Have you ever looked at someone effortlessly
pick like a massive weight off the floor and
wondered what witchcraft is that? Right. Or maybe
you've tried it yourself. Exactly. Or maybe you've
tried the deadlift yourself and found it surprisingly
tricky. Well, today you're in for a treat because
we're taking a deep dive into the world of the
deadlift. And it's not just about raw strength,
is it? Not at all. It's a foundational movement
with honestly surprising complexity and profound
benefits for your entire body. For this deep
dive, we've pulled together an incredible resource,
a really comprehensive guide on how to deadlift.
It's authored by an experienced coach and importantly,
a drug -free power lifter. Yeah, and this isn't
just theory. This guy knows his stuff. Totally.
He's spent 12 years training, nine years coaching.
He's personally dead lifted 775 pounds, which
is just, wow, over three times his body weight.
Incredible. And he's coached lifters from absolute
beginners right up to people pulling over 600
pounds. Plus, he has this deep understanding
of biomechanics. Which makes the info really
robust, really practical. Exactly. So our mission
for you today is basically to give you a shortcut.
A shortcut to understanding the critical mechanics,
the undeniable benefits, and all those nuanced
techniques of the deadlift. Right. The goal is
to equip you, the listener. Yeah. Equip you with
the knowledge to either dramatically improve
your own lift, or simply become incredibly well
-informed about this genuinely fascinating movement.
OK. So let's unpack this right from the start.
Why should you care about the deadlift? Well,
look, if you're tuning into this deep dive, you
probably already have a sense that the deadlift
is pretty awesome. Yeah, fair point. But just
to be explicit, it's pretty much unparalleled
for adding muscle to your posterior chain. We're
talking everything from your traps, those upper
back muscles. All the way down. All the way down
to your hamstrings, yeah. It drastically increases
athleticism, and it can even decrease your injury
risk on the field or court. That's huge. And
for building sheer head to toe strength, it's
truly right up there with squats. Push press
is close behind, but deadlifts and squats are
kind of the kings. So our focus here isn't just
saying, hey, it's awesome. It's about arming
you with the specific techniques to lift heavier,
build a dense muscular back and crucially do
it safely. Right. And to really understand how
to do that heavier and safer, we kind of need
to touch on some very basic physics. It underpins.
Everything. Absolutely. Don't worry. We're not
going deep into equations. Promise. Just the
fundamental concepts. We need to talk about two
foundational terms. Force and moment. Okay, so
force is pretty straightforward. It's a push
or a pull like gravity pulling a 300 kilogram
bar downwards. That's a force 2940 Newtons technically
your muscles contracting they create linear force
to exactly but then there's moment What is that
and why does it actually matter for lifting?
Okay, so think of moment as like Rotational leverage.
It's how much turning power a force has around
a joint basically using a wrench precisely We
calculated as force time the perpendicular distance
from the axis of rotation the joint the bigger
that distance that liver arm the harder your
muscles have to work Exactly. Yeah, the harder
they have to work to counteract that turning
force Like you said loosening a stubborn bullet.
You grab a long wrench. Not a short one for more
leverage That's moment. Got it. So when that
heavy barbell is in your hands, it's creating
these external flexor moments at your hips, knees,
and all along your spine. It's basically trying
to bend you forward. And your muscles fight back.
Right. Your muscles produce internal extensor
moments to pull you upright. And this brings
us to a really crucial insight. You can't change
where your muscles attach to your bones, right?
You're born with those. Those attachment points
are huge for leverage. A tiny difference like
literally centimeters in where say your patellar
tendon attaches can mean your quad has to work
like 50 % harder than someone else's just to
achieve the same pulling power at the knee. Wow,
50%. That's massive. It is. So since you can't
change your anatomy, your only control is really
increasing your muscular force either by getting
stronger, building more muscle or getting better
technique or by optimizing your skill through
technique. Yeah, exactly. This basic understanding
of leverage and force, it's the bedrock. It informs
everything we're about to talk about. That makes
so much sense. It really is all about making
your body as efficient a lever as possible. Okay,
so let's quickly look at the anatomy then, not
like a textbook class. Uh -huh, definitely not.
More like a practical guide. What bones, joints,
and muscles are really the most critical players
in making those levers work, and why? Okay, let's
focus on what really matters for the deadlift.
Oh. Your spine. obviously crucial, it needs to
stay rigid, especially your lower back, against
those bending forces. Right, resisting that flexion.
Exactly. Your pelvis, it's this fused structure,
it houses your hip sockets, and the way those
sockets are oriented, that angle, can actually
influence whether you're naturally better suited
for, say, a wider sumo stance or a narrower conventional
one. Interesting. So anatomy plays a role in
stance choice. Definitely. Then you've got your
femur's eye bone and your lower leg bones, the
tibia and fibula. They form the actual levers
for your legs. Okay. And the joints connecting
them, right? The hip joint, it's a ball and socket,
moves in all directions. Individual hip anatomy
really affects your comfortable range of motion.
Makes sense. The knee is mostly a hinge. Your
kneecap, the patella, helps your quads get better
leverage over that hinge. Okay. bones, joints,
now the muscles doing the work. Right, the engines.
Yeah. Your spinal rectors, the name says it all.
They extend your spine, keep it rigid. The back
muscles. Yep. Your core, it's not just abs, right?
This whole system of torso muscles. They brace,
create intra -abdominal pressure, like an internal
weight belt protects the spine. Crucial for safety.
Absolutely. Then the gluteus maximus, your biggest
strongest hip extensor. The powerhouse. Pretty
much. Your hamstrings, those three muscles at
the back of your thigh also powerfully extend
your hip, but they also bend your knee. That's
important. Okay, glutes and hamstrings, the usual
suspects for hip extension, but you mentioned
there's like a secret weapon. Uh -huh. Yeah,
the adductor magnus. People totally overlook
it. I definitely have. It's often called the
fourth hamstring, because it starts near the
same place on your pelvis. But here's the key
difference. It doesn't cross the knee joint.
Ah, okay. And some research even suggests it
might produce a bigger hip extensor moment than
the glutes and hamstrings combined at the bottom
of a squat. Whoa, really? Combined? Yeah, it's
potentially huge. And mechanically, it's often
in a really advantageous position in the deadlift,
a massive, often overlooked contributor. Mind
blown. Okay, who else? Then you have the quadriceps.
Primarily knee extensors though one part does
flex the hip to and finally the lats now. They
aren't prime movers for extending your spine.
Right, not back extensors directly. Correct,
but they play this really meaningful role in
repositioning the bar, pulling it closer, which
actually decreases the demands on your hips and
your spinal erectors. We'll get more into that.
Okay, fascinating. So all these parts, bones,
muscles, joints, they're the machinery carrying
out those physics principles, the leverage we
talked about. which leads us perfectly into biomechanics,
understanding the specific demands of the deadlift
and, crucially, how they differ between, say,
conventional and sumo. Right. So just to simplify
how we look at movement, we talk about planes.
Sagittal is front to back, like bending forward.
Funtal is side to side. Transverse is rotation.
OK. And what's really important is that hip and
knee flexion extension. We define those relative
to the femur, the thigh bone, not the torso.
This avoids errors if you just look from the
side. Gotcha. Makes sense for 3D movement. Yep.
So in any deadlift, you're basically overcoming
four main challenges. The force trying to bend
your spine forward. Spinal flexor moment. Right.
The force trying to bend your hips. Hip flexor
moment. The force trying to bend your knees.
Knee flexor moment. And of course, just holding
onto the bar. Grip. The four horsemen of the
deadlift apocalypse. Something like that. Now
for the conventional deadlift, the demands on
your quads for knee extension, surprisingly low.
Really? I thought legs were doing tons of work.
They are, but mostly hips and back. Your hamstrings
actually often provide more resistance against
your quads than the barbell itself does at the
knee. The hip extension demands, though, high.
Especially right at the start. And this is influenced
by where your hips are relative to the bar. Which
depends on your build, like limb lengths. Exactly.
Longer femurs, shorter arms. hips start further
back, makes it harder. Those hip demands peak
in the first third of the lift. And crucially,
the demands on your spine, that spinal flexor
moment, it increases the more your torso leans
forward, and the longer your torso is. This is
the main reason conventional is generally harder
on the back than sumo. OK, that tracks. Now,
sumo, here's that common idea here all the time.
Sumo is easier on the hips. True or false? Great
question. And mostly false, or at least misleading.
Bust that myth. When we look at it in 3D relative
to the femur, the hip extension demands are actually
pretty similar to conventional. So what's going
on then? Why does it feel different? Because
in sumo, you're driving your feet outwards, right?
Creating lateral forces. This lets your quads
help at the hip extensors. Ah, the quads get
more involved in hip extension? The assist, yeah.
which slightly decreases the direct hip demands,
but significantly increases the knee extension
demands. It kind of balances out the hip part.
So quads work harder in sumo. Much harder than
in conventional, though they're still usually
not the limiting factor. So the real summary,
both styles, similar hip demands, conventional,
harder on the back, sumo, much harder on the
quads. And heavier weights make everything harder.
Naturally. Okay, so we've broken down the forces,
the body's machinery. Now the practical part.
How do we put all these complex bits into, well,
perfect motion when we actually lift? Right.
Technique time. This brings us to the importance
of technique. Now, deadlift is often called the
least technical of the big three power lift,
squat, bench, deadlift. Which is maybe debatable,
but yeah. But paying attention to your setup
and execution is still absolutely crucial, both
for performance, lifting more weight, and obviously
for safety. Couldn't agree more. And a quick
note here. It's actually incredibly useful for
you listening to get proficient in both conventional
and sumo. They really complement each other in
training. Good point. Okay, stance first. How
do you find your conventional stance? A really
good starting point is the vertical jump heuristic.
Basically, where do your feet naturally go when
you jump straight up? Okay, makes sense. Usually
about hip width. Usually, yeah. Great for producing
vertical force. From there, experiment. slightly
wider, slightly narrower. Some bigger lifters
might go wider just to make room for their gut.
Uh -huh. Practicalities. What about toe angle?
Some people find turning toes out slightly helps
break the bar off the floor. Others find straighter
toes help with lockout. Might be related to how
your glutes contract at different lengths. Experimentation
is key. Okay. And sumo stance. Obviously wider.
Much wider, yeah. Feet outside the hands. A good
heuristic is to set up so your shins look roughly
perpendicular vertical when viewed from the front
or back. Once you drive your knees out over your
feet. Again, experiment from there. Your stance
width pretty much dictates your toe angle. Generally
you want your knees tracking in line with your
first or second toe. Got it. Next up, gripping
the bar. How wide? Simple rule. Go as narrow
as you possibly can without your knees caving
in or your arms rubbing annoyingly against your
thighs. Too wide just increases the distance
you have to pull. Right, longer range of motion.
Exactly. For sumo, this usually means hands pretty
much directly below your shoulders. Maximizes
your effective arm length. Makes sense. And the
types of grip. Double overhand? Probably not
for heavyweights. Generally, no. It's usually
the weakest link. Fine for beginners or very
lightweight, but the bar will tend to roll out
of your hands. Okay, so most people use. The
mixed grip. One hand over, one under. It's the
most popular in powerlifting because it creates
opposing forces that stop the bar from rolling.
Any common mistakes with mixed grip? Yeah, two
big ones. Gripping the bar too deep in your palm
leads to torn calluses. And pulling with your
arms, especially trying to curl with that underhand
arm, that's how you risk biceps tears. Ouch.
What about muscle imbalances from the mixed grip?
Honestly, the source says don't worry too much
unless the deadlift is literally your only back
training. If you're concerned, just alternate
which hand is over and which is under from set
to set or week to week. Okay. And a pro tip from
the source. Yeah, a good one. Always grip harder
than you think you need to. Like, crush the bar.
Really? Why? It's weird. But it often makes the
lift feel easier. It'd be something called muscle
irradiation tensing. One muscle helps activate
others nearby. Or maybe it's just psychological.
Either way, grip hard. Interesting. What about
hook grip? Looks painful. It is, initially. The
hook grip is where you wrap your fingers around
your thumb, pinning your thumb between your fingers
and the bar. Used a lot in weightlifting, right?
Universal there, yeah. Yeah. And gaining popularity
in powerlifting. For many, it's actually stronger
than mixed grip, and it completely removes that
biceps tear risk and asymmetry issue. Downside,
apart from the pain. The pain is the main one,
haha. Your thumb nerve's kinda dead in overtime,
though. Also, if you have really short fingers
or small hands, It might just not work well.
OK. And straps. We'll talk more later. Yeah.
We'll cover when to use them. But basically,
they work like a mixed grip by preventing barrel
roll just without relying on your hand strength.
Gotcha. OK. Breathing and bracing. This sounds
important. Hugely important. The key is a deep
diaphragmatic breath. Breathe into your stomach,
not your chest. Feel your belly expand outwards.
Not a shallow chest breath. Exactly. Then you
perform the Valsalva maneuver. You hold that
deep breath and you brace your entire core hard,
like someone's about to punch you in the gut
or, well, you know. Uh -huh, yeah. Creates pressure.
Enormous pressure inside your abdomen. Interabdominal
pressure. It acts like an internal weight belt,
supports your spine, makes the lift safer and
stronger. And you hold that breath. Throughout
the entire lift, from bottom to top. You can
exhale at the top or reset your breath between
reps if doing multiples. And the bracing cue.
Brace for a punch. That's a great one. tense
like you're about to get punched. It takes practice
to get good at generating that tension. If you
struggle breathing deep while bent over, take
the breath standing up, brace, then quickly get
down into position. Works for both conventional
and sumo. Okay, breathing and bracing locked
in. Now, setting up, getting into that starting
position consistently. The source mentions several
ways for conventional, right? Says personal preference
is key. That's right. There are a few main strategies.
The most common and generally recommended are,
first, the hamstring tension approach. You set
your hips a bit higher. Down the stretch. Exactly.
Feeling that stretch like you're pulling back
a bowstring in your hamstrings. This tends to
work well for people with longer limbs who are
more hinge dominant. OK. What's the second main
one? The compress the spring method. Here, you
start with your hips a bit lower. Feeling like
your legs are coiled springs, ready to explode
upwards. Better for shorter limbs, more quad
-dominant people. Generally, yeah. And the third
common way is to just sort of rock your hips
back into position. Maybe less dynamic tension
initially, but can be very consistent for some
people. OK. And sumo setup. Fewer options. Yeah.
Usually simpler. Mimicking those first two, the
hamstring tension or compress the spring ideas,
tends to work best. Fewer moving parts to coordinate.
And a key cue for sumo. A really crucial one.
Actively try to rip the floor in half between
your feet. Imagine an earthquake fault line opening
up right there. Creates tension outward. Tremendous
outward tension in the hips and quads. And you
want to maintain that tension throughout the
entire pull. Right. This leads perfectly to my
next point, a common pitfall I see all the time
and definitely done myself, jerking the bar off
the floor. Yes, the dreaded jerk. Your hips shoot
up first, backgrounds immediately, form goes
out the window. How do we stop that? Instead
of jerking, the key is pulling the slack out.
or pulling tension into your body before the
bar even leaves the floor. So engage everything
first. Exactly. You gradually pull harder and
harder until you feel the bar get heavy in your
hands, like it's just about to lift. Then you
initiate the drive. And those setup strategies
help with this. They do. Both compress the spring
and pull back the bowstring are designed to help
you build that tension before you start the main
pull. Experienced lifters might look like they
jerk it. But they're just creating tension instantly.
Precisely. They've mastered that instant tension.
Newer lifters really need to practice that gradual
buildup. It's probably the single biggest thing
to prevent hips shooting up and backs rounding
early. Makes sense. OK, another critical piece.
Bar position and balance. Where should the bar
be? Ideally, the bar should track straight up,
remaining directly over your midfoot throughout
the entire lift. Your body and the bar act as
a counterbalance system. And if your balance
is off? weight too far back. If your weight's
too far back on your heels, it's hard to drive
your shoulders back effectively at the top. If
it's too far forward, over your toes. Yeah, you'll
delay your hip drive. Your back might round to
compensate. Plus, actively thinking about balance
takes focus away from just producing maximum
force. So the goal is effortless balance, second
nature. Exactly. So you can just focus on pulling
hard. OK, if someone's struggling with that midfoot
balance, any quick drills they can try like right
now in their next session. Absolutely. A really
simple one is the brief isometric hold. Lift
the bar just an inch, maybe two off the floor.
Hold it there for a couple of seconds and feel
the balance. Yeah, feel where your weight is.
Adjust your body position slightly until you
feel perfectly balanced over your midfoot. Then
put it down, reset and do it again. Great for
warm -ups. Nice. Any others? You could try putting
small plates, like 2 .5 pounders, under your
mid -foot. If your weight shifts forward or back,
you'll feel the pressure change on the edge of
the plate. Gives you tactile feedback. Clever.
And pause deadlifts are always great. Pause just
off the floor. Pause at the knee. Really helps
ingrain that proper groove and balance. Okay.
Great tips. Let's circle back to the lats. We
mentioned them earlier, but I've definitely heard
people say, oh, the lats don't do much in deadlifts,
maybe just stabilization. What's the real story?
Yeah, it's a common misconception. And understanding
their real role is actually quite important.
You're right. They are not prime movers for extending
your spine. They don't actively pull your back
straight. OK, so what do they do? Their main
role is to help reposition the bar and by doing
so, decrease the demands on your actual hip.
and spinal extensors. How? By pulling the bar
closer? Exactly. By engaging your lats, think
pulling your shoulder blades down and back slightly,
extending your shoulders relative to the bar.
You pull the bar closer to your body's center
of gravity. This slightly shortens the moment
arms at the hips and lumbar spine. How much difference
does it make there? Maybe around 3 -5 % reduction
in demand at the hips and lumbar spine. Which
is something, but not game changing. Okay. So
where's the big win? The big win is in your thoracic
spine, your upper back, because the lats attach
up there. Pulling the bar in has a much larger
relative effect on the leverage at, say, T9 or
T10. It can reduce the extension demands there
by up to 20%. Wow, 20%. That's huge for the upper
back. It really is. Think about it. Your hips
are far from the bar. So moving the bar an inch
closer makes a small absolute difference. But
for your upper back, which is much closer horizontally
to the bar's line of pull, moving at that same
inch makes a massive relative difference, reducing
that moment arm from, say, five inches to four
inches. That's a 20 % drop in demand. So engaging
the lats makes the lift significantly easier
on the upper back. Exactly, which makes it easier
on the entire posterior chain, helps prevent
rounding, and ultimately lets you lift a bit
more weight safely. OK, I'm sold. What are some
good cues to engage the lats? Classic ones are
put your shoulder blades in your back pockets,
or pull the bar into your shins, almost like
you're doing a straight arm pull down right before
you lift. Another is point your elbows towards
the wall behind you. And training your lats helps.
Heavy rows and stuff. Absolutely. Stronger lats
can perform this function better. Heavy rows,
pull -ups, pull -downs, all beneficial. And engaging
the lats properly also tends to lead to a more
vertical linear bar path. Less wasted front -to
-back movement. Okay. What about shin angle at
the start? Should they be perfectly vertical?
For conventional It's largely personal preference
and depends on your relative strength off the
floor. Some start with shins vertical, others
have a slight forward knee travel. Either way,
your shins will usually become vertical within
the first few inches of the pole as your knees
extend. And sumo. More important to be vertical.
Generally, yes. Vertical shins from the side
view are highly preferred in sumo. Forward knee
travel is less common and usually more detrimental
because balance and maintaining that specific
groove are so critical in sumo. Okay, makes sense.
Now, the main event. Lifting the damn bar, as
this source puts it. Execution time. Right. The
core philosophy here is critical. Focus on what
your body's doing, not just on the bar itself.
Don't just think, pick the bar up. Exactly. That
often leads to just yanking with your back. Instead,
think about the movements of your body driving
the lift. So what cues should we focus on during
the lift itself? Okay, throughout the entire
lift, a good general cue is chest up. Not arching
excessively, but keeping the chest proud helps
maintain spinal stiffness and engages the lats.
Okay, chest up. What about initiating the pull?
First few inches. For those crucial first three
to four inches, the best cue is often drive the
floor away or push the world away with your feet.
Like a leg press. Kind of, yeah. It emphasizes
using your legs to start the movement and helps
prevent those hips from shooting up too early.
Okay, drive the floor away, then what? Once the
bar's moving past the knees... Once it's moving,
especially after clearing the knees, the focus
shifts almost entirely to powerful hip extension.
The classic cues here are shoulders back and
hips forward. Explain those a bit more. Shoulders
back. Think about pulling your shoulder blades
back and standing tall. If you struggle to feel
it, maybe try some high bar good mornings, or
deadlifts with a light resistance band looped
around your upper back, pulling you forward.
You'll have to actively pull your shoulders back
against it. Okay, and hips forward. This is about
driving your hips through aggressively. Think
hip thrusts, or again banded deadlifts, where
a band is pulling your hips backward, forcing
you to drive them forward powerfully to lock
out. So drive the floor away, then shoulders
back, hips forward. Pretty much sums it up. And
you should prioritize the cue that addresses
your biggest weakness. If your hips shoot up,
focus on drive the floor away. If you struggle
at lockout, focus on hips forward. And always
lift aggressively. Perform every single rep,
even warm -ups, as aggressively as possible while
maintaining good form. Maximal intent. Research
actually shows that lifting with maximal velocity
intent leads to roughly twice the strength gains
compared to lifting slowly. Learn slow. Practice
the movement, then execute fast. Exactly. For
sumo, by the way, the cues are similar, but that
drive the floor away cue tends to last a bit
longer because it's more quad dominant off the
floor. And you really need to keep actively ripping
the floor apart until the bar clears your knees
to keep those knees out and hips in position.
Got it. OK, locking out, finishing the lift.
What's the goal? The goal is simple. Finish with
your spine, hips, and knees straight, standing
tall in a natural neutral position. That's it.
What should we avoid? Avoid hyperextension. Leaning
back excessively at the top, it's totally unnecessary,
actually makes the lift harder on your low back,
doesn't help, and can even get you disqualified
in a powerlifting meet. Right, just stand up
straight. What if someone struggles to lock out,
gets stuck near the top? Often it comes down
to proper glute engagement. A lot of lifters
finish the pull but still have a bit of an anterior
pelvic tilt. Their lower back is still arched.
Haven't fully extended the hips. Exactly. The
fix is usually learning to consciously squeeze
the glutes hard at the top to drive the hips
forward into full extension. Think of it like
a powerful loaded pelvic thrust right at the
end. Good drills for that. Practicing forceful
lockouts with lighter loads helps. Cable pull
-throughs are great for feeling that glute squeeze.
Kettlebell swings, really focusing on that powerful
hip snap and vertical finish with the glutes.
Okay, good stuff. Now, lowering the bar. I have
to admit, especially after a heavy single, I'm
often guilty of just dropping it. Uh -huh. You
and many others. It's tempting. But the source
argues strongly for lowering it under control,
right? The eccentric phase, why? Absolutely.
Controlled eccentrics are incredibly beneficial
for like four main reasons. First, hypertrophy,
muscle growth. The lowering part builds muscle.
Yes. The eccentric phase, where your muscles
are lengthening under tension, provides a really
potent stimulus for muscle growth. If you just
drop the bar, you're basically cutting out half
the rep's potential for building muscle in your
back and hips. OK, that's a big one. What else?
Second, safety. Especially as you get tired during
a set, controlling the descent helps maintain
good form, prevents your back from rounding suddenly,
and reduces overall injury risk. Makes sense.
Less chance of losing position. Third, just respect
for the equipment. Powerlifting bars aren't really
designed to be dropped repeatedly, like Olympic
weightlifting bumper plates and bars. You can
damage bars, chip plates, mess up the floor.
Good point. Gym etiquette too. And fourth, it
actually preps your body better for the next
rep if you're doing multiples. It utilizes the
stretch shortening cycle. Like loading a spring.
Exactly. Your muscles store elastic energy on
the way down, which gives you a little extra
boost for the next rep up. The author of the
source material actually shared a story. Yeah.
He said he made way faster deadlift progress
personally when he was forced to train in commercial
gyms, where dropping weights was frowned upon,
so he had to control the eccentrics. He felt
it was a game changer for him. Wow. Okay, I'm
convinced. How do you lower it properly? Basically
the reverse of how you picked it up. Keep your
chest up. Initiate by pushing your hips back
until the bar clears your knees, then continue
bending your knees, pressing through the floor
until the bar makes light contact. Sit it down.
Don't slam it. Okay, control the descent. Got
it. So... Let's say I'm trying to implement all
this great technique, but I'm still hitting a
wall, a sticking point. How do I figure out what's
actually weak? Especially telling the difference
between hip strength and back strength issues.
That's often the trickiest part. Assuming your
technique is reasonably good up to, say, 70 -80
% of your max, bad technique can definitely mask
or mimic a weakness. Right. Assume technique
is decent, now what? Okay, for conventional deadlifts,
your quads are almost never the limiting factor.
Like we said, squat demands are way higher. Grip
weakness is usually pretty obvious. The bar just
slips. So it's usually hips or back? Yeah. And
telling them apart is hard. Why? Because back
rounding can actually be your body compensating
for weak hips. How does that work? If your back
rounds, it effectively shortens the lever arm
of your torso, which reduces the amount of torque
your hips need to produce. So a rounding back
doesn't always mean weak back. It could mean
your hips couldn't handle the load. with a straight
back. Okay, that's a crucial distinction. How
do we test it? If you're consistently missing
at the floor and it's not just trying too big
a weight jump, that eccentric only test is great.
Try to lower, say, 90 % to maybe 103 % of your
1RM under perfect control. Okay. If your spine
flexes significantly, rounds over involuntarily
during that controlled negative, That points
towards needing more back strength. Think exercises
like back raises, heavy rows, maybe rack pulls
above the knee. And if the back stays straight,
but you still fail? If your back holds its position
beautifully, but you just can't physically lift
it concentrically after lowering it, that suggests
it's more likely hip strength. Think RDLs, good
mornings, hip thrusts. What if you just can't
control the eccentric at all? Then your first
priority is just practicing controlled eccentrics
with lighter weights until you can. Also, don't
rule out setup issues. Maybe stance needs tweaking.
Maybe pausing off the floor could help find a
stronger position. Okay, that's helpful for misses
off the floor. What about missing at lockout?
Usually one of two scenarios. Scenario one. Your
hips are fully extended, but you're stuck bent
over. Can't re -extend your spine fully. Often
happens if you pulled with a rounded back. That
points to spinal erector weakness in that extended
position. Front squats, high rack pulls can help.
Scenario two. Your spine is extended and straight,
but you just can't push your hips through that
last little bit to full lockout. That suggests
hip expansors are weak near full extension. Hip
thrusts, maybe kneeling squats with band resistance
are great here. OK, that covers conventional
weaknesses. What about sumo? Different sticking
points. Sumo is a bit different. Balance is more
critical. So just miss grooving the lift can
cause a miss more easily. If the bar barely moves
off the floor, assuming good setup, it's often
just overall strength needing improvement. What
about misses in the middle? Mid shin to knee?
A common sumo issue is the hips shooting up and
back in the mid -range. The lifter sort of shifts
into a semi -conventional position. This often
happens if someone has really strong hamstrings
relative to their glutes and quads. They're trying
to get more hamstring involvement. How do you
fix that? Usually means backing off the weight,
really drilling good positioning, maybe doing
bottom -half pause deadlifts to strengthen that
specific range while staying upright. And sumo
lockout issues. It can be just a lack of strength
specific to that top range. So again, hip thrusts,
rack pulls from knee height. But technical issues
are also common culprits. Weight drifting too
far forward. Balance drills needed. Right. Or
maybe the stance is just too wide for their hip
structure, causing impingement. Experimenting
with slightly narrower stances or different toe
angles or using rack pulls to build top end strength
without the mobility constraint can help. And
spinal erectors and sumo. Less of a limiter.
Generally less limiting than in conventional
because the torso is more upright. That said,
it's still a good idea for sumo pullers to keep
some conventional deadlifting or RDLs in their
program to maintain overall back strength and
resilience. Good advice. What if the main issue
seems to be mobility or just that persistent
backgrounding even with lighter weights? Yeah,
often that comes down to either hip mobility
limitations or just poor motor control not knowing
how to find or maintain a neutral spine position.
So how do you tackle that? Just stretch more.
Stretching can help, but targeted exercises are
usually better. A fantastic approach is progressive
range of motion. Start with rack pulls or block
pulls. Set the bar high enough that you can maintain
a perfectly neutral spine throughout the lift.
Start where you can succeed. Exactly. Then, session
by session or week by week, gradually lower the
starting height of the bar by just a little bit.
An inch or two. Slowly increasing the range.
Yep. This does a few things. It gradually improves
your hip mobility in the specific pattern needed.
It builds strength at those specific joint angles.
And it teaches your body spinal awareness under
load. Patience is absolutely key here. That sounds
really effective. Anything else? Romanian deadlifts.
RDLs, especially with a focus on the stretch
and a pause at the bottom, are basically the
gold standard for increasing deadlift -specific
hip mobility and hamstring flexibility. How should
you do them for mobility? Focus on a slow eccentric,
like three to five seconds on the way down. Pause
for two or three seconds at the bottom, really
feeling that deep stretch in the hamstrings,
but not pain. Don't force it into painful ranges.
Try to go a tiny bit deeper each rep or set as
you warm up. This builds mobility and control
beautifully. And rule out other causes of rounding,
too. Oh, yeah. Like we said, jerking the bar
can cause rounding. Or simply setting up with
a bar too far away from your shins initially.
Fix the setup first. OK. Great troubleshooting
advice. Let's shift gears slightly and hit some
frequently asked questions, some common nuances.
The big one always comes up. Sumo versus conventional.
How on earth do you choose? Ah, the eternal question.
There's really no easy definitive answer. You
see trends. Like, smaller lifters often prefer
sumo. Yeah, often. And larger lifters may be
trend towards conventional. But it's absolutely
not a guarantee. It comes down to individual
anatomy and strengths. We talked about the demands.
Right. Hip demands are similar overall, but the
type of hip movement is different. Conventional
is more pure flexion extension. Sumo involves
more abduction, moving legs apart. So unique
hip socket structure matters a lot. And quad
demands. Considerably higher in sumo. People
who are naturally strong squatters often take
well to sumo because they have strong quads.
About 10 % higher spinal loading in conventional.
So if you have a naturally strong back, conventional
might feel better. If your back is maybe a weak
point but you have strong legs, sumo might be
more forgiving. What's the recommendation? Honestly.
The best advice is usually to spend some real
time, like 6 to 12 months, seriously training
both styles. See which one feels stronger. progresses
better, and causes fewer aches and pains for
you. And they help each other anyway, right?
Exactly. They complement each other really well
in a training program. A conventional lifter
might use sumo occasionally to give their lower
back a break. A sumo lifter might use conventional
or RDLs to build more overall back strength or
manage hip fatigue, knowing both is ideal. OK,
good practical advice. Quick hits, chalk and
baby powder necessary. Chalk is almost always
a good idea for grip. increases friction, absorbs
sweat. Liquid chalk is often preferred by gyms
if they dislike powder mess. Baby powder is different,
it decreases friction. So you put that on your
thighs? Yeah, on your thighs to help the bar
slide up easier during lockout. You definitely
don't want it on your hands. It's typically only
used for meat attempts, not regular training.
Gotcha. Perfectly vertical shin at the start
mandatory. Nope. As we said, depends on your
leverages and strengths. Shins will usually move
towards vertical shortly after you initiate the
pull anyway. Suno benefits more from starting
vertical though. Okay. Ramping versus scooping.
What's that? Sounds like cheating. It's a specific
technique mainly for conventional lockout issues.
It's not the same as hitching, which is illegal.
Ramping is where, after the bar clears your knees,
you actively drive your knees forward under the
bar. Rebending the knees. A little, yeah. while
simultaneously extending your hips, so the bar
essentially slides up your thighs. It has to
be one fluid motion. It reduces hip and back
demands right at the top and increases friction
against the thighs. Risky in competition? Can
be. It's a judge's call, whether it was one fluid
motion or a disallowed hitch. Not something to
rely on heavily, maybe more of a last resort
technique. Okay. Resetting between reps versus
touch and go. Which is better? Depends on the
goal. Resetting each rep, coming to a dead stop,
re -bracing, is excellent for practicing your
setup consistency, especially important if your
form tends to break down on the first rep of
a set or on heavy singles. And touch and go.
Touch and go. Light tap on the floor, immediately
go into the next rep. Allows for higher training
volume, potentially faster strength gains for
some due to the stretch reflex. It also forces
you to maintain core tension throughout the set.
Downside. It can sometimes lead to inflated rep
max calculator estimates because the first rep
is harder than subsequent ones. So the verdict?
Choose whichever method allows you to maintain
consistent high quality form from rep to rep.
If touch and go get sloppy, reset. If resetting
feels inefficient and form is solid, touch and
go might be fine. Makes sense. Head position,
look up, look down, neutral, doesn't matter.
Generally, not that much. It's mostly personal
preference. Looking up slightly, cervical extension
can sometimes help cue spinal extension and make
lockout feel easier for some people. Looking
down or keeping the head neutral aligns the neck
with the spine, which might feel easier off the
floor for others. What about neck strain risk
from looking up? The source material actually
states the risk is unbelievably low. It's very
rare to strain your neck deadlifting just by
looking up slightly. So experiment. Find what
feels strongest and most comfortable for you.
Okay, good to know. Improving grip strength,
the common issue. What actually works best? Those
hand grippers. Probably not hand grippers. They
train crushing grip, but the deadlift requires
support grip, basically. Isometric endurance,
just holding on. Fat bars are also less specific.
So what is specific and effective? The single
best thing is probably timed deadlift holds.
Load up a bar, ideally with the grip you use
for deadlifting, mixed or hook. Pick a weight
you can hold for maybe 15, 20 seconds. And just
stand there holding it? Yep. Do three, four sets,
maybe two, three times a week after your main
deadlift work. It directly trains the exact strength
needed. Any other good options? Sure. Timed hangs
from a pull -up bar are great. One -handed barbell
holds, like a suitcase deadlift hold. Doing things
like shrugs, rows, or even lighter deadlifts
with a double overhand grip until your grip fails.
Farmer's walks are also fantastic for grip endurance.
OK, timed holds sound like the most direct approach.
Now, structuring deadlift training. It's often
called finicky. Why is that, and what should
listeners know? It is finicky, highly individual.
It taxes the nervous system and the lower back
significantly. General guidelines. Start with
maybe half to two thirds the volume, sets X reps,
you use for squats. Lower volume than squats.
Typically, yes. But here's the interesting part.
Deadlifts seem to respond well to high frequency
of the general hinge pattern, things like back
raises, RDLs, kettlebell swings, maybe three
plus times per week, but low frequency of actual
heavy deadlifting from the floor. How low frequency?
For probably 50 % of people, maybe even more,
pulling heavy from the floor only once per week
is optimal. Really? Only once a week? For maximal
effort pulls, often yes. Some people, especially
those well -suited structurally or maybe sumo
pullers who are less back limited, can handle
more volume or frequency. But people whose back
strength is a limiting factor tend to get worn
down very easily by frequent heavy deads. And
technique matters for volume tolerance. Absolutely.
Better, more efficient technique is less taxing,
allows for more volume. Also, critically, don't
try to deadlift heavy if your hips or back are
already significantly fatigued from other training.
Better to push the session back a day or two.
So the key is be conservative. Be conservative.
Listen to your body. prioritize building general
back strength and resilience through accessory
work, and don't overdo the heavy pulls from the
floor. Got it. What about hip height in the setup?
People worry, are my hips too high, too low?
Honestly, your starting hip height is mostly
dictated by your body's geometry, your limb lengths,
arm, tibia, femur, and your torso length. So
it's just anatomy? Largely, yes. Longer arms
or torso relative to legs, your hips will naturally
sit lower. Longer legs, especially femurs, relative
to torso arms. Your hips will naturally start
higher. Most complaints about hips being too
high or too low are just observing natural variations
based on individual build. You generally can't
force your hips much lower or higher than where
your structure wants them to be in an efficient
starting position. Okay, stop worrying about
matching some ideal picture and find your best
start position. Exactly. Now let's revisit spinal
flexion and hip extension demands. You mentioned
the background and can compensate for weak hips.
Yeah, that compensatory loop. Can you elaborate?
Right. When your spine flexes, it shortens the
effective length of your torso lever. This reduces
the distance between your hips and the bar's
line of pull, thereby reducing the torque demand
on your hip extensors. So the back takes over
some of the work the hips couldn't do? In a sense,
yes. It allows you to complete the lift even
if your hips weren't quite strong enough to do
it with a perfectly rigid spine. So if your spine
only flexes right at the very top end, like 90
-95 % plus of your max, it's quite likely it's
compensating for maximal hip effort. And if it
flexes earlier? with lighter weights? If it flexes
significantly below 90%, say at 80%, it's much
more likely indicative of actual spinal erector
weakness. Your back muscles just aren't strong
enough to hold the position, even when your hips
could potentially produce the force. OK, that's
a useful heuristic. 90 % threshold. Yeah, think
about it like squatting. You might be able to
quarter squat 110 % of your max, right? Your
legs are strong enough. But you fail. a full
squat at 100 % because your core or back can't
maintain position in the hole. Same idea. You
can finish a deadlift even if your erectors couldn't
hold that isometric position perfectly if your
hips are strong enough to overcome the slightly
less efficient flexed position. Right. But the
risks. Spinal flexion. This is maybe the most
debated topic in lifting. Is it automatically
bad going to cause injury? It's hugely debated.
And the answer is nuanced. No, spinal flexion
during a deadlift is not automatically crippling
or guaranteed to cause injury. Human tissue is
adaptable. People lift with flexed spines for
years without issue. Sometimes. But it's not
risk -free. Definitely not risk -free. They're
survivor bias. Flexion does increase compressive
and shear forces on the spinal discs and ligaments,
especially towards the end range of motion. A
neutral spine isn't one single point. It's a
range. High level lifters often flex, but usually
within that new surgery not typically into full
end range flexion. And lumbar, lower back flexion,
is generally considered riskier than thoracic
upper back flexion. So the recommendation, especially
for the average listener, the hobbyist lifter.
So the hobbyist lifter. The source strongly suggests
sticking to a neutral spine as much as possible.
fight to maintain it. There's really no tangible
payoff that outweighs the potential increased
long -term risk. And for a competitor trying
to lift the absolute maximum. For a competitor,
some degree of flexion, if it stays within their
body's neutral range and allows them to lift
significantly more, maybe 5 % benefit, might
be deemed an acceptable risk for them. But even
then, The recommendation is to always fight for
extension in training, build strength in good
positions, and maybe limit the number of sets
performed with intentional flexion just to hone
the motor skill for competition attempts. Okay,
a very sensible risk -aware approach. Let's broaden
out again. We've talked conventional and sumo,
but there are tons of deadlift variations. Can
you give us a rapid -fire overview of the main
ones and what they're uniquely good for, like
building that deadlift toolkit? Sure, let's run
through them. Conventional and sumo. We've covered
these differing back wide demands, stance width,
the main lifts, block rack pulls, starting with
the bar elevated on blocks or rack pins. Good
for overloading the top part of the lift, targeting
lockout strength, and can spare the lower back
slightly. Blocks are generally better than pins.
Defs the deadlifts. You stand on a small platform,
increasing the range of motion. Brutal. Great
for building strength off the floor if that's
your weak point. Romanian deadlifts. RDLs. Start
from the top, lower, with minimal knee bend.
Focus on hamstring stretch and hip hinge. Excellent
hamstring glute builder. Less stressful on the
low back than conventional from the floor. Stiff
-legged deadlifts. Similar to RDLs, but usually
performed from the floor, requiring more hip
mobility. Also very hamstring, glute focused.
Trap bar, hex bar, deadlifts. Uses a neutral
grip, bar path is different. Generally more knee
dominant, less hip back dominant than straight
bar. Allows higher peak force, power, velocity.
Often a preferable variation for athletes or
general fitness folks not competing in power
lifting. Deadlifts with bands. Bands attached
add accommodating resistance, gets harder at
the top. Builds lockout strength and explosiveness.
Deadlifts with chains. Similar idea to bands.
Loading increases as chains lift off the floor,
but the effect is less dramatic. Good for lockout
work. Reverse band deadlifts. Bands attached
overhead assist the lift, making it easier off
the floor. Good for feeling heavier weights in
your hands. Overloading the lockout. Confidence
building. Pause deadlifts. Pausing at specific
points. Feasible just off floor, at knee. Fantastic
teaching tool for improving balance position
and control through sticking points. Deadlift
to knee height, halts. Pulling only to the knee
then lowering. Build strength and skill through
that often weakest initial part of the range.
Generates less overall fatigue than full reps.
Snatch grip deadlift, using a very wide grip
like in the Olympic snatch, massively increases
range of motion. Great overall back and leg accessory
really hammers the start position and upper back.
Single leg deadlift RDL. usually with dumbbells
or kettlebells, excellent for working hip stabilizers,
abductors, rotators, improving balance, addressing
imbalances, and promoting general hip health.
Wow, that's quite a toolbox. Okay, for someone
who's maybe a complete beginner or needs to relearn
the movement properly, how should they progress
towards doing a straight bar deadlift from the
floor? Good question. Start by just ingraining
the basic hip hinge pattern. Simple drills like
standing facing away from a wall, pushing hips
back to touch it without bending knees much,
can load this lightly, holding a weight to the
sternum. Okay, master the hinge first. Yep. Then
move to kettlebell or dumbbell deadlifts, where
the weight is between your feet. This is often
easier to learn initially than a barbell out
front. Than the bar. From there you have a couple
of paths. For non -power lifters, progressing
to the trap bar deadlift might be easier to learn,
arguably safer for many. If the goal is straight
bar powerlifting, then progressing from kettlebells
to Romanian deadlifts, learning controlled hinge
with the bar, is a great step before attempting
full deadlifts from the floor. And if they still
struggle with mobility or control for the floor
pull? Then use that progressive range of motion
method we talked about. Start with a rack or
block, pull from a height they can do perfectly,
and slowly, patiently lower the height over time.
Excellent progression. Last question. Lifting
straps, we mentioned them earlier. When should
someone use them? Is there a downside? Are they
cheating? Okay, first off, there's zero evidence
that using straps increases injury risk. Let's
dispel that myth. Whether to use them depends
on your goals. Powerlifters versus everyone else?
Pretty much. If you compete in powerlifting,
you obviously need to be able to deadlift without
straps in competitions, so you'll need some training
without them to build grip strength specifically.
But for non -powerlifters, general strength?
Bodybuilding? Use them as desired. Seriously.
There are significant advantages. Like what?
They protect your hands, prevent painful torn
calluses, reduce grip discomfort, which means
grip issues are less likely to interrupt your
training or limit how hard you can work. And
the big one. They ensure your grip doesn't become
the limiting factor for training your back and
hips. Your posterior chain muscles are much stronger
than your grip muscles. Straps allow you to actually
train those primary movers to their potential.
closer to failure without your hands giving out
first. This can lead to better strength and hypertrophy
gains in the muscles you're actually trying to
target with the deadlift. So no, they're not
cheating unless you're practicing for a comp
that just allows them. They're a tool. That's
a great way to put it. Wow. OK, that was a truly
comprehensive deep dive. We've covered an incredible
amount of ground. We really did. From the basic
physics and anatomy that govern the whole movement
all the way through the nitty gritty of technique,
troubleshooting, common problems, and that huge
array of variations. Yeah, it's clear the deadlift
is way more than just grabbing a bar and yanking
it. So much more. It's complex, challenging,
but honestly incredibly rewarding when you start
to understand it better. And what's really fascinating
here, I think, is that despite all the science,
all the biomechanics, all the technique cues
we've discussed, the deadlift ultimately remains
deeply personal. Awesome. Because your unique
body, right, with your specific limb lengths,
your hip structure, your muscle attachments,
that's always going to dictate your optimal approach,
your best scans, your ideal hip height. So it's
not just applying universal rules. Not entirely.
The journey to mastering the deadlift isn't just
about learning those rules. It's also about listening
to your own body, experimenting and discovering
what truly makes you strong and allows you to
lift safely and effectively. That's a fantastic
final thought. So to everyone listening. Take
these insights, apply them to your own training
if you deadlift, experiment safely, and keep
exploring your own movement potential. We really
hope this deep dive has armed you with some incredible
knowledge to become truly well informed about
this amazing, challenging, yet really rewarding
lift.