The deadlift is a great exercise to build muscles, strength, lose fat and a lot of things. But many people even don’t know how to deadlift properly.
But it is also a deadly workout to perform. It is very simple to perform if learn it properly. But if don’t know how to perform and set an attempt it can be very dangerous.
Lots of people do it in an incorrect posture and when they try to lift heavier they get injured.
It is a very powerful movement. Your body needs a lot of strength to perform this.
The deadlift is a compound movement. It means multiple muscles of your body get involved to perform this. And chances of losing form is very high in this type of compound exercises.
So, you should know the proper form of a deadlift.
There are so many variations of deadlift I am going to share with you the proper form of deadlift so that you can build a perfect physique and build up more strength and muscle.
How to Perform Deadlift (Conventional)
Setup for Deadlift
Your setup and posture should be always perfect in every repetition of the deadlift. Because you may lift too heavy to perform this.
And to lift that much of heavyweight your posture should remain perfect every time. Otherwise, you may get injured badly.
So, you need to know the correct posture.
Pay Attention to Your Feet:
All the power to that heavy load comes from your feet. So, it is important to know the proper foot placement.
Otherwise, you may end up with knee pain.
How wide should you place your feet, that depends on the type of deadlift you are performing. In a conventional deadlift, your feet will be open with your shoulder-width apart.
Think as you are about to jump as high as you can but stop just before you jump and look at your feet. This will be the position of your feet for the conventional deadlift.
Place the Bar:
Place the bar as close as your shin bone. Your feet will be just under the bar.
Walk your feet under the bar. It should run across the middle of your feet. and the bar should be as close as possible with the shinbone (tibia).
When you look at your feet from the top at that position, it seems that the bar has divided your feet into two parts.
Full Body Posture for the deadlift:
Hips: Hinge at the hip to lower yourself and reach the barbell. It seems like you are trying to throw your glutes back.
Do not lower your hips to your knee level. Make a “v” shape in your hip.
Back: Your back always should remain straight. Don’t over-arch the back. Due to heavy loads, your back may roll, and it is the common problem of beginners.
Because of that many people suffer from back pain and avoid to deadlift. Always remember to keep straight your back throughout the reps and engage your lats.
Core: To lift heavy weights you need to tighten your core otherwise your back will compromise the load. And you may injure your back.
All the power will transfer from the foot through your back and mid-section. So, you need to tighten your core to lift the weight.
Chest: your chest should be up throughout the reps.
Shoulder: your shoulder will be just over the bar. From the side, it will seem like your shoulder is vertical to the bar. Retract your scapula as you do to perform the Bench Press.
Neck: Many people get injured in neck joint to lift heavyweight. don’t look up or down when you lift. Look straight in front of you.
Make sure that your neck, shoulder, and back are in a line. many people look down to their legs don’t do that.
Grip: Place your hand just beside your knees. Grab the bar with a full grip as hard as you can. You may have one under-hand and the other over-hand grip (mixed grip).
Also, you may have a hook grip and double overhand grip.
Executing the DEADLIFT
You need to remember only two things when you pull the bar:
- Push off the floor.
- Keep the posture maintained throughout the reps (especially your core and back).
During the performance of conventional deadlift, if you think to push yourself against the floor, it will help you to generate tension throughout your hips and knees.
Breathing
First set up the posture and grip the bar as I mentioned above. After gripping the bar
take a deep breath and hold the breath.
Lift the Bar
The goal really is to push the floor with your legs and stand up. When you are standing tall while holding the weights you have completed one rep.
You do not try to shrug with your traps. Simply stand up straight, thrust your hips forward, and focus on squeezing your glutes at the end of the lift.
When you reach the top of the rep, known as “lockout”. Many people think that “lockout” means “leaning back”. don’t do that, hyperextension of your back can cause your spine compression.
Just lift the weight, stand tall, straight and squeeze your gluts that’s it, you have completed your rep.
Lower the Bar
After lifting the bar, you have two option:
- Dropping the weight.
- Lowering the weight back to the floor.
Option #1 is called pull-and-drop technique. Mostly weight-lifters do deadlift in this method. Many bodybuilders also follow this method.
In this method, you can lift much heavier because you don’t need to focus on the eccentric part of the movement. Just lift the weight and drop it, repeat this again.
In this method, you mostly target your upper part of the body
Option #2 if you lower the bar it will give you a full-body strength. Many people lose their tension of muscles in this phase.
Remember all the tightness in your core, lats, the shoulder should remain all the time.
Path of the Bar
The bar will travel perpendicular to the ground. The bar should be as close as possible to your shin bones.
Tempo of deadlift
The tempo of a conventional deadlift is to lift the bar as fast as possible off the floor. that means to lift the bar explosively.
When you lift the bar think that someone is pulling the bar to the floor and you are about to snatch the bar.
In the eccentric part, you may drop the bar or lower the bar. if you lift too heavy then you should drop the bar, but if you can control the weight then slowly lower the bar.
Muscles Worked
In the conventional method of the deadlift is mostly targets the lower back. But it is a compound movement so there are many muscles get activated during the deadlift.
Hamstrings, glutes, trap, core muscles these are the supportive muscles that worked together.
Variation of deadlift
There are so many variations available which are:
- Sumo deadlift: Targets the inner thigh and glute muscles.
- Stiff leg deadlift: Mostly targets the hamstring muscles and lower back.
- Deficit deadlift: Increase the range of motion of deadlift and stimulate the glute and hamstring muscles and lower back more.
- Conventional deadlift: Targets the lower back and glute.
- Snatch grip deadlift: Stimulate the trap, upper back, lower back, and forearms more.
Safety Guide
Many people do a lot of deadlift mistakes and hurt themselves. To avoid these mistakes, you need to follow some points.
Footwear
Footwear is very important for a deadlift. Select footwear which has
- A powerful grip
- A flat and hard sole
- Sole is lower to the ground
Option #1 You need a lot of strength to lift the weight through your foot. So, make sure that your footwear has a strong grip.
Option #2 if your sole is not hard you may lose strength. And if it is not flat your ankle will be bent and will be compromised. Later, you may feel pain in your ankle.
Option #3 As the power is coming from the ground the shorter will be the distance the more you will get power.
Belt
A belt is like your friend to support you in the deadlift. When you lift heavy you may lose the tightens of your core and lats.
But when you wear a belt it will help you to tighten your core throughout the rep. it is important to wear a belt when you are going to lift heavy.
Socks
Maintaining a straight bar path is very important while doing the deadlift. During a deadlift, many people sweat in their foot and lose the grip. So, wearing a pair of socks will be a better option.
Straps or Chalks
During a deadlift, the bar can sleep to from your hands. Because your hand may get sweaty.
So, I recommend using straps or chalks. It also gives you a strong and tight grip to lift heavy.
Warm-Up
The deadlift is a compound movement. So, before you jump into it you need to engage the muscles properly to lift heavy.
Do a full-body warm-up and do some warm-up sets before lifting the weights.
Conclusion
Many people think that a beginner should not do deadlift because it is a difficult workout to learn as a beginner.
But I think everyone should attempt deadlift because someday you must need to do the deadlift. So, why don’t you start from now and learn how to deadlift with proper form.
As a beginner, I suggest people start with lightweight and do three sets of 18-20 reps. Do this once a week for at least six weeks to correct your form. If you need much time, then make it don’t rush.
After that gradually increase the weight. When you will start lifting heavy you can feel if your form is correct or not because you are lifting heavy.
Tell someone to spot you if you are doing it correctly or not.
Benefits of the deadlift are huge. To lose weight, build muscle, build strength, to correct posture and many benefits of the deadlift. So, you must include deadlift in your workout routine.