The deadlift requires good form to build the most muscle and strength possible while also preventing an injury. When done correctly, it is a safe and effective exercise.
If you have ever seen someone deadlifting a crap load of weight before, your first reaction is usually, “holy shit.”
In my opinion, deadlifting is fun. It’s satisfying putting more weight on the bar each week to get stronger.
If You Want To Get Strong and Build Muscle, Than You Should Deadlift With Good Form.
To point out, it is natural for the deadlift to be intimidating at first because it’s hard to learn how to perfect your form. I know this because I was terrified my first few times too. That said, the more your practice the more comfortable it will become.
In fact, the deadlift is often considered one of the big 3 movements due to the number of muscles it works and the total body strength it creates.
Whether you have never deadlifted a single weight or have been deadlifting for years, I am going to show you the right way to deadlift with good form. This will ensure better performance, less risk of injury, increased strength, and a better ability to build a sexy body.
This is not an article on how to deadlift the most amount of weight. This is an article to teach you how to work your way up to a strong and powerful deadlift with good form.
All you need to do is sit back, relax, grab a coffee, and take notes at your own pace. These are the ideas that I have put together from the masterminds before me. I am here to organize all the information into one easy to read place.
Be sure to read the whole article and do not skip any sections. I hope you enjoy it.
What is the Correct Deadlift Form?
The first thing to remember, is a deadlift is a hip dominant movement. This means that you’re bending at the hips rather than the knee to pull a weight from the ground and lift it up. For this reason, it’s considered a hard lift because you are pulling heavy weight from a dead stop on the ground.
The deadlift works your posterior chain (the muscles on the back of your body): the neck, muscles of the upper back, butt, and your legs.
There are many different forms of the deadlift, making it a versatile and customizable exercise for anyone. A few examples include:
- Conventional deadlift
- Sumo deadlift
- Trap Bar deadlift
- Romanian deadlift
- Straight legged deadlift
- Deficit deadlift
There is no one correct deadlift variation. There is a deadlift variation for you.
Contrary to popular belief, when done correctly, a deadlift strengthens your back rather than injure it.
The Deadlift With Good Form is NOT Bad for Your Back
In my opinion, not including deadlifts in your program is a big mistake.
One of the biggest myths in the fitness industry is that deadlifts are bad for your back. Well, that is true… if they are done with shitty form.
When done with good form, the deadlift is safe for your back. As a matter of fact, it is one of the best exercises you can do to build your total body muscle, prevent injury as you age, move better, and improve your whole body strength.
The reason why people think it is bad for you back is because the deadlift is one of the hardest movements to learn, therefore, you see a lot of people doing it wrong. When it’s performed with a combination of heavy weight and shitty form, it is a recipe for disaster.
Why a Deadlift With Good From is Safe
By learning how to use the right muscles and hip hinge correctly, your chances of injury decrease. When all of your muscles are doing their job, it keeps the lower back safe from injury.
As an added benefit, this will carry over into life outside the gym. You may notice movements that have given you issues in the past, like bending over, become easier.
Benefits of a Deadlift With Good From:
Hopefully I persuaded you that deadlifts are safe. If that wasn’t enough, here are a few other benefits you can expect from deadlifting.
1. Build a Strong and Muscular Body
If you want to build your best body , then I believe deadlifts are required.
Deadlifts give you the most bang for your buck results in terms of strength and muscle building. Being able to deadlift heavy ass weight will build a strong and powerful body more quickly than most other lifts besides the squat.
Show me someone who deadlifts heavy weight without an impressive back side of their body. Lifting that much weight requires a lot of strength, which requires muscle. The two go hand in hand.
If you are not deadlifting, than you are losing out on some massive gains.
2. Improves Poor Posture
Additionally, a properly done deadlift can be a great corrective exercise for posture. The muscles worked in a deadlift are typically the ones that get the least attention in today’s society.
Since you sit down for most of the day to work on computers, go on your smart phone, and play video games all day. (Hey, I suffer from it too.) you are left with a hunched over posture.
As a result, strengthening these muscles will help you feel better, reduce pain from poor posture, both of which will improve your quality of life.
3. You Deadlift Everyday During Life and Work
Furthermore, the deadlift is a fundamental movement, meaning one that you use in everyday life and possibly your job if you’re bending over to pick things up. Think of picking a box up off the ground or placing something down.
I am sure you have heard a story of someone you know that picked something up and hurt themselves. For some reason you are taught to bend at the knees. Instead, you should be taught to bend at the hips.
As you strengthen your body and continue to make this movement a habit, you can safely lift up and place things down. This becomes especially important the older you get where injury risk increases.
4. Good Deadlift Form Keeps You Young
Having a strong back side of your body is important the older you get. I am sure you know someone who suffers from a bad back. It is not a good place to be in.
Strength training, especially a full body movement like a deadlift, is great to prevent aging as it:
- Strengthens your bones which prevents osteoporosis
- Further strengthens your joints
- Increases mobility
- Reduces your risk of injury
As a result, you will be able to do more daily activities without assistance.
5. A Deadlift With Good Form Improves Other Lifts
Being able to deadlift heavy weight is going to carry over into your other lifts. If you can build up your deadlift strength, you can guarantee your other lifts like chin ups and rows will get stronger too. Not to mention insane increased strength on your isolation exercises as well.
However, some may still argue that they may not be as good as a single isolation exercise to build a muscle because it does not directly target that muscle. My argument is that you can’t load a leg curl machine with 300 pounds like you can with a deadlift.
A strong deadlift will build up a leg curl. A strong leg curl will not build a strong deadlift. Isolation exercises are great compliments to compound movements but terrible replacements.
Hopefully this is all of the persuasion you need to start deadlifting.
How to Start to Deadlift With Good Form?
First Lesson: Learn How to Hip Hinge
It’s essential to learn how to hip hinge before moving onto the deadlift.
A hip hinge is a fundamental movement where you bend at the hips instead of the knees while keeping a straight back. Think of opening a door with your butt when you are carrying groceries inside.
When you first look at the hip hinge, it looks simple. Believe it or not, it is something many people struggle with at first.
A common issue I see is that many people have a hard time keeping their back straight.
Something I personally like to have my clients start with is using your hands and the top of your legs as a guide. Here is how to do this:
- Unlock your knees by slightly bending your knees. A cue that may help you “keep your knees soft” and “break at the hips”.
- Place your hands on the tops of your thighs as you slowly push your butt back to the wall behind you.
- As you continue to push your butt back, you are sliding your hands down your legs and maintaining contact. You know you are doing this right if you feel the stretch in the back of your hamstrings or the back of your legs.
- Once you can’t push your butt back anymore without bending your knees and squatting down, then that is how far you can hip hinge with good form. This will be different for everyone depending on the flexibility of your hamstrings.
- You can also use a stick as an alternative. This is a good option if you are having trouble maintaining a straight back. The stick will help you learn the correct muscles to use. The goal is to maintain contact with the stick in 3 separate points: the back of your head, upper back between your shoulder blades, and butt.
In fact, it may be a good idea to practice Romanian deadlifts first, which are basically weighted hip hinges. Do this for a few weeks to strengthen your muscles and further improve your hip hinge before moving onto deadlifting.
From Bad to Good Deadlift Form:
Once you feel comfortable with your hip hinge, it is time to start deadlifting.
In this section, I will show you how to perform a conventional deadlift with a barbell. That said, the same concept applies with all the other variations whether it’s with a dumbbell, kettlebell, or trap bar.
Always make sure you start off with light weight to get your form down. You can always increase your weight over time!
Note: If you can’t get all the way down to the floor yet, you will need to elevate the weight and pull from a place where you can get down to. Over time, you will work through your mobility until you can eventually pull from the floor.
1. Good Deadlift Form Foot Placement
The setup is the most important part. With good form, you can expect to pull more weight, build more muscle, and make the deadlift safer.
- Place your feet about shoulder width apart or about a foot between your heels. Make sure to slightly point your toes out at about 10 degrees.
- The bar should be placed over the middle of your whole foot between the heel and toes. An easy way to find this point is to line it up with your shoe laces. Placing the bar over your mid foot allows for the best balance and being able to lift more weight.
- For sumo, your stance should be about slightly wider than shoulder width with your toes pointed out more at about 30 degrees.
I know. I know. Terrible picture. Hopefully you get the idea of the difference between a sumo deadlift and a conventional deadlift stance.
2. Gripping the Bar
This is where the hip hinge comes into play from earlier.
- Hinge at your hips until you can’t push your butt back any further.
- Squat down or bend your knees until your shins touch the bar.
- Now, grab the bar with both palms facing down directly outside your shins. For sumo, your grip will depend on where your hands are when your arms hang straight down. Your hands will be closer together and inside your shins.
- I would recommend double overhand or palms facing down grip. This ensures that you will strengthen both of your hands and forearms the same. This grip also places less stress on your shoulder. If you want to use an alternating grip, save it for your heaviest sets.
It is important to keep your arms straight and your elbows locked during the whole movement. You want everything to be nice and tight.
3. Show Your Nipples To The Wall In Front of You
Now you have everything in the right position and your grip set. However, if you recall from earlier, one of the most important things is to protect your lower back.
- To do this, you’re going to lift your chest up to show your nipples to the wall in front of you. If you are having trouble with this, another cue you can use is to think that you have oranges in between your armpits and you want to squeeze the hell out of them to produce some delicious OJ.
- Pick a spot 10-15 feet in front of you and stare at it. Your head, neck, and back should be in a straight line. By lifting your chest up and squeezing your armpits tight, you will activate your back muscles which will put your lower back in a safe and straight position.
- Your back will be more horizontal during a conventional deadlift and more vertical during a sumo deadlift.
4. 3..2..1..Lift Off!
The time has come to lift the weight off of the floor.
- First, you are going to want to brace your core to support your back and create a more stable body. Take a deep breath in and tighten your stomach like you are about to get punched.
- First, spread the floor apart with your feet to make sure your knees are in line with your toes.
- Next, explode up by pushing the floor away from you.
- You want to bar to go up in a straight line by keeping it as close to your body as possible. The bar may scrape your shins. If you don’t want a bloody mess everywhere, wearing long pants may be a good idea.
5. Locking Out The Deadlift
- Once the bar passes your shins you want your knees, hips, chest, and shoulders to all lock out at the same time. Act like you are humping the bar by squeezing your butt and pushing your hips into it.
- Do NOT over arch your lower back. Keep you chest out, shoulders back, butt squeezed, and knees locked. Hold this position for 1-2 seconds.
6. Setting the Weight Down
Once you have completed a rep, think of a reverse deadlift to put the weight back down.
- Unlock your knees and hips, push them back, bend the knees, and let the weight go down in a straight line.
- You can set the weight down faster than you brought the weight up. Just be sure to maintain good form.
A Few Other Notes on Proper Deadlift Form
Between each rep, reset yourself, go over your cues, and repeat. Do not bounce the weight off of the floor. By bouncing the weight, you are taking out a lot of the strength gains and making it easier on yourself.
Furthermore, if the bar is too far forward, you will destroy your shins and knees, leaving a bloody mess everywhere like you are a little kid who fell on the playground and scraped their shin.
Now, you know how to deadlift. Keep practicing because just like you were told when you were a little kid, practice makes perfect.
Common Deadlift Form Mistakes:
Since the deadlift takes a lot of time and effort to learn, you are bound to make mistakes. I do not say that as a bad thing. I mean it as a “Hey, it happens to all of us” sort of way. Here are a few common mistakes and how to fix them.
Bouncing the Weight
If you bounce the weight off of the ground after each rep, you are not getting the full strength benefits of the deadlift. Most of the strength gains come from pulling the bar off of the ground.
Another issue with bouncing the weight off of the floor is it can lead to bad form, especially the more tired you get. When you bounce the weight and speed through each rep like it is a race, you do not have the time nor awareness to fix your form.
This is the reason they are called “dead” lifts.
Something Tony Genticore wrote that I found helpful is to focus on each rep as its own individual set. In other words, reset yourself after every rep and go back through your check points. This will not only help you prevent injury, but it will also help you get stronger and build a thick and sexy looking back.
Rounding the Lower Back
One of the most common causes for injury is rounding your lower back. The upper back, lower back, and your ab muscles work together to keep the lower back safe and rigid. By rounding your lower back, it takes these muscles out of the equation, less weight can be lifted, and your chance of injury increases.
This is where keeping your chest up, showing your nipples to the wall in front of you, and squeezing the hell out of the oranges under your armpits plays an important role.
Having the Bar Too Far From Your Shins
The goal is for the bar to go up in a straight line from the floor. The reason for this is because it is the easiest path for you to lift the weight.
If it is too far in front of your shins, it is going to make the deadlift harder.
Make sure to have your shoulders in front of the bar, your chest up, butt in the air, your shins touching the bar, and you will be good to go.
Having Your Butt Too Low
A deadlift is not a squat. The more you squat your butt down, the farther away the bar moves forward away from your shins which I just talked about.
As a result, your hips will shoot up first and you’ll have to jerk the weight up. This will take your quads out of the picture which are the main muscle used to get the weight off of the floor. Therefore, less weight can be lifted.
Overarching Your Back at the Top of the Deadlift
Once your shoulders are back, your chest is up, and your knees, hip, and back all lock out at the same time, the deadlift is done. You know you have gone too far if you are starting to bend backwards.
Over arching the spine at the top can cause injury to the lower back. Be sure to hump the bar and squeeze your butt. This is the final position.
Lowering the Weight to Slowly
Setting the bar down slowly will actually make it harder. The bar can be dropped as fast as you are able to maintain some control with it.
Not Getting Enough Rest
Lifting heavy and training the deadlift take a lot of time to recover from. I would not recommend deadlifting more than once a week. Make sure to rest 3-5 minutes in between sets as it takes your body a lot of time to recover. If you don’t, your performance will suffer and the less progress you will make.
Programming The Deadlift:
I am going to give you a list of progressions that you can follow to begin deadlifting.
To start, pick a version that feels comfortable to you.
1.Dumbbell/Kettlebell Deadlift
For starters, a single dumbbell or kettlebell will work. Simply place the weight directly in between your legs and follow the same step by step guide.
2.Trap/Hex Bar Deadlift
The next step would be to use a trap bar, also known as a hex bar. This is a great starter exercise because you do not have to get down as far as you normally would with a regular barbell. Plus, the hex bar is created in a way that makes it easier to keep your back straight. The only caveat is that not all gyms have one of these.
3. Barbell Sumo Deadlift
Sumo style deadlifts are similar to the conventional deadlift except for a few key differences. During a sumo deadlift, your feet will be farther apart, your hands will be closer together, and your back will be more vertical.
If you have tiny arms and long legs this version may be for you. Remember how I said that conventional deadlifts can be a problem if you have poor mobility and move like the tin man? Well, these are great options.
4. Barbell Conventional Deadlift
Conventional deadlifts are the most challenging to master in my opinion. Granted, they are slightly better for building muscle because your muscles have to work harder for a longer distance which leads to more gains.
How do you know which to choose? For instance, if your toes naturally point outwards, it may be a sign a sumo deadlift may fit your body best. The opposite is true if your toes point forward or in. In this case, conventional style may be for you. Furthermore, if you can’t get down to a bar, use a trap bar or place the barbell on an elevated surface.
Sample Deadlift Plan:
Important note: To get results, you need to progressive overload.
The simplest form of progressive overload that you will focus on is increasing the amount of weight you pull each week. The goal is to add 5-10 pounds each week.
I recommend sticking to low rep ranges. High rep ranges increase your injury risk.
Furthermore, there should be 1-2 reps left in the tank. DO NOT go to failure. If you go to failure every set, you aren’t allowing your body to recover. If you find that you can’t go up in weight, try to get 1 more rep with the same weight.
Sets & Reps
- The deadlift should always be the first exercise of your workout
- Month 1: Start with 3 sets of 4-6 reps each week.
- Month 2: Move up to 4 sets, of 3-5 reps
- Month 3: Move up to 5 sets, of 2-3 reps.
Days Per Week:
- 1 day.
I think this is more than enough. It takes your body a long time to recover from heavy deadlifting. Any more than 1 day a week you run the risk of overtraining and injury.
Assistance Exercises to Help with Your Deadlift:
- Supplement with:
- Romanian Deadlifts
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Glute bridges
- Hip Thrusts
- Cable Pull Throughs
- Deficit deadlifts (Advanced)
- Pick 1-2 of these to complete after deadlifts.
- These can be done 1-2 times per week.
If you do not know how to complete any of these, there are plenty of videos on the Internet.
Final Thoughts
Alright, that’s it. I hope you found this guide helpful. The deadlift is hard and takes a long time to learn, so do not get frustrated. Continue to work on your form, get stronger every week, and the results will come.
Keep in mind, there is a deadlift version for you.
Either way, I am always here to help. If you have any questions, email me or leave a comment below.
I appreciate you. Love You.
-Bob
Ps. If you are interested in taking this a step further, you can apply to my 1:1 online coaching program to see if we are a good fit.
Pps. If not, you can always sign up for my email list to receive your free manual.