Barbell Deadlift

1. Walk to the bar and set your stance about hip width, with the bar over your mid foot, roughly 3 cm from your shins.
2. Hinge down and grip the bar just outside your legs with a double overhand grip, switching to hook or mixed grip only when loads demand it.
3. Drop your hips until your shins touch the bar, chest up, back flat, and lats engaged as if squeezing oranges in your armpits.
4. Take a deep breath into your belly and brace your trunk hard.
5. Drive the floor away with your legs, keeping the bar dragging along your shins and the hips and shoulders rising together.
6. Once the bar passes the knees, push your hips through to a full stand, squeezing the glutes at lockout without leaning back.
7. Return the bar by pushing the hips back first, then bending the knees once the bar clears them, keeping your back flat.
8. Reset your breath and position fully between heavy reps rather than bouncing the plates.

Common Mistakes

• Rounding the lower back: a flexed lumbar spine under 100 kg plus is the classic deadlift injury pattern; if you cannot hold neutral, the bar is too heavy.
• Letting the bar drift forward: every centimeter away from the legs multiplies the leverage against the lower back; drag it along your shins and thighs.
• Jerking the slack: yanking the bar with straight legs and a loose trunk snaps you into a rounded position; pull the slack out of the bar before you drive.
• Hyperextending at lockout: leaning way back and shrugging is not a stronger lockout, it just grinds the lumbar facets; stand tall and stop.

Programming Tips

Because the deadlift taxes recovery hard, most programs cap it at once or twice a week. For strength, work in the 1 to 5 rep range for 3 to 5 sets with long rest, 3 to 5 minutes, and a full reset between reps. For hypertrophy, sets of 5 to 8 with a controlled eccentric add size to the hamstrings, glutes and back without grinding the nervous system the way daily heavy pulling does. Progress conservatively, 2.5 kg jumps once every rep is clean, and plan a deload every 4 to 6 weeks since the deadlift accumulates fatigue faster than most lifts. Place it early in a session, before accessory hinge work like RDLs, and never after a heavy squat session on the same day.

Common Questions

Should I deadlift from the floor every session? No, alternating floor pulls with rack pulls or deficit pulls spreads the stress across different ranges and keeps the lower back fresher.

Is it normal to feel it in my grip before my back? Yes, grip often fails first; a hook grip or straps on volume sets let you keep training the back past what your hands can hold.

How do I know if I'm ready to add weight? Every rep in the set should look identical, same bar path, same back position, before you add another plate.