Deadlift form guide

The 3 most common mistakes

• 01

  Hips shoot up before the bar leaves the floor.

  Turns the deadlift into a stiff-legged variant and dumps load onto the lower back.

• 02

  Bar drifts forward away from your shins.

  Any horizontal distance between you and the bar is a longer lever arm for your spine to support. Keep it close.

• 03

  Rounded lower back under load.

  Some upper-back rounding is fine on heavy pulls. A rounded lumbar spine is not. Stop, drop the weight, fix it.

The 3 cues that fix most of them

• 01

  Wedge yourself into the bar.

  Set up like you're squeezing into the position, not muscling it up. Chest up, shoulders behind the bar, lats tight.

• 02

  Push the floor away with your legs.

  The deadlift is more push than pull off the floor. Drive the legs, the bar follows.

• 03

  Squeeze the bar like you're bending it.

  Activates lats and locks your upper back into position. Stops the bar swinging forward.

Step by step setup

1. 01Stand with the bar over the middle of your foot. Feet hip-width, toes mostly forward.
2. 02Hinge at the hips and bend the knees to grip the bar just outside your legs.
3. 03Drop your hips until your shins lightly touch the bar. Don't roll the bar — move yourself to it.
4. 04Chest up, shoulders just in front of the bar, lats tight, big breath, brace.
5. 05Push the floor away. The bar should drag straight up your shins.
6. 06Stand all the way up. Hips and shoulders finish at the same time. No hyperextension at the top.
7. 07Lower with control by pushing hips back first, then bending the knees once the bar passes them.

Muscles worked

Primary

Glutes, Hamstrings, Spinal erectors

Secondary

Quads, Lats, Traps, Forearms (grip), Core

Beginner tips

• Start light. Form deteriorates faster on deadlift than on any other lift — there's no spotter that can help you mid-rep.
• Mixed grip (one palm forward, one back) helps with heavier loads. Balance which hand orients which way across sets.
• Reset between every rep until your form is rock-solid. Then you can start touch-and-go work.

Sources

1. Influence of the deadlift on dynamic stability and strength performance — Hales ME, Johnson BF, Johnson JT.. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2009).