Barbell Deadlift
This article will be about how to do the conventional deadlift. The deadlift is a compound, full-body lift that mainly will work your posterior chain. The will strengthen your,
- Hamstring
- Glutes
- Erectors spinae
- Grip
- Quads (to a lesser extent)
This article will be about how to do the conventional deadlift. The deadlift is a compound, full-body lift that mainly will work your posterior chain. The will strengthen your
Stance
A good place to start is to perform a vertical jump and see what stance width you naturally go with and use this stance to deadlift with. For most people, this will be around hip width. From here you can experiment and try out narrower and wider stances, but for most people this is a good stance to go with. Have your turned out feet out slightly.
The bar should be over the middle of your foot, which normally around an inch from your shins. The bar should go up in a vertical line. If it moves back when you performing the lift, you're starting with the bar too far away from you. Starting with the bar far away from you you will add extra strain to your lower back and you'll waste energy correcting the bar path on the way up.
Grip
You grip the bar with your hands just outside of your legs. As close as you can without pushing your knees in. Having your grip too wide
There are four ways to grip the bar.
-Double overhand grip
-Mixed grip
-Hook grip
-Straps
Double overhand grip: This won't be used by anyone who isn't a beginner as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much weight you can lift. You won't be able to hold enough weight to work the hamstrings, back, glutes etc. However, you can keep using it until grip becomes an issue.
Mixed grips: The mixed grip is where you have one hand over the bar, and one hand under the bar (one forearm supinated, and one pronated). This is a strong grip and will allow you to lift heavy weights. The negatives are that it can cause muscle imbalances. This can be solved by alternating which hands are over/under the bar. Another potential negative is it increases the chance of a nice tear with the arm that is supinated. If using this grip you need to ensure that you don't lift with your arms. Keep your arms straight.
Hook grip: A hook grip is another strong grip. With the hook grip, you grab the bar with a double overhand grip, and then you wrap your fingers around your thumb, pinning it between your fingers and the bar The positives it has over the mixed grip is that you don't have to have an arm supinated and so there isn't a risk of tearing a bicep. The negatives are that if you don't have long enough fingers you might struggle to do it. It also hurts. Eventually, you'll deaden the nerves in your thumb, but it will hurt in the time before this happens.
Straps: With straps, you can use a double overhand grip which prevents all the potential problems with mixed grips. The negatives are you won't be working your grip as much. However, you can always do grip work after which doesn't take much time. If you're a powerlifter I wouldn't wear straps as you aren't allowed to use them in competition.
Bracing, getting tight and pulling the slack out of the bar
Getting tight, bracing and creating full-body tension is important as it reduces the chance of injuring yourself and it allows you to lift the most weight. You need to be able to transfer the force into the bar through the torso. Make bracing and getting tight a priority when you're doing deadlifts.
Before every rep, you need to take a big diaphragmatic breath (breathing into your stomach/obliques) instead of breathing into your chest to create Intra-abdominal pressure. This helps protect your lower back. Your stomach should inflate out when doing this. If your chest and shoulders raise while you take your breath, you’re not doing it correctly.
You will hold this breath during the rep. If you need to exhale, do it at the top of the lift or with the bar resting on the ground between reps.
Contract your abs like you’re about to get punched in the stomach. This combined with taking a big breath will ensure you’re core is braced.
Pulling the slack out of the bar simply means that you have already put upward pressure on the barbell before you to lift the weight to create tension throughout the body. You should already be pulling the bar so when it’s still on the floor that adding that anymore force ill lift it off the floor. You shouldn't be jerking the bar off the floor. If you are, it means you're not pulling the slack out of the bar.
There should be tension through your whole body before you lift. You shouldn't feel relaxed at all.
Head position and where to look.
Try and keep your neck in line with your spine. I tend to look slightly down. Don't lift your head up to look up as doing this is asking for an injury.
Should I wear chalk?
Yes, if you're not wearing straps. Chalk will help prevent the bar from slipping out of your hands and improve your grip on the bar.
Touch and go vs Resetting between reps
Some people say you should always reset, but people have become big and strong using both methods.
Resetting allows you to keep every rep the same. It also gives you a chance to practise the set up for every rep, while with touch and go you'll only do the set up on the first rep.
Touch and go is a way of overloading the muscles as you'll be able to do more reps with the same weight. I've personally made my best progress doing touch d go deadlifts. Touch and go forces you to do the eccentric part of the exercise which is useful for building muscle. The main problem with touch and go is that most people will do it wrong and will bounce the weight up. You're only meant to lightly touch the floor before lifting it up. I wouldn't recommend touch and go to someone who hasn't been deadlifting for a long time.
Some benefits touch deadlifts are it will build you grip strength better as you'll be holding the bar for the whole rep. You'll have more time under tension which is good for building muscle
I get my clients to reset at the bottom before doing another rep.
How to deadlift
Step 1: Set your feet with the bar about an inch from the bar. The bar should be over the middle of the foot.
Step 2: To grab the bar, bend over by pushing your hips back with your knees unlocked. You should feel a stretch and tension in your hamstrings.
Step 3: Move your shins to the bar. Your hips should lower to the correct position.
Step 4: Lift your chest up and straighten your arms without lowering your hips. Pull the slack out of the bar as you lift your chest up and keep that tension on the bar. Your hamstrings would feel loaded and ready to pull. Squeeze the bar as hard as you can.
Step 5: Take your deep, diaphragmatic breath, tense your abs like you're about to take a punch to the stomach, and turn your elbows so they are pointing behind you. Push your hips further back, down, and pull your chest high.
Step 6: Pull the bar off the floor by pushing with your legs. Think about pushing the floor away instead of picking up the bar for the start of the lift. Drag the bar up your body.
Step 7: Once the bar is moving off the floor you want to push your hips through to lock out. Think shoulders back and hips forward. Don't hyperextend at the top of the lift. All you need to do to complete the lift is to lock out your hips and knees. Don't go beyond this.
There are other ways to set up for the deadlift, but this is a good way to start. Once you've been deadlifting for a while you can experiment with other ways to find what's the best way for you.
- Hamstring
- Glutes
- Erectors spinae
- Grip
- Quads (to a lesser extent)
Stance
A good place to start is to perform a vertical jump and see what stance width you naturally go with and use this stance to deadlift with. For most people, this will be around hip width. From here you can experiment and try out narrower and wider stances, but for most people this is a good stance to go with. Have your turned out feet out slightly.
The bar should be over the middle of your foot, which normally around an inch from your shins. The bar should go up in a vertical line. If it moves back when you performing the lift, you're starting with the bar too far away from you. Starting with the bar far away from you you will add extra strain to your lower back and you'll waste energy correcting the bar path on the way up.
Grip
You grip the bar with your hands just outside of your legs. As close as you can without pushing your knees in. Having your grip too wide
There are four ways to grip the bar.
-Double overhand grip
-Mixed grip
-Hook grip
-Straps
Double overhand grip: This won't be used by anyone who isn't a beginner as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much weight you can lift. You won't be able to hold enough weight to work the hamstrings, back, glutes etc. However, you can keep using it until grip becomes an issue.
Mixed grips: The mixed grip is where you have one hand over the bar, and one hand under the bar (one forearm supinated, and one pronated). This is a strong grip and will allow you to lift heavy weights. The negatives are that it can cause muscle imbalances. This can be solved by alternating which hands are over/under the bar. Another potential negative is it increases the chance of a nice tear with the arm that is supinated. If using this grip you need to ensure that you don't lift with your arms. Keep your arms straight.
Hook grip: A hook grip is another strong grip. With the hook grip, you grab the bar with a double overhand grip, and then you wrap your fingers around your thumb, pinning it between your fingers and the bar The positives it has over the mixed grip is that you don't have to have an arm supinated and so there isn't a risk of tearing a bicep. The negatives are that if you don't have long enough fingers you might struggle to do it. It also hurts. Eventually, you'll deaden the nerves in your thumb, but it will hurt in the time before this happens.
Straps: With straps, you can use a double overhand grip which prevents all the potential problems with mixed grips. The negatives are you won't be working your grip as much. However, you can always do grip work after which doesn't take much time. If you're a powerlifter I wouldn't wear straps as you aren't allowed to use them in competition.
Bracing, getting tight and pulling the slack out of the bar
Getting tight, bracing and creating full-body tension is important as it reduces the chance of injuring yourself and it allows you to lift the most weight. You need to be able to transfer the force into the bar through the torso. Make bracing and getting tight a priority when you're doing deadlifts.
Before every rep, you need to take a big diaphragmatic breath (breathing into your stomach/obliques) instead of breathing into your chest to create Intra-abdominal pressure. This helps protect your lower back. Your stomach should inflate out when doing this. If your chest and shoulders raise while you take your breath, you’re not doing it correctly.
You will hold this breath during the rep. If you need to exhale, do it at the top of the lift or with the bar resting on the ground between reps.
Contract your abs like you’re about to get punched in the stomach. This combined with taking a big breath will ensure you’re core is braced.
Pulling the slack out of the bar simply means that you have already put upward pressure on the barbell before you to lift the weight to create tension throughout the body. You should already be pulling the bar so when it’s still on the floor that adding that anymore force ill lift it off the floor. You shouldn't be jerking the bar off the floor. If you are, it means you're not pulling the slack out of the bar.
There should be tension through your whole body before you lift. You shouldn't feel relaxed at all.
Head position and where to look.
Try and keep your neck in line with your spine. I tend to look slightly down. Don't lift your head up to look up as doing this is asking for an injury.
Should I wear chalk?
Yes, if you're not wearing straps. Chalk will help prevent the bar from slipping out of your hands and improve your grip on the bar.
Touch and go vs Resetting between reps
Some people say you should always reset, but people have become big and strong using both methods.
Resetting allows you to keep every rep the same. It also gives you a chance to practise the set up for every rep, while with touch and go you'll only do the set up on the first rep.
Touch and go is a way of overloading the muscles as you'll be able to do more reps with the same weight. I've personally made my best progress doing touch d go deadlifts. Touch and go forces you to do the eccentric part of the exercise which is useful for building muscle. The main problem with touch and go is that most people will do it wrong and will bounce the weight up. You're only meant to lightly touch the floor before lifting it up. I wouldn't recommend touch and go to someone who hasn't been deadlifting for a long time.
Some benefits touch deadlifts are it will build you grip strength better as you'll be holding the bar for the whole rep. You'll have more time under tension which is good for building muscle
I get my clients to reset at the bottom before doing another rep.
How to deadlift
Step 1: Set your feet with the bar about an inch from the bar. The bar should be over the middle of the foot.
Step 2: To grab the bar, bend over by pushing your hips back with your knees unlocked. You should feel a stretch and tension in your hamstrings.
Step 3: Move your shins to the bar. Your hips should lower to the correct position.
Step 4: Lift your chest up and straighten your arms without lowering your hips. Pull the slack out of the bar as you lift your chest up and keep that tension on the bar. Your hamstrings would feel loaded and ready to pull. Squeeze the bar as hard as you can.
Step 5: Take your deep, diaphragmatic breath, tense your abs like you're about to take a punch to the stomach, and turn your elbows so they are pointing behind you. Push your hips further back, down, and pull your chest high.
Step 6: Pull the bar off the floor by pushing with your legs. Think about pushing the floor away instead of picking up the bar for the start of the lift. Drag the bar up your body.
Step 7: Once the bar is moving off the floor you want to push your hips through to lock out. Think shoulders back and hips forward. Don't hyperextend at the top of the lift. All you need to do to complete the lift is to lock out your hips and knees. Don't go beyond this.
There are other ways to set up for the deadlift, but this is a good way to start. Once you've been deadlifting for a while you can experiment with other ways to find what's the best way for you.
Deadlift
