6 Steps to Perfect Deadlift Form
This article originally appeared on Oxygen
What's in a name? If it happens to be "deadlift," then a whole bunch of fear and loathing among the lifting gen pop. The moniker is apt, though. Not that a deadlift will literally kill you, but if you're doing it right, you'll be dead tired afterward. Deadlifts engage every major muscle group in your body, especially those in your posterior chain, including the calves, hamstrings and glutes up through your spinal erectors, lats, traps and shoulders. For that reason, proper deadlift form is imperative.
To help you make the most of every rep, we've assembled four elite training experts and gleaned their insider tips on deadlift form, function and everything in between. At the end of this master class, you'll be able to bring your deadlifts back to life and resurrect your progress.
Use this six-step guide to perfect the exercise with the intimidating name.
6 Steps to a Perfect Deadlift
1. Setup
Place a barbell on the floor in the center of an Olympic platform or in a designated area in the gym with rubber or reinforced flooring. Clear the space around you of extra equipment, then load your plates on each side and secure them with clips. Whenever possible, use rubber Olympic lifting plates, aka "bumper" plates, rather than smaller metal/rubber-coated plates. Bumper plates are easier on the equipment and the floor if you drop the bar, and they also raise the bar higher off the floor, decreasing the distance you need to lift the weight.
Before lifting, check your alignment; your spine should be straight from head to tailbone.
2. Assume the position
"Take a narrow stance, approximately hip width, with your hands placed on the bar just outside your thighs," instructs Zachary Long, aka The Barbell Physio, DPT, SCS, physical therapist and strength coach based in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The bar should be positioned close to your shins, with your hips higher than your knees, shoulders higher than your hips and armpits directly over the barbell." In this position, your angle of pull is directly vertical, maximizing your power potential.
Crew Cue: Lace Lineup
Position your feet so your shoelaces are directly underneath the bar, says Denise Cervantes, personal trainer, group health instructor and certified Level 1 USA Weightlifting coach. "Think of this as 'point A,'" she says. "At the top, 'point B,' the bar should also be aligned with your shoelaces. And the fastest and most efficient way to get from point A to point B is in a straight line." Straying from the vertical dramatically decreases the efficiency of the lift and ultimately limits the amount of weight you can handle. Like any exercise, good deadlift form will facilitate heavier lifts -- just be patient.
Crew Cue: An Apple a Day …
"Your shoulders should be drawn back and activated -- like you're trying to hold an apple between your shoulder blades," says Samantha Parker, MS, CPT, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, author of Yoga for Chronic Pain … WTF? (Neoteric Movement Systems, 2018). "This helps [protect] the smaller muscles, specifically the delts and rotator cuffs, and helps keep your chest lifted."
Error Alert: Don't Be a Slacker
Before initiating the lift from the floor, "pull" the slack out of the bar by applying some upward tension -- just enough so that the bar presses up against the top of the center rings in the plates. "In the same way a sprinter leans forward before they take off, a deadlifter should pull the slack out of the bar before the lift," Cervantes says. "This allows you to build tension through your [posterior chain]."
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