Know Your Lifts: Deadlift

Best lift ever. The man maker. Check out this guy: Pavel Tsatsouline and his book, Beyond Bodybuilding: Muscle and Strength Training Secrets. He has many more books too, excellent resources. You will be a beast! Lift Heavy My Friends!

One quick note: Don’t drop the bar unless your setup allows it. If you’ve got thick padding to catch a normal olympic bar with iron weights, that works. Or if you have “bounce plates” (well, that’s what I know them as), which are larger than normal plates for the same weight, but are rubberized and able to be dropped without damaging the floor and/or the weights themselves.

I’d hate to see someone crack a floor, or a plate by throwing down iron 45s onto concrete.

You guys should make a poster series of the “Know your lifts” illustrations available for purchase. I’d enjoy having them on my gym wall.

I second Mike’s suggestion.

This is almost perfect. My only contention is that a conventional deadlift should be set up with the shoulders over the bar. What you’re describing here is the start of a clean.

Not bad but missing a few points – lats need to be locked back tight prior to the lift (or when you start lifting heavy weight you’ll have issues locking out), always take the ‘tension’ out of the bar before pulling (will prevent some strains, especially on your back) and toes should be pointed slightly out to prevent knees caving in (but this can also be due to a weakness in your glutes).
Everybody should deadlift, regardless of their goals.

i hate deadlifts but i love deadlifts. sounds ridiculous but if you use the deadlift in your routine you know what im saying.

@Ben: Shoulders in front of the bar is correct, the middle of the scapula should be directly over the bar. (Taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht363HslwnM)

Everyone of course lifts differently for there own reasons, here’s where my form differs from what’s illustrated:

Grip. I personally can’t encourage alternating grip. It’s an indication and cause of asymmetry, and just that simple turn of the wrist uses different muscles in the upper arm and shoulder. Use an overhand grip.

Shoulders. It is said to lift the chest, but not squeeze the shoulder blades. This can be misinterpreted. Shoulder blades should not be squeezed together, but your shoulders should be back. This will be done partially by lifting the chest, but you’ll still have to consciously make sure your shoulders aren’t too loose, which can lead to injuries.

Also, make sure to be extending your legs and back roughly simultaneously. The lift is one fluid motion, not a two-step straighten the knees, straighten the back process. Lowering the weight is simple the reverse of the lift.

Completely irresponsible to present dropping the bar as a viable alternative. The picture is suggestive of the idiocy of dropping the bar, but for the uninitiated, they may think dropping is actually kosher.

It is not. Do not drop the bar. You did not completely the lift if you drop it. A controlled descent is not only a useful component of the lift, but is also respectful of the equipment, the floor, and other gym users (if any).

Agree with other posts that a properly executed deadlift along with proper just-below-parallel squats are the backbone (literally) of any decent strength program.

One final nit, the back positioning is the absolutely key element in setup. You have it noted in the lift. At that point, if your back is not properly set and locked, it is too late, and rounding is inevitable. You cannot properly set the back mid-lift. The bar should not leave the floor unless the lower back is set. Again, for someone new to the movement, this diagram may give them a bad impression and lead to injury (in addition to damaged equipment/floor).

@rod I would recommend leaving the running shoes at home as well. Get something with a flat sole and a low heel. Vibram 5 fingers are my choice but a lot of folks like Chuck Taylors or Adidas Sambas.

Nice quick guide. I’m looking forward to more of these and the poster as well (although I still think that you guys should make a calisthenics poster as well). There are a few points I wanted to make, though.

1) The hip crease is very important in this movement. A mention that you should push your butt back and down on the descent and drive your hips forward during the lift would be helpful

2) Pointing out that the knees should bend in line with the toes and not be allowed to bow in is a very important performance/injury prevention tip worth repeating.

3) For heavy DL’s, it is very important to understand how to “brace” your body. Bracing works by tensing your ab and back muscles simultaneously while pushing your diaphragm down (breathing against your tense stomach) to increase intra-abdominal pressure. This causes a strong isometric contraction that prevents movement in your spine and stabilizes your body. It was probably too much to incorporate in a quick guide, but food for thought.

Great job nonetheless. I’m looking forward to the next lift!

Use a double overhand group. it makes your grip the limiting factor at first but your grip strength will catch up. If you have to use an alternating grip, swap grips each set.

The bar will be in contact with the shins; wear socks. or get used to bruised shins.

Don’t deadlift in sneakers or tennis shoes. I do barefoot (not ideal) or you can buy something with a solid sole that doesn’t slide. Cushy soles are not your friend for deads and squats.

I like my shoulders slightly over the bar, some prefer them dead even to the bar. I don’t think it matters over much.

Do not just drop the weight the whole distance. For the love of god, control your weight to at least some degree!

the neck should be neutral from the beginning of the lift to the end. “looking straight ahead” at the start of the lift causes you to arch your neck. this is bad.

@ben-
try lifting anything that’s “heavy” (make a video, side-view) and you’ll notice the weights won’t start moving upward until your shoulders are ahead of it. this is what naturally occurs. so, why not set up for it, right?

Actually low bar deadlift is better it actualy works your posterior chain more which is better for strength general athlete specific conditioning periodization supplemental lateral adductors

Beautiful technique on the mustache.

The shin bruises are a badge of honor.
Seriously, I hated getting those bruises, so I have switched to dumbbell deadlifts, holding them at my side. Better yet, your gym may have a machine that replicates this movement.

I’d disagree with Paul about the sneakers; some sneakers can be good. Don’t deadlift in running shoes, but something with little or no sole is fine. I usually lift in Converse. My boyfriend just takes his shoes off.

First powerlifting competition coming up in the spring, I’ll have to get some real wooden-soled lifting shoes…

That’s pretty ignorant James Rustle. I have a few American records in various powerlifting federations and am only 22 lbs off the world record across all federations in my weight class and I:

1. Have a pretty much permanent hole in my right shin due to torquing the bar with an over-under grip.
2. Wear special deadlift socks to avoid bleeding all over the barbell (required in most powerlifting federations)
3. Bicep tears can happen from mixed grip that usually results in bad form. I’ve held 850 lbs in my hand using a mixed grip with no bicep tear – focus on flexing the triceps and you dramatically reduce the risk of a bicep tear.

But what do I know….here’s to looking for a 4.25x BW deadlift in 2013.

dumbbell deadlifts just don’t do it once you get heavy; once you need more than about 300 lbs total weight good luck finding dumbbells big enough.

Greatest exercise ever. Deadlift should be the essence of anyone’s workout routine. Also the best lift to base bear routine on. Beginners should be careful, I know what I’m talking about, deadlift is a back destroyer, if you don’t do it properly.

Dropping the bar after the lift is perfectly acceptable in training. The most common injuries during DLs occur during the lowering part. The full lift, yes, is both the pick up and put down, but you can do more reps with less risk of injury if you drop the bar at the top. It IS, however, worth noting that you should only drop the bar if you’re on a platform and/or have bumper plates, otherwise you’ll destroy the floor and your equipment.

I love deadlifts…always want to go eat something red and bloody after I go for PRs on them.

These posts are always worth a chuckle. I’d bet at least half the people posting advice have never loaded four hundred pounds or more on a bar in their lives, but would feel confident telling someone else how to do something. Does that ever make you folks feel a little foolish?

I am 55. Been lifting for about 5 years. Dead lifts have been a big part of my routine for about 3 years. I had a knee replacement about 13 years ago so I was hesitant in the beginning about dead lifts. I started slowly, i only lift heavy about every 3-4 weeks. Today I did 425 with out much problem, my max is 435. In the future I do believe 500 is a possibility for me. I weight about 240.

I used to have a real problem where my butt would shoot into the air as I pulled the bar. This meant my shoulders were almost inline with my hips as the bar was about to leave the floor. As a result, my back took most of the torture. I’ve seen this as a common issue with MOST folks who try out the deadlift.

There’s two tips that helped improve my deadlift and it’s really simple.

LEAD WITH THE CHEST.& PUSH YOUR KNEES OUT.

Anyone having issues with a rounded back but remember these two things when you step to the bar and I guarantee you, your form will improve.

stay safe,

Dennis

A deadlift that is dropped is only half a lift. :x

Bench Press, please please!

Now I know how to do a deadlift with form.