How to Master the Deadlift

There’s a good chance you’ve heard how great the deadlift is for building muscle more times than you care to recall.

Yet, regardless of all the benefits, not many individuals are actually performing the deadlift. And of the ones that are, there aren’t many carrying it out correctly.

Keeping that in mind, here are a few of the most common deadlift form mistakes that I see during a workout session and how you can fix them.

Blunder 1: Rounding the lower back.

Rounding the spinal area leaves your back in an extremely vulnerable position. It can result in an injury, but not necessarily immediately.

Chances are you’ll know someone whose back “just went” when they were in the middle of a basic everyday task – lifting a pen from the floor or lifting a bag from the car.

Quite a few injuries to the spinal area are the result of small amounts of damage that’s gathered over time. And the apparently innocuous event that seemed to cause the injury was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.

You will find some disagreement concerning the advantages and disadvantages of rounding your back during the deadlift.

If, for instance, you’re practicing for something that involves lifting with a curved back (such as lifting the Atlas stones in a strength competitition) then a part of your training time should be spent using a rounded back in order to prepare you for the event. But it’s not a method I recommend for most people most of the time.

Stand close to a mirror sideways on with your top off. You’ll note that your back contains a series of curves. It’s important to retain this normal curve when you deadlift.

In other words, your lower back should be arched. It might not be described as a perfect arch, but it definitely shouldn’t be rounded either.

The right way to accomplish this is to keep the chest up, pull the shoulders back and look forward instead of up or down.

Blunder 2: Raising the bar by bringing up the hips ahead of the chest area.

When your knees begin to straighten before the barbell rises higher than them, the movement turns into a stiff-legged deadlift instead of a regular deadlift.

Make sure the bar remains close to your shins, concentrate on keeping the weight back on your heels (rather than your toes) and think of dragging the weight towards you as you straighten.

Don’t permit the bar to come out in front of you. It should remain near to the body, touching your upper thighs as you reach the top of the movement.

Removing your shoes or boots and deadlifting in your socks or some weightlifting shoes can also be beneficial.

Why does this help?

The fact that there’s zero padding inside the sole means that the feet are a little nearer the floor. This lessens the distance the barbell must be pulled, along with making it easier to hold the appropriate back position.

Since the heel isn’t compressible, it also offers you a stable position from which to drive up. This is usually a lot better than squatting in jogging shoes with mushy heels.

Blunder 3: Bouncing the bar off the floor in between each repetition.

The barbell must come to a complete pause in between each rep.

Having a small bounce can work if you’re sufficiently strong enough to hold the correct posture. However, most folks I watch making use of the “touch and go” approach find themselves rounding their spine.

Let the bar come to a complete rest in between every single repetition. When the bar is on the ground, take a second to reset your body posture and go through a quick mental checklist – chest up, upper back tight and eyes looking forward – just before lifting the barbell again.