The Conventional Deadlift Techique Primer

Harald Leymann

May 2, 2005 09:42 AM

When I'm in the gym or at a PL meet and I see a lot of deadlifts with bad or inefficient technique. A less than perfect technique can hold you back from reaching good results, or even worse, you will get injured.

With that in mind, here is an overview of safe and effective conventional deadlift technique:

1. Stand upright before the barbell and adjust your foot position. 
2. Fold over without rounding your back and grip the bar with the alternate grip, one palm facing forward and the other back.  Secure your grip, don't hurry, your grip must be 100%. The bar should be touching your legs now. 
3. Now go into your starting position and start to building up tension. Breathe in a slow and concentrated manner. 
4. Lock your arms, tense your triceps, contract your shoulder blades, lift your glutes slightly upward, than lower your butt slowly.
5. Take a deep breath and hold it.  Pull your head back and look up at the ceiling for the duration of the lift. 
6. Push your feet into the floor, tense your abs, and start to pull. The bar is always touching your legs. 
7. Your back must always held be in an arched position. The lower back works only statically; the pulling strength comes from the hips, glutes, and the legs. 
8. Pull hard and with determination. When bar is 4 inches below your knees, your lower back muscles must contract forcefully to pull the bar to the mid thigh. 
9. Now shift your pelvis forward, pull your shoulders back, and lock your knees in one smooth movement. The knees and hips must lock out at the same time. This is very important!!!

The Deadlift Paradox

Have you asked yourself, why many lifters can pull the bar relatively easily half way up but cannot lock out? Do you think rack pulls from the sticking point are the solution? -Wrong! You are just too weak off the platform so you have no momentum to go through your sticking point. And your strength does not have the endurance to strain through the sticking point.

These problems can be overcome with extended deadlifts; standing on an elevation. Pulling the bar through a greater range of motion teaches your body to produce force for a longer period time. Give your muscles time to adapt to this movement. Increase the height of the elevation very slowly. And pay attention to the correct technique no matter weight is on the bar.

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