It really is a simple exercise. You grip the bar and stand up with it. Because it’s so simple, however, many don’t pay close enough attention to the small points of form. Here’s a short course in deadlift technique.
I’ll start with foot stance. Your feet should be shoulder width apart or a bit closer. The best way to determine your ideal foot placement is to shut your eyes and imagine that you’re about to do a standing broad jump. You’ll find that you set your feet somewhere closer than shoulder width and your toes will be straight ahead.
Your grip should also be shoulder width. I teach everyone the same basic grip. Extend your thumb until you can barely tough the smooth center of the bar. Some find they do better using a slightly wider or narrower grip than that, but it’s still the best way to teach a beginner.
On the subject of gripping the bar, the question of using a reverse grip comes up. A reverse grip is one hand over the bar and one hand under, and I discourage beginners from using it. I much prefer them to use straps when the weight gets too heavy for them to hold the bar properly. The reverse grip places an uneven stress on your back - not a great deal, but it’s often enough to cause problems for a beginner. The movement is much smoother without the reverse grip, and if you’re doing deadlifts to help with the two Olympic lifts, the overhand grip is absolutely necessary. More advanced lifters can use the overhand grip with a hook, which locks the bar as tightly as if you were using straps.
Many powerlifters argue that using the overhand grip with a hook isn’t as effective as the over-and-under method. I remind them that the great Bob Peoples used the overhand grip with a hook when he deadlifted 700 pounds. That was in 1947, and the Johnson City, Tennessee, native weighed less than the Light Heavyweight class limit.
Beginners really don’t have to be concerned about using a reverse grip or even straps for some time. You shouldn’t be handling that much weight at that stage. A key point for anyone starting out on this lift is to proceed slowly. Since so many large and small muscles are involved in the movement, you have to spend time making certain that they’re all sufficiently strong early on. Sometimes even a little is too much early on. I’ve seen lifters handle 325x5 perfectly, then add 20 pounds to the bar and watch their form break down completely.
Set your feet, grip the bar and move in close to the bar - very close. Your shins should be against the bar. Now for your body position.
First and foremost, your back must be flat and tight. The best way to do that is to pull your shoulder blades together and hold them in that locked position throughout the lift. If you fix your upper back, it’s much easier to keep your middle- and lower-back areas taut as well. You don’t want your back to round at all. Later on, when you’ve built a solid base, that’s all right and even desirable in some instances - but not during the learning stages.
If you find that you’re rounding your lower back, lower the weight. It’s better to do 275x5 with perfect form than it is to use 300 and resort to sloppy technique. You can still increase or maintain your workload simply by adding a few extra sets with that lighter poundage. Form should take precedence over numbers. Learn correct technique and the numbers will take care of themselves.
Another key form point is to make sure your front deltoids are in front of the bar - at the start, in the middle and at the finish. Once you’ve completed the lift, it’s all right to lie back a bit, but don’t exaggerate the backward lean. It puts your lower back in an unnatural position. Many lifters do it because they’ve seen powerlifters do it, but powerlifters do it to show the judges they’ve finished the lift.
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The Deadlift By Bill Starr
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