deadlift.
Both are great compounds movements which involve the use of numerous muscle groups but which one are you more likely to use in a real life situation? I imagine there are very few real life situations that will require you to bench press an object off your chest. On the other hand, the deadlift movement will be mimicked when picking any heavy object up off the floor. The grip strength you can build from deadlifts will also be useful for carrying or moving heavy objects.
How To Perform The Deadlift Properly
The deadlift is performed by picking the bar up from the floor whilst extending your hips and legs. Unfortunately its not quite that simple but thats a nice short version of how the deadlift is performed. Let me go into more detail on how to set up for the deadlift and how to actually perform the deadlift correctly.
Setting up for the deadlift. When setting up for the deadlift there are a few things you need to be doing/thinking about. These include:
Bar Position. When you walk up to the bar, position yourself so that the bar is directly under your shoe laces and close to your shins. The bar doesnt need to be touching your shins but should be reasonably close.
Foot Position. Feet need to be planted firmly on the floor with a shoulder width stance. Toes should also be pointing slightly out.
Body Position. Quite an obvious one but ensure you position your body in the middle of the bar so that when you grip it your lifting it evenly with each side.
Hand Position and Grip. Your hands should be positioned slightly wider than shoulder width. You dont need a really wide grip for deadlifts as this will make the movement feel uncomfortable. At the same time you dont need to be using a narrow grip either unless your looking to perform a variation of the deadlift. Ensure your hands are placed slightly wider than shoulder width apart otherwise your hands are going to brush your body throughout the movement.
When you go to grip the bar be sure to grip it close to your fingers. This basically means grip the bar in your hand just below the bottom of your fingers. The bar should not be on your fingers. Once you’ve done this give the bar a good squeeze and make sure it feels comfortable and ready to lift.
Head Position. You should always look forward when performing the deadlift. If you look up or down it will feel uncomfortable and you will probably end up straining something. Look forward for maximum comfort.
Chest Up. Once your gripping the bar with feet and hands in the correct position, looking forward with a rigid back (no rounding!), ensure to stick your chest up. This will prevent any rounding of your back keeping it in a nice tight and rigid position.
Arms Straight With Shoulder Blades Over Bar. Keep your arms straight at all times throughout the movement. Bending your arms can cause injury and can cause you to tear a bicep muscle. Keep those arms straight! With your arms straight your shoulder blades should now be positioned over the bar.
With all the above put into practice heres a picture of what you should now look like just before lifting the bar.
Performing The Deadlift. Once you’ve set up for the lift its now time to perform the movement by lifting the bar up off the floor until your legs are fully extended. This is done by pushing from the heels and bringing your hips forward. Things to remember:
Pull the bar in a straight line. This is the main point to remember. When your in the starting position with the bar nice and close to your body, lift the bar up in a straight line. keep it as close to your body as possible. It shouldnt be so close to your body that your scraping your shins on the way up, thats just painful. Keep it nice and close to your body and you will feel a lot more comfortable throughout the lift. The shortest distance the bar can travel is in a straight line. If the bar is not close to your body your making the lift a lot harder for yourself and risking injury.
Push from the heels. A good way of executing the deadlift movement is to focus on pushing from your heels. Try and concentrate on pushing the floor away from you while keeping everything else tight. Pushing from the heels will make you bring your hips forward.
Fully extend your legs and lock out. To complete the movement you need to fully extend your legs so knees and hips are locked in a complete upright position. A lot of people will over exagerate the locking out phase of the deadlift and lean back at the end of the movement and shrug the weight up. This isnt entirely necessary but if it feels natural for you to do it then do it. A slight lean back is ok, shrugging the weight up however does not need to be done. When your legs are fully extended with knees and hips locked you will look something like this:
Lowering the bar. Once the movement is completed you need to return the bar back to the starting position on the floor. That doesnt mean drop it or throw yourself back down to the floor! Heres how to do it:
Flex at the hips. Flex your hips to begin lowering the weight down towards the floor.
Keep chest up, back straight and look forward. Just as you lifted the bar, keep your chest up, shoulders back and look forward at all times. No rounding in the back!
Keep bar close to your body. Continue keeping the bar close to your body as you flex your hips and begin lowering the weight. The bar should actually brush down your thighs as you lower the weight. This will help keep the bar travelling down in that imaginery straight line.
Keep arms completely straight. As you lower the bar down your thighs remember to keep your arms straight.
Lastly, bend your knees. Once the bar is just below knee level bend your knees. Keeping the bar travelling down in that imaginery straight line, return the bar to the floor.
Altogether the start, middle and end movements should look something like this:
A Few Notes On The Deadlift
Straps. A lot of people like to use straps on the deadlift. In my opinion you should try and deadlift without straps. This will help build grip strength and will allow you to grip heavier weights overtime. If you keep using straps every deadlift session your grip is not going to develop like it should. Only use straps if you have wrist problems or are going for a max lift. If you need help gripping the bar try using an alternate grip (one hand using an overhand grip and the other using an underhand grip). Chalk can also be useful if your gym has it.
Belts. Belts should be used if you have previous experience of back injuries or lifting extremely heavy weight/attempting a max lift. Apart from those reasons its always good to lift without a belt. A belt will help you lift more so if your body allows it try lifting without one. If your wary of lifting heavy weight without a belt then by all means wear one but try not to wear one all the time if possible. Belts are often personal preference. Im not saying you cant get stronger and progress in your training while wearing a belt because you can. Just dont rely too much on a belt.
Shoes. When performing the deadlift you will want a pair off hard sole shoes. This helps power transfer when your driving up through your heels during the lift. Do not wear running shoes when deadlifting. If you want to you can deadlift barefooted or with socks on. This can make the lift feel a lot more comfortable so feel free to try it!
Bar Height. The deadlift should always start with the bar at mid shin level. If the weight plates you are using are too small to allow the bar to rest on the floor at mid shin level then try placing weight plates or a block of wood at either side of the bar to elevate it. Another alternative is to pick the bar up off the floor for the first rep (even though the bar is not at mid shin level) and then instead of placing the weight back down on the floor after each rep, stop at mid shin level and raise the bar straight back up. This way may be slightly harder and require you to use less weight but its a great way to keep the tension on your muscles throughout the whole movement.
A Video Demonstrating How To Perform The Deadlift
I think I’ve covered most things relating to the deadlift and how to perform it properly but just to ensure there’s no more confusion take a look at the video below. To perform the deadlift properly pay close attention to all the above information as well as the video below and you should be able to nail the form in no time. Enjoy!
