How to Deadlift: An Introductory Guide
What is a Deadlift?
A deadlift is a barbell movement where the lifter bends down and picks up a loaded barbell from the floor. It is one of the purest tests of real world strength and an important piece of any lifter or athlete’s training arsenal. As simple as the deadlift may seem, however, it must be executed and programmed in a very specific manner or it will take from you more than it will give back. Injuries, overtraining, and even stunted progress can occur if proper attention is not paid.
Deadlift Standards
For competitive purposes, deadlift standards don’t have a connotation of safety or efficiency. In powerlifting, the only deadlift standards outlined are that the lifter must stand up with the hips locked and shoulders back and that the lifter cannot hitch the deadlift to lockout. Strongman and Crossfit are a bit more straightforward; locking out the weight by any means, especially a hitch, is perfectly acceptable.
It is in the lifters best interest to enforce their own standards, however, so that training is optimized and injury is avoided. As a rule with all deadlifts, the lower back should remain neutral and the upper back should not round excessively. If you cannot meet these basic deadlift standards, then the weight is too heavy and should be lowered immediately. The bar should remain as close to the legs as possible and the arms should remain straight through the entire lift. I am addressing these technical points early because they are common mistakes I see with over eager newbies and are the quickest way to a herniated disc, torn erector, or detached bicep.
For competitive purposes, deadlift standards don’t have a connotation of safety or efficiency. In powerlifting, the only deadlift standards outlined are that the lifter must stand up with the hips locked and shoulders back and that the lifter cannot hitch the deadlift to lockout. Strongman and Crossfit are a bit more straightforward; locking out the weight by any means, especially a hitch, is perfectly acceptable.
It is in the lifters best interest to enforce their own standards, however, so that training is optimized and injury is avoided. As a rule with all deadlifts, the lower back should remain neutral and the upper back should not round excessively. If you cannot meet these basic deadlift standards, then the weight is too heavy and should be lowered immediately. The bar should remain as close to the legs as possible and the arms should remain straight through the entire lift. I am addressing these technical points early because they are common mistakes I see with over eager newbies and are the quickest way to a herniated disc, torn erector, or detached bicep.
What Muscles Do Deadlifts Work?
What muscles do deadlifts work/do deadlifts work- Muscles worked by the deadlift include (but are not limited to) the quads, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, abdominals, lats, traps, rhomboids, and rear delts. Just like a squat, this is a list of the largest muscles in the human body plus a few extra. What are typically considered the ‘deadlift muscles’ are those that comprise the posterior chain and these take the brunt of the work: while the deadlift won’t necessarily build an impressive set of quads, the deadlift will definitely add muscle mass to the hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, and even the lats.
Leverages
Even though the deadlift appears to be a relatively non-technical exercise, it actually has a long check list of technical cues that must be followed so that a.) strength and size gains are optimized along with performance and b.) injury is avoided. This list of deadlift form cues grows longer and more complex as different body types and leverages are considered. Long legs make it difficult to squat down, because the knees are put in the way of a vertical bar path, whereas a stockier lifter will have no problem squatting into the bar and getting a strong break off the ground because of it. Longer arms will greatly shorten the distance a lifter has to bend down to grab the bar, which provides a massive leverage advantage at the start of the lift. Shorter arms will force the lifter to bend down farther to grasp the bar, increasing the distance that must be cleared and putting the lifter in a much weaker starting position. There are plenty of options when it comes to optimal deadlift form setup, but each unique physical trait the lifter possesses narrows the list.
Conventional Deadlift vs Sumo Deadlift
The difference between a conventional deadlift and a sumo deadlift is that conventional deadlifts place the lifters feet inside of their hands whereas the sumo deadlift has the lifters feet far outside of their hands, even positioned close to the plates on the inside of the barbell. A conventional deadlift is associated more with being a feat of strength, since the lifter will start bent over and pull the bar through a more substantial range of motion. Placing the feat out wide in a sumo deadlift will allow the lifter to stay more upright at the start and pull the bar through a shorter range of motion. This can be a huge advantage to longer limbed lifters, some of which start the lift completely upright and lock the bar out across their knees.
As a training tool, the sumo is a valuable exercise in strengthening the hips and keeping the posterior chain well rounded, although conventional deadlifts will likely result in more substantial strength and mass gains overall. As a feat of strength, in my opinion the sumo fails. Consider that barbell sports are unique in that the standards of performance change for each lifter. All throwers, sprinters, high jumpers, and swimmers are scored using the same metric of output, while the distance the weight travels in a powerlifting meet changes based on technical setup and leverages of the athlete moving the weight. A short lifter who squats the bar 5 inches is rated the same as a 7’ tall lifter who squats the bar 3 feet, even though exponentially more work was done in the latter. While the letter of the sport of powerlifting may allow for large deviations in output from lifter to lifter, like with an overarched bench that results in a 3” range of motion (yes, this happens), the heart of the sport is an exhibition of strength.
The fact is, it is an entirely different thing to bend over at the waist and pull a large weight through a substantial range of motion than it is to put the feet 50 inches apart, stay completely upright, and lockout a weight over the kneecaps a mere 8” above the ground (yes, this also happens). This is not a critique of lifters who pull sumo as not being strong, but rather an acknowledgement that it is a different lift being contested entirely. A powerlifting meet that pits conventional deadlift vs sumo deadlift is like a bench press meets that allows lifters to substitute a weighted dip.
It is also worth mentioning that Strongman doesn’t permit sumo in competition, which is telling because the sport contains every single current 1,000+lb deadlifter in the world. This should give a clue about the development that comes from years of heavy conventional pulls. My recommendation is that conventional deadlifts be learned and trained consistently by new lifters since they will carry over more to other activities and result in more impressive strength development, similar to how a bodybuilding style bench press will contribute more to upper body mass gains than a powerlifting style bench press. As sumo deadlifts become integrated into the lifter’s accessory work, it will become clear whether or not this is a much more optimal setup for moving maximal loads (to be clear, it isn’t for everyone). If this is the case, powerlifting meet prep should prioritize the development of the sumo pull as a skill, while keeping conventional pulls as a staple accessory movement.
The difference between a conventional deadlift and a sumo deadlift is that conventional deadlifts place the lifters feet inside of their hands whereas the sumo deadlift has the lifters feet far outside of their hands, even positioned close to the plates on the inside of the barbell. A conventional deadlift is associated more with being a feat of strength, since the lifter will start bent over and pull the bar through a more substantial range of motion. Placing the feat out wide in a sumo deadlift will allow the lifter to stay more upright at the start and pull the bar through a shorter range of motion. This can be a huge advantage to longer limbed lifters, some of which start the lift completely upright and lock the bar out across their knees.
As a training tool, the sumo is a valuable exercise in strengthening the hips and keeping the posterior chain well rounded, although conventional deadlifts will likely result in more substantial strength and mass gains overall. As a feat of strength, in my opinion the sumo fails. Consider that barbell sports are unique in that the standards of performance change for each lifter. All throwers, sprinters, high jumpers, and swimmers are scored using the same metric of output, while the distance the weight travels in a powerlifting meet changes based on technical setup and leverages of the athlete moving the weight. A short lifter who squats the bar 5 inches is rated the same as a 7’ tall lifter who squats the bar 3 feet, even though exponentially more work was done in the latter. While the letter of the sport of powerlifting may allow for large deviations in output from lifter to lifter, like with an overarched bench that results in a 3” range of motion (yes, this happens), the heart of the sport is an exhibition of strength.
The fact is, it is an entirely different thing to bend over at the waist and pull a large weight through a substantial range of motion than it is to put the feet 50 inches apart, stay completely upright, and lockout a weight over the kneecaps a mere 8” above the ground (yes, this also happens). This is not a critique of lifters who pull sumo as not being strong, but rather an acknowledgement that it is a different lift being contested entirely. A powerlifting meet that pits conventional deadlift vs sumo deadlift is like a bench press meets that allows lifters to substitute a weighted dip.
It is also worth mentioning that Strongman doesn’t permit sumo in competition, which is telling because the sport contains every single current 1,000+lb deadlifter in the world. This should give a clue about the development that comes from years of heavy conventional pulls. My recommendation is that conventional deadlifts be learned and trained consistently by new lifters since they will carry over more to other activities and result in more impressive strength development, similar to how a bodybuilding style bench press will contribute more to upper body mass gains than a powerlifting style bench press. As sumo deadlifts become integrated into the lifter’s accessory work, it will become clear whether or not this is a much more optimal setup for moving maximal loads (to be clear, it isn’t for everyone). If this is the case, powerlifting meet prep should prioritize the development of the sumo pull as a skill, while keeping conventional pulls as a staple accessory movement.
Proper Deadlift Form: Conventional
Benefits of Conventional Deadlifts as a Training Tool
As touched on before, the benefits of conventional deadlifts are more dramatic mass gains and more versatile strength. Bending over at the waist to pick up a heavy load off the ground is about as close to the definition of ‘functional strength’ as you can get. The hamstrings and glutes are worked by extending the hip through a wide range of motion while the abdominals and back muscles are strained to maintain posture under a load in a disadvantaged bent over position. This provides immense carryover to other athletic activities as well as other feats of strength, like heavy bag or keg carries, farmer and yoke walks, and stone loading. It is even common for bodybuiders to prioritize a conventional deadlift for back workouts, since the movement is so taxing on the muscles of the upper back.
Benefits of Conventional Deadlifts as a Competitive Lift
Conventional deadlifts are one of the oldest and purest feats of strength. From a philosophical standpoint, I believe it has more value as a feat of strength than it’s sumo counterpart, but if you are training for strongman, it isn’t even an issue. From the standpoint of a coach who trains powerlifters to win meets, lifters will lift the most in the setup they train most often with rare exception, and for someone training to develop strength under my programming, this will always be in a conventional stance.
Foot Position
Proper deadlift form begins with foot position. Conventional setups dictate that the feet setup inside of the hands, but this still leaves a wide list of options. The mammoths that routinely deadlift over 1,000lbs off the ground at the upper echelons of Strongman (Pritchett, Hall, Shaw, Thor, etc.) seem to always favor a wider conventional setup with the hands wider than what is typically seen. In a podcast interview, I heard American deadlift record holder (1,026lbs) Jerry Pritchett talk about treating the conventional deadlift as a ‘push’ with the legs more than a ‘pull’ with the back. Even though bro-physics says that a wider stance and grip require the lifter to bend over more, which is a disadvantage, the thought process is that it allows the lower back to stay braced in a better position and optimize the muscles of the hips to give a big ‘push’ to break the weight off the ground. Something must be working, because more 1,000+lb deadlifts have been pulled like this than not.
Examples of other monster Conventional pullers, like Pete Rubish and Tom Martin (both 900+lb pullers around 242lbs), show a preference for a very narrow stance, with their deadlift foot position at or inside the hips. Rubish sets up with his hips higher and definitely ‘pulls’ rather than pushes, but is very successful this way, whereas Martin sits in a happy medium, with the load distributed pretty evenly between his hip and knee. All of this reinforces how many different setups are viable based on the individual lifter. My recommendation is that more upright/squatted down conventional pullers adopt a slightly wider stance while more bent over/high-hipped lifters keep their feet closer together.
If you are at a loss for which style suits you, begin with your feet and shoulder width. Only time and experimentation will allow you to find your ideal deadlift foot position.
Deadlift Hand Position
Hand position in a deadlift will almost entirely depend on the width of your feet. The wider you have to grab the bar, the more bent over you must start. While wide grip or snatch grip deads are a butt kicker, they are not ideal for optimizing weight pulled in a training session or in a meet. As a general rule, the hands should be as close to the legs as possible at the starting position. When I gear up for a big pull, I like to push my knees into my elbows to engage the glutes before I start. This only works, however, if my arms are right outside of my legs so I use it as a cue to grab the bar closer. Very close stance deadlifters will grab the bar on the very inside of the knurling, or even on the smooth. Wide stance conventional deadlifters can have their hands as far as the ring, depending on how wide their foot position is.
Deadlift Grip
You have three options for a deadlift grip: a mixed or over-under grip, a hood grip, or lifting straps. Assuming you plan on doing a powerlifting meet sometime, or just want to develop some amount of grip strength, the mixed grip is going to be your best bet. As you lower yourself to grab the bar, one hand (typically your weak hand) is turned under with the palm up and the other hand remains over the bar. This setup increases the amount of torque, and thereby friction, of your hands on the bar which greatly improves your ability to hold on to weight. I recommend practicing this early, since you want your bicep tendons to adapt to this position before you have to attempt a 700lb deadlift. Resist the urge to pull with your arms, as this can cause a severe bicep tear.
ince the mixed deadlift grip makes the shoulders uneven, takes a bit of time to set in, and has a slight potential for bicep issues, hook grip has become more popular recently. Initially used by Olympic lifters to grip the bar while keeping their elbows loose for a fast turnover in a clean and snatch, it is not uncommon for 8-900lb deadlifts to be done with a hook grip. With this setup, the thumb is wrapped deep under the bar and the forefinger and middle finger are wrapped around it, essentially using your thumb as a lifting strap. The advantage here is that the bar can be grabbed quicker, the shoulders stay even, and the bicep tendon is no longer at risk (though this injury is rare in a deadlift). The disadvantage is that it doesn’t work as well on thick bars, takes time to get comfortable with, and will tear your thumbs up in the meantime. If this interests you, incorporate it on your warm up sets and switch to mixed grip or straps when it becomes unbearable.
The last option, straps, are great for training heavy pulls and strongman contests where they are occasionally allowed. The drawback is that consistent use of straps can weaken the deadlift grip. There is no worse feeling than crushing big weights in training only to realize you can’t hold on to the weight in a powerlifting meet. I recommend straps be used sparingly in training, especially in the beginning stages of lifting, since going for a heavy mixed grip pull after months of strapped deadlifting is asking for trouble.
Hip Position
With your feet set and hands on the bar, the task is to set your hips at the point that offers the strongest break off the ground. For lifters with short legs and big squats, the lower the better. For lifters with long legs, strong hamstrings, and a stronger back, a higher hip position tends to be better. The main test of whether your hips are in a proper deadlift position will be a.) how strong you feel out of the hole and b.) how straight you can keep your back. I can’t emphasize enough: posture is more difficult to maintain with a high hip position, so be vigilante! Spinal injuries can take 3-6 months to bounce back from and will make you miserable in the meantime.
Posture
Keeping a neutral spine in a deadlift is extremely important. Back in my idiot teen years, I thought the only thing that mattered was taking the weight from point A to point B. I was already disadvantaged with short limbs and a long torso that had trouble staying straight (think long fishing pole pulling a big fish), but pulled with maximum effort regardless. All it took was one injury when I was 18…. Then a half dozen others followed.
As I sit here now, I am facing the opposite problem; years of fearing injury led me to OVER arch my back before pulling, pre-stretching my glutes and hamstrings and leading to an anterior pelvic tilt. The point is not for the low back to be arched like a stripper, but for the spine to be neutral. What many new lifters will face is a difficulty executing a proper hip hinge in the beginning; that is, keeping your glutes and abs tight, your lumbar spine neutral (not rounded or over arched), and hinging at just the hip without changing posture.
With the hands on the bar, elongate your spine by pushing your butt back and locking your shoulder blades together. Your spine should follow a natural curve without one are being overly flexed or arched. Note that some lifters pull with a rounded upper back; this follows the natural curve of the upper back and does not pose nearly the threat that rounding the lower back does. If you feel any forward curve in the lower back, shut it down immediately!
Breathing
Before the weight is pulled off the ground, the abs should be braced around a belly full of air, just like all other heavy barbell lifts. There are two options: a.) taking a deep breath while standing up and diving down to the bar to pull or b.) getting the hands on the bar, hips set, and then taking a breath. The main difference is that option a. allows for more air to be taken in which causes noticeably more stability at the start of the lift(and potentially, stars and nose bleeds). The disadvantage is that you have to grip and rip; too much time getting set up while holding your breath is a recipe for blacking out.
I recommend taking care of the positioning points first and getting your air once you feel locked in. As your deadlift setup becomes second nature, the ‘big breath and dive’ technique can be practiced more effectively. For reps, always remember air is gotten at the top of the lift. Exhale upon lockout and take your next big breath before descending again into the next rep.
Breaking Off the Ground
With a lower hip, wider deadlift stance, the break off the floor comes from a violent ‘push’ of the legs, almost like a squat but with the bar in your hands. A higher hip, narrow deadlift stance tend to rely on a ‘pull’ from the hamstrings and glutes. The important point with each deadlift technique is that all previous steps are met, that your belly is full of air, and you are tight, braced, and ready to handle a monumental effort.
The biggest recommendation I can give on deadlift starting position is to never jerk the weight off the ground. This will typically lead to a deviation from the optimal starting position and cause one or more structures to fail prematurely, leading to a rounded back and a failed lift. Keep the elbows locked and pump your hips down and forward into position, bringing your shins into contact with the bar. Once you have your air and are mentally ready to let it fly, pump them one more time… and let it fly
Locking It Out
The deadlift ascent hinges entirely on maintaining posture, hip angle, and keeping the bar directly in contact with your legs. One of my biggest cues in pulling a heavy deadlift is to scrape the shins. If at any point there is distance between the bar and your legs, you have failed. A useful strategy is to tie a small band from a weight or kettlebell to the bar so that it pulls the bar in front of you as you pull. This will cue you to actively engage the lats and keep the bar against your shins in a deadlift. If you have ever wondered why deadlift socks are required at powerlifting meets, it’s because proficient lifters turn the deadlift bar into a cheese grater and their shins into cheddar. As you gear up to break the bar off the ground, pull the bar back through your shin.
Once it passes the knee, the lift is over; just push the hips through. One of the bigger mistakes made by inexperienced deadlifters is to miss the lift at lockout by pulling ‘up’ and not pushing the hips forward. Imagine someone is standing behind you. Once the bar gets to your knees, this stranger kicks you directly in the butt, forcing your hips into the bar and your body upright. This is a proper deadlift lockout.
Putting It Down
When a deadlift is done for reps, you have two options: touch-and-go (bounce reps, as some call it) or dead stop reps. Touch and go is better for jacking up the intensity of the set since the main movers have no time to rest. I also find it appropriate for high rep sets, where resetting the weight each time would simply take too long. Dead stop reps, however, are more specific to most deadlift contests where the weight is broken from a dead stop (thus, deadlift). There are plenty of touch and go artists who can bounce their way through a set of 5 with 95%, but being able to get an aggressive break off the ground takes practice. If reps are never performed from a dead stop, speed and power off the ground will eventually suffer and become a weak point.
For a touch and go rep, set your posture at the top, get your air, push the hips back, and slowly drag the bar down your legs the way you came up. Do not aggressively bounce the bar, rather tap the ground lightly and reverse direction. For dead stop reps, this point is less important. Energy is saved when the lift is lowered in a controlled drop with your hands still glued to the bar. Roll the bar back into position, reset the hips, and pull again.
Benefits of Conventional Deadlifts as a Training Tool
As touched on before, the benefits of conventional deadlifts are more dramatic mass gains and more versatile strength. Bending over at the waist to pick up a heavy load off the ground is about as close to the definition of ‘functional strength’ as you can get. The hamstrings and glutes are worked by extending the hip through a wide range of motion while the abdominals and back muscles are strained to maintain posture under a load in a disadvantaged bent over position. This provides immense carryover to other athletic activities as well as other feats of strength, like heavy bag or keg carries, farmer and yoke walks, and stone loading. It is even common for bodybuiders to prioritize a conventional deadlift for back workouts, since the movement is so taxing on the muscles of the upper back.
Benefits of Conventional Deadlifts as a Competitive Lift
Conventional deadlifts are one of the oldest and purest feats of strength. From a philosophical standpoint, I believe it has more value as a feat of strength than it’s sumo counterpart, but if you are training for strongman, it isn’t even an issue. From the standpoint of a coach who trains powerlifters to win meets, lifters will lift the most in the setup they train most often with rare exception, and for someone training to develop strength under my programming, this will always be in a conventional stance.
Foot Position
Proper deadlift form begins with foot position. Conventional setups dictate that the feet setup inside of the hands, but this still leaves a wide list of options. The mammoths that routinely deadlift over 1,000lbs off the ground at the upper echelons of Strongman (Pritchett, Hall, Shaw, Thor, etc.) seem to always favor a wider conventional setup with the hands wider than what is typically seen. In a podcast interview, I heard American deadlift record holder (1,026lbs) Jerry Pritchett talk about treating the conventional deadlift as a ‘push’ with the legs more than a ‘pull’ with the back. Even though bro-physics says that a wider stance and grip require the lifter to bend over more, which is a disadvantage, the thought process is that it allows the lower back to stay braced in a better position and optimize the muscles of the hips to give a big ‘push’ to break the weight off the ground. Something must be working, because more 1,000+lb deadlifts have been pulled like this than not.
Examples of other monster Conventional pullers, like Pete Rubish and Tom Martin (both 900+lb pullers around 242lbs), show a preference for a very narrow stance, with their deadlift foot position at or inside the hips. Rubish sets up with his hips higher and definitely ‘pulls’ rather than pushes, but is very successful this way, whereas Martin sits in a happy medium, with the load distributed pretty evenly between his hip and knee. All of this reinforces how many different setups are viable based on the individual lifter. My recommendation is that more upright/squatted down conventional pullers adopt a slightly wider stance while more bent over/high-hipped lifters keep their feet closer together.
If you are at a loss for which style suits you, begin with your feet and shoulder width. Only time and experimentation will allow you to find your ideal deadlift foot position.
Deadlift Hand Position
Hand position in a deadlift will almost entirely depend on the width of your feet. The wider you have to grab the bar, the more bent over you must start. While wide grip or snatch grip deads are a butt kicker, they are not ideal for optimizing weight pulled in a training session or in a meet. As a general rule, the hands should be as close to the legs as possible at the starting position. When I gear up for a big pull, I like to push my knees into my elbows to engage the glutes before I start. This only works, however, if my arms are right outside of my legs so I use it as a cue to grab the bar closer. Very close stance deadlifters will grab the bar on the very inside of the knurling, or even on the smooth. Wide stance conventional deadlifters can have their hands as far as the ring, depending on how wide their foot position is.
Deadlift Grip
You have three options for a deadlift grip: a mixed or over-under grip, a hood grip, or lifting straps. Assuming you plan on doing a powerlifting meet sometime, or just want to develop some amount of grip strength, the mixed grip is going to be your best bet. As you lower yourself to grab the bar, one hand (typically your weak hand) is turned under with the palm up and the other hand remains over the bar. This setup increases the amount of torque, and thereby friction, of your hands on the bar which greatly improves your ability to hold on to weight. I recommend practicing this early, since you want your bicep tendons to adapt to this position before you have to attempt a 700lb deadlift. Resist the urge to pull with your arms, as this can cause a severe bicep tear.
ince the mixed deadlift grip makes the shoulders uneven, takes a bit of time to set in, and has a slight potential for bicep issues, hook grip has become more popular recently. Initially used by Olympic lifters to grip the bar while keeping their elbows loose for a fast turnover in a clean and snatch, it is not uncommon for 8-900lb deadlifts to be done with a hook grip. With this setup, the thumb is wrapped deep under the bar and the forefinger and middle finger are wrapped around it, essentially using your thumb as a lifting strap. The advantage here is that the bar can be grabbed quicker, the shoulders stay even, and the bicep tendon is no longer at risk (though this injury is rare in a deadlift). The disadvantage is that it doesn’t work as well on thick bars, takes time to get comfortable with, and will tear your thumbs up in the meantime. If this interests you, incorporate it on your warm up sets and switch to mixed grip or straps when it becomes unbearable.
The last option, straps, are great for training heavy pulls and strongman contests where they are occasionally allowed. The drawback is that consistent use of straps can weaken the deadlift grip. There is no worse feeling than crushing big weights in training only to realize you can’t hold on to the weight in a powerlifting meet. I recommend straps be used sparingly in training, especially in the beginning stages of lifting, since going for a heavy mixed grip pull after months of strapped deadlifting is asking for trouble.
Hip Position
With your feet set and hands on the bar, the task is to set your hips at the point that offers the strongest break off the ground. For lifters with short legs and big squats, the lower the better. For lifters with long legs, strong hamstrings, and a stronger back, a higher hip position tends to be better. The main test of whether your hips are in a proper deadlift position will be a.) how strong you feel out of the hole and b.) how straight you can keep your back. I can’t emphasize enough: posture is more difficult to maintain with a high hip position, so be vigilante! Spinal injuries can take 3-6 months to bounce back from and will make you miserable in the meantime.
Posture
Keeping a neutral spine in a deadlift is extremely important. Back in my idiot teen years, I thought the only thing that mattered was taking the weight from point A to point B. I was already disadvantaged with short limbs and a long torso that had trouble staying straight (think long fishing pole pulling a big fish), but pulled with maximum effort regardless. All it took was one injury when I was 18…. Then a half dozen others followed.
As I sit here now, I am facing the opposite problem; years of fearing injury led me to OVER arch my back before pulling, pre-stretching my glutes and hamstrings and leading to an anterior pelvic tilt. The point is not for the low back to be arched like a stripper, but for the spine to be neutral. What many new lifters will face is a difficulty executing a proper hip hinge in the beginning; that is, keeping your glutes and abs tight, your lumbar spine neutral (not rounded or over arched), and hinging at just the hip without changing posture.
With the hands on the bar, elongate your spine by pushing your butt back and locking your shoulder blades together. Your spine should follow a natural curve without one are being overly flexed or arched. Note that some lifters pull with a rounded upper back; this follows the natural curve of the upper back and does not pose nearly the threat that rounding the lower back does. If you feel any forward curve in the lower back, shut it down immediately!
Breathing
Before the weight is pulled off the ground, the abs should be braced around a belly full of air, just like all other heavy barbell lifts. There are two options: a.) taking a deep breath while standing up and diving down to the bar to pull or b.) getting the hands on the bar, hips set, and then taking a breath. The main difference is that option a. allows for more air to be taken in which causes noticeably more stability at the start of the lift(and potentially, stars and nose bleeds). The disadvantage is that you have to grip and rip; too much time getting set up while holding your breath is a recipe for blacking out.
I recommend taking care of the positioning points first and getting your air once you feel locked in. As your deadlift setup becomes second nature, the ‘big breath and dive’ technique can be practiced more effectively. For reps, always remember air is gotten at the top of the lift. Exhale upon lockout and take your next big breath before descending again into the next rep.
Breaking Off the Ground
With a lower hip, wider deadlift stance, the break off the floor comes from a violent ‘push’ of the legs, almost like a squat but with the bar in your hands. A higher hip, narrow deadlift stance tend to rely on a ‘pull’ from the hamstrings and glutes. The important point with each deadlift technique is that all previous steps are met, that your belly is full of air, and you are tight, braced, and ready to handle a monumental effort.
The biggest recommendation I can give on deadlift starting position is to never jerk the weight off the ground. This will typically lead to a deviation from the optimal starting position and cause one or more structures to fail prematurely, leading to a rounded back and a failed lift. Keep the elbows locked and pump your hips down and forward into position, bringing your shins into contact with the bar. Once you have your air and are mentally ready to let it fly, pump them one more time… and let it fly
Locking It Out
The deadlift ascent hinges entirely on maintaining posture, hip angle, and keeping the bar directly in contact with your legs. One of my biggest cues in pulling a heavy deadlift is to scrape the shins. If at any point there is distance between the bar and your legs, you have failed. A useful strategy is to tie a small band from a weight or kettlebell to the bar so that it pulls the bar in front of you as you pull. This will cue you to actively engage the lats and keep the bar against your shins in a deadlift. If you have ever wondered why deadlift socks are required at powerlifting meets, it’s because proficient lifters turn the deadlift bar into a cheese grater and their shins into cheddar. As you gear up to break the bar off the ground, pull the bar back through your shin.
Once it passes the knee, the lift is over; just push the hips through. One of the bigger mistakes made by inexperienced deadlifters is to miss the lift at lockout by pulling ‘up’ and not pushing the hips forward. Imagine someone is standing behind you. Once the bar gets to your knees, this stranger kicks you directly in the butt, forcing your hips into the bar and your body upright. This is a proper deadlift lockout.
Putting It Down
When a deadlift is done for reps, you have two options: touch-and-go (bounce reps, as some call it) or dead stop reps. Touch and go is better for jacking up the intensity of the set since the main movers have no time to rest. I also find it appropriate for high rep sets, where resetting the weight each time would simply take too long. Dead stop reps, however, are more specific to most deadlift contests where the weight is broken from a dead stop (thus, deadlift). There are plenty of touch and go artists who can bounce their way through a set of 5 with 95%, but being able to get an aggressive break off the ground takes practice. If reps are never performed from a dead stop, speed and power off the ground will eventually suffer and become a weak point.
For a touch and go rep, set your posture at the top, get your air, push the hips back, and slowly drag the bar down your legs the way you came up. Do not aggressively bounce the bar, rather tap the ground lightly and reverse direction. For dead stop reps, this point is less important. Energy is saved when the lift is lowered in a controlled drop with your hands still glued to the bar. Roll the bar back into position, reset the hips, and pull again.
Proper Deadlift Form: Sumo
Benefits of Sumo Deadlifts as a Training Tool
For my often negative outlook on sumo pullers, the lift itself is not without value. Some of my favorite deadlift assistance exercises are wide stance hip extensions, such as box squats and good morning. The mix of overload with a wide stance is going to effectively strengthen the posterior chain, with a special emphasis on the glutes. Even if the glutes are not a relative weakness, sumo deadlifts can be a welcomed change in accessory work to keep training from getting stagnate. The benefits of sumo deadlifts will diminish if the lift is done to cater to an already pronounced leverage advantage. Many new lifters make the mistake of favoring lifts that they are good at at the expense of the areas that need work, which is a recipe for underperformance, muscle imbalance, and eventually injury.
If you fall under the category of lifter who has longer limbs, a short torso, and good mobility through the hip joint, then moving big weight in this setup will feel as natural as walking up stairs. This also means you will benefit the most from hard, heavy accessory work outside of this setup.
Benefits of Sumo Deadlifts as a Competitive Lift
The benefit of sumo deadlifts as a competitive setup is going to vary based on the lifter. Only a fringe percentage of the population is actually built in such a way that they can derive a large competitive advantage. The truth is that most deadlifters will likely pull similar weights in both styles at first, but will prefer sumo as their go-to Powerlifting setup because it is easier to maintain an upright position with and utilizes stronger muscles, such as the glutes, at the beginning of the lift. Those who feel more comfortable with the hips down into the bar are usually big squatters and can apply much more force squatted into the bar with an upright position than with the hips high. These lifters who feel moderately more comfortable at the start of the sumo also fall under the umbrella of those who would excel at whatever form they train and most likely would adapt easily to a conventional setup.
Sumo Deadlift Foot Position
Sumo deadlift foot position can vary from just outside the shoulders to all the way out by the bar collars. Ed Coan was famous for what was called a ‘hybrid sumo deadlift’, where his hands were inside his feet, but his foot position was barely wider than in a typical conventional setup. On the other hand, Yuri Vadsv;j damn near does the splits as he gets down to the bar. Wherever you place your feet, make sure that you can set your hips in a strong position (above parallel) and keep you shins absolutely vertical. Too far apart, and the shins will slant in. Too close together, and the knees will go over the bar.
Sumo Hand Position and Grip
Sumo deadlift hand position is anywhere inside the legs, with the most common position being 6-10 inches apart. The hand position should be straight down from the shoulder, since any wider or closer will require more distance to be covered. The same rules of mixed grip, hook grip, or lifting straps apply to the sumo deadlift grip, but in a powerlifting meet, there is one extra consideration. Sumo lifters can build more tension at the start of the deadlift if they stay completely upright and squat down into the bar, like an elevator. More time getting the grip set and pumping the hips into the bar can throw the starting position off all while eliminating the benefit of holding the breath at the top. Hook grip is becoming a favorite of sumo deadlifters since they can set their body position while standing up, squat straight down into the bar, get their hooks in and go. This ultimately becomes an issue, like so many other setup points, of personal preference; what makes you feel stronger and gives you confidence for a big pull.
Hip position
Getting upright with the hips closer to the bar is one of the biggest advantages of this setup, and an upright position means that the hips will be somewhat under the shoulders. The farther out the knees come, the closer the hips can get to the bar, which greatly improves leverage at the start. Take note of how the hips sit relative to depth when they are farthest forward. It is likely that getting the hips as forward into the bar as possible forces them in at or below parallel, which means force production at the beginning of the pull will not be optimal. The ideal sumo deadlift hip position will allow for an above parallel position, an upright posture, but with the hips still as close to the bar as possible. The same twisting motion of the feet that activates the glutes and builds tension in the squat applies in a sumo deadlift. You will see many lifters twisting each foot into the ground as if to screw it into place: this activates the glutes and builds torque as they drop into the bar. It is a subtle move, but one that can build tension and confidence.
Posture
Another large benefit of sumo deadlifts are the ease with which posture can be maintained. Without having to bend over, the muscles of the midsection and upper back are never disadvantaged to the point that they have to grow exceptionally larger or stronger. This is not ideal for training to get stronger, but is very ideal for moving as much weight as possible in the context of a meet. The same rules apply: neutral spine, shoulders back, and an immediate drop in weight should either of those become compromised.
Breathing
Deadlift breathing technique doesn’t vary based on setup. The same rules apply. I highly recommend sumo deadlifters get their breath at the top and hold it as they lower themselves to the bar, but that is not to say that it must be done this way. As long as your abs are braced as hard as possible around a chest full of air, you are doing it right.
Breaking Off the Ground
Breaking the bar off the ground in a sumo deadlift involves keeping the chest up and pushing the legs through the ground, like a standing leg press. Because of the way the wide stance targets the glutes, making them the primary mover on the first push, it is helpful to think of keeping lateral tension with your feet. In short, spread the floor apart as you push to optimize glute recruitment. It is paramount with this style of deadlift that the hips do not come up before the chest. A polished sumo setup will be a much stronger to the right lifter, but a stiff leg sumo deadlift will be much more challenging to everyone.
Locking it Out
The lockout of a sumo deadlift should be the easiest part, since the glutes are already primed and position for a powerful hip extension. Well, on paper it should be easier. It is common to see a lifter get a solid break off the ground, transition quickly above the knee, and then struggle to get the weight through the last 2 inches of motion that put the hips forward and the shoulders back. Some lifters find themselves locking their knees out before their hips can come through, causing the hamstrings to lengthen and momentarily lose tension. Others find that their hands create friction from dragging against their thighs right around lockout. The best way to lockout a sumo deadlift will be by focusing on sliding the ‘hips forward’ rather than pulling the weight up and making sure that the hips roll through before the knees fully lockout.
Putting it Down
Once the white lights are given, control the weight down by keeping your hands on the bar and following it down to the platform. If reps are being done, then you will be doing your best impression of a human elevator. Exhale at the top of the lockout, get your air again, and maintain perfect upright position as you execute which is basically a squat with the bar in your hands. Don’t reset the hips, but don’t touch and go either. Practice holding your breath through a brief pause while maintaining perfect position so that the break off the ground becomes second nature.
Benefits of Sumo Deadlifts as a Training Tool
For my often negative outlook on sumo pullers, the lift itself is not without value. Some of my favorite deadlift assistance exercises are wide stance hip extensions, such as box squats and good morning. The mix of overload with a wide stance is going to effectively strengthen the posterior chain, with a special emphasis on the glutes. Even if the glutes are not a relative weakness, sumo deadlifts can be a welcomed change in accessory work to keep training from getting stagnate. The benefits of sumo deadlifts will diminish if the lift is done to cater to an already pronounced leverage advantage. Many new lifters make the mistake of favoring lifts that they are good at at the expense of the areas that need work, which is a recipe for underperformance, muscle imbalance, and eventually injury.
If you fall under the category of lifter who has longer limbs, a short torso, and good mobility through the hip joint, then moving big weight in this setup will feel as natural as walking up stairs. This also means you will benefit the most from hard, heavy accessory work outside of this setup.
Benefits of Sumo Deadlifts as a Competitive Lift
The benefit of sumo deadlifts as a competitive setup is going to vary based on the lifter. Only a fringe percentage of the population is actually built in such a way that they can derive a large competitive advantage. The truth is that most deadlifters will likely pull similar weights in both styles at first, but will prefer sumo as their go-to Powerlifting setup because it is easier to maintain an upright position with and utilizes stronger muscles, such as the glutes, at the beginning of the lift. Those who feel more comfortable with the hips down into the bar are usually big squatters and can apply much more force squatted into the bar with an upright position than with the hips high. These lifters who feel moderately more comfortable at the start of the sumo also fall under the umbrella of those who would excel at whatever form they train and most likely would adapt easily to a conventional setup.
Sumo Deadlift Foot Position
Sumo deadlift foot position can vary from just outside the shoulders to all the way out by the bar collars. Ed Coan was famous for what was called a ‘hybrid sumo deadlift’, where his hands were inside his feet, but his foot position was barely wider than in a typical conventional setup. On the other hand, Yuri Vadsv;j damn near does the splits as he gets down to the bar. Wherever you place your feet, make sure that you can set your hips in a strong position (above parallel) and keep you shins absolutely vertical. Too far apart, and the shins will slant in. Too close together, and the knees will go over the bar.
Sumo Hand Position and Grip
Sumo deadlift hand position is anywhere inside the legs, with the most common position being 6-10 inches apart. The hand position should be straight down from the shoulder, since any wider or closer will require more distance to be covered. The same rules of mixed grip, hook grip, or lifting straps apply to the sumo deadlift grip, but in a powerlifting meet, there is one extra consideration. Sumo lifters can build more tension at the start of the deadlift if they stay completely upright and squat down into the bar, like an elevator. More time getting the grip set and pumping the hips into the bar can throw the starting position off all while eliminating the benefit of holding the breath at the top. Hook grip is becoming a favorite of sumo deadlifters since they can set their body position while standing up, squat straight down into the bar, get their hooks in and go. This ultimately becomes an issue, like so many other setup points, of personal preference; what makes you feel stronger and gives you confidence for a big pull.
Hip position
Getting upright with the hips closer to the bar is one of the biggest advantages of this setup, and an upright position means that the hips will be somewhat under the shoulders. The farther out the knees come, the closer the hips can get to the bar, which greatly improves leverage at the start. Take note of how the hips sit relative to depth when they are farthest forward. It is likely that getting the hips as forward into the bar as possible forces them in at or below parallel, which means force production at the beginning of the pull will not be optimal. The ideal sumo deadlift hip position will allow for an above parallel position, an upright posture, but with the hips still as close to the bar as possible. The same twisting motion of the feet that activates the glutes and builds tension in the squat applies in a sumo deadlift. You will see many lifters twisting each foot into the ground as if to screw it into place: this activates the glutes and builds torque as they drop into the bar. It is a subtle move, but one that can build tension and confidence.
Posture
Another large benefit of sumo deadlifts are the ease with which posture can be maintained. Without having to bend over, the muscles of the midsection and upper back are never disadvantaged to the point that they have to grow exceptionally larger or stronger. This is not ideal for training to get stronger, but is very ideal for moving as much weight as possible in the context of a meet. The same rules apply: neutral spine, shoulders back, and an immediate drop in weight should either of those become compromised.
Breathing
Deadlift breathing technique doesn’t vary based on setup. The same rules apply. I highly recommend sumo deadlifters get their breath at the top and hold it as they lower themselves to the bar, but that is not to say that it must be done this way. As long as your abs are braced as hard as possible around a chest full of air, you are doing it right.
Breaking Off the Ground
Breaking the bar off the ground in a sumo deadlift involves keeping the chest up and pushing the legs through the ground, like a standing leg press. Because of the way the wide stance targets the glutes, making them the primary mover on the first push, it is helpful to think of keeping lateral tension with your feet. In short, spread the floor apart as you push to optimize glute recruitment. It is paramount with this style of deadlift that the hips do not come up before the chest. A polished sumo setup will be a much stronger to the right lifter, but a stiff leg sumo deadlift will be much more challenging to everyone.
Locking it Out
The lockout of a sumo deadlift should be the easiest part, since the glutes are already primed and position for a powerful hip extension. Well, on paper it should be easier. It is common to see a lifter get a solid break off the ground, transition quickly above the knee, and then struggle to get the weight through the last 2 inches of motion that put the hips forward and the shoulders back. Some lifters find themselves locking their knees out before their hips can come through, causing the hamstrings to lengthen and momentarily lose tension. Others find that their hands create friction from dragging against their thighs right around lockout. The best way to lockout a sumo deadlift will be by focusing on sliding the ‘hips forward’ rather than pulling the weight up and making sure that the hips roll through before the knees fully lockout.
Putting it Down
Once the white lights are given, control the weight down by keeping your hands on the bar and following it down to the platform. If reps are being done, then you will be doing your best impression of a human elevator. Exhale at the top of the lockout, get your air again, and maintain perfect upright position as you execute which is basically a squat with the bar in your hands. Don’t reset the hips, but don’t touch and go either. Practice holding your breath through a brief pause while maintaining perfect position so that the break off the ground becomes second nature.
Identifying Weaknesses
One of the most prevalent weaknesses in new and intermediate conventional deadlifters is the complete lack of upper back stability. At any local meet, from State Championships to Nationals, young lifters can be seen grinding out big weights at the expense of their spine. Rounding the spine is not only stupid and dangerous, but actually lowers your efficiency in the pull dramatically. Think of this; you are pulling the weight as hard as you can, but your back round, keeping the bar in the same position. You just exerted a ton of effort to not move the bar! Keeping posture will ensure that when you apply force, it will be expressed on the bar and not lost in your spine.
There are so many exercises that fix posture, there is no excuse for this area lagging. Off the top of my head; Romanian deadlifts, strict bent rows, good mornings, and good old fashioned deadlifts with sub-maximal weight. A weakness at lockout is usually a mix of the glutes being weak and simply not being used properly in the first place. Drilling sliding the hips through instead of pulling the weight up is the quickest remedy for this, as if you were doing a barbell glute bridge. Using band tension on pulls and high rack pulls or power shrugs are all effective movement specific ways of fixing this issue, but most new lifters simply need to practice a hard, fast hip extension with sub-maximal weights.
If the stick point begins right at the ground, deficit deadlifts are the most commonly prescribed fix with snatch grip deadlifts being a close second. Remember, any improvement you make in other auxillary lifts or in the size and strength of contributing muscles is going to carry over directly to your deadlift. Do not become the lifter that becomes obsessed with hammering away at a weight week in week out until you conquer it. It’s not how 900lb deadlifters become 1000lb deadlifters, and its not how you should hit your next big milestone either.
Fixing weak points in the sumo deadlift will almost always be an exercise in perfecting the form. For instance, you can have the strongest glutes in the world, but if you are not used to utilizing them with a wide stance, you will be useless in the bottom position of a sumo deadlift. My recommendation for the sumo is to perform a wide variety of different deadlift variations and hip extension exercises to stay well rounded and use the work with the sumo setup as skill work to perfect the stroke. Also, make sure that every rep of every set is speedy. You will be trying to train a hard, aggressive pull in an awkward position, so utilizing warmup reps as speed reps will help synchronize the sequence of motor units being used, making each rep faster and more efficient.
Different Deadlift Variations
This is a short description of my favorite deadlift variations and what they do. I will have a full article dedicated to each one of these shortly.
Elevated Deadlifts: Block Deadlifts and Rack Pulls
To put the start of the deadlift higher, the bar can be propped up on plates, blocks, or set on the pins in a rack. Elevated deadlifts tax the lockout of the movement which is mechanically the strongest position. Over time, the weight used in a deadlift rack pull will overtake the weight used on your full range lift by a considerable amount. This will lead to a huge increase in lockout power and stability of the midsection and upper back by overloading the glutes, lats, and spinal erectors. Block pulls done around midshin (a bar height of 13”-16”) tend to be the most productive, allowing for substantial overload while still providing carryover to the full range deadlift. Above the knee rack pulls can improve a very high lockout weakness and overload the supportive muscles of the back, but it’s possible to get really good at these without your deadlift moving much.
Side Handle Pulls
These are a staple in strongman deadlift training because of how frequent farmer walks, frame deadlifts and side-handle car deadlifts pop up. Side handle deadlifts can be done in a trap bar or with a pair of farmer walk handles. Because the weight is directly in line with your center of mass (usually the barbell forces it out in front), the supportive muscles and main movers used in a deadlift can be overloaded with more weight. The weights on the side also allows for the hips to roll through quicker, conditioning the glutes to act quick at lockout. It just so happens, they are also really fun.
Romanian Deadlifts
Romanians are spectacular for teaching rock solid posture during a hip hinge. Not to be mistaken for your run of the mill stiff leg deadlift, Romanian deadlift form lives and dies with keeping perfect position in the spine. The spine remaining neutral and the knees staying back on the descent makes this movement essentially an extreme hamstring stretch under a loaded barbell. As you work up to heavier loads and deeper ranges of motion, you can be guaranteed that your positioning and power in the conventional deadlift will be improving as well.
Good Mornings
These are an often looked over exercise because technique is hard to gauge and, well, they are uncomfortable. The position of the knees, hip, and spine are almost identical in a good morning as in Romanian deadlifts, but the weight is on the shoulders. This creates a huge disadvantage since the load ends up as far away from the pivot point (the hip) as possible at the bottom of the movement, whereas it is normally back by the shins in a Romanian deadlift. This makes it exponentially harder to stabilize, which results in a stronger midsection and upper back for the effort.
Deficit Deadlift
Deficit deads are the universal go to for a sticking point off the floor. By standing on a 2-4” elevation, the lifter has to sink down farther at the start of the deadlift. This requires more effort and speed, which, after several weeks, tends to greatly improve starting strength once the bar gets back to normal height. Be careful with position, however, since to big of a deficit can force an inflexible lifter into a possibly hazardous position.
