Many fear the Deadlift. Maybe it’s the name. Deadlift. Or maybe it’s the movement. I often get told it’s not healthy for the lower back.
The Deadlift is the best exercise for back strength. It learns you to keep the lower back rigid under a load.
But yes, Deadlifts can lead to injury if not performed correctly. Here are: 7 tips for a safer Deadlift.
1. Don’t Hyperextend The Back. Hyperextending the back at lockout puts posterior stress on the lower spine. This can lead to intervertebral disk injury, like hernias. The correct way to lockout the weight is:
- Lift the chest up
- Pull the shoulders back
- Bring hips, knees & lower back into extension simultaneously
Don’t overdo the back extension.
2. Don’t Roll The Shoulders. Rolling & shrugging the shoulders at the top is bad. You could injure your neck. Chest up, shoulders back, full extension, you’re done.
Some roll & shrug at the top to hit the traps more. Heavy Deadlifts will give you enough trap work. If you feel you need more, do Power Cleans.
3. Keep The Bar Close To Your Body. Two reasons:
- The shortest distance between start & top is a straight vertical line
- The closer the bar, the smaller the stress on your lower back
It’s impossible to achieve a bar path perpendicular to the floor. However you should strive for this model. How? Try this:
- Use your lats to pull the bar toward your body
- Start the lift from the floor with the bar touching your shins
4. Keep Your Elbows Locked. There’s no better way to get injured than by letting 200kg straighten your elbows for you.
The elbows add nothing to the lift: the weight is lifted by your knees, hips & back, not by the arms. Deadlift safely. Start the lift with the elbows locked.
5. Brace Your Abs. Your back muscles support your spine from the back, your abs from the front. Bracing the abs increases the pressure in your abdomen, which leads to increased stability. How do you use bracing to your advantage?
- Set up for the Deadlift
- Take a big breath
- Squeeze against it
- Breathe when the bar is back on the floor
Never breathe while lifting. It’s unnatural & puts more stress on the lower back.
6. Look Forward. Looking down will make the bar leave your body. As we discussed in point 3, this puts more stress on your spine. Look at a point half way up the wall facing you. This will keep your chest up & upper back tight.
7. Squeeze Your Glutes. Contrary to what many do, the Deadlift is not a pull back. Lockout occurs by extending knees, hips & back simultaneously. Think hip forward, not pulling back.
The best way to do this is, is by squeezing your glutes. This will bring them forward. If you can’t involve your glutes, try some glute activation.
great article Mehdi!
The Deadlift is indeed one the best exercises for building strength and also for building some mass on your frame!
A tip: Try to imagine that you don’t LIFT the weight off the floor, but to hold the bar and PUSH your feet through the floor, while standing up.
That’s a great tip Ruben.
Pushing the feet through the floor is a good way to involve the glutes more & avoid pulling back.
Thanks for sharing
Salaam Mehdi
Some trainers like Pavel Tsatsouline, Dave Tate etc..recomend the “pull back”
I’ve read M. Rippetoe’s views and he echoes what u say- could u explain further- I know the begining is like a mini-squat- keep hips down and extend legs- and then a pull back etc… is this correct or please correct me? As well, what’s your view on using a mixed grip as opposed to two hands over?- Thanks
Ali,
The problem with pulling back, is that an hyperextension of the lower back is possible. Your strongest muscles are your glutes. You must learn to use them when deadlifting/squatting/push press/etc…
My concern is the lower back. Pulling with the lower back solely, puts a lot of stress on your spine.
Tip 7 is most important: squeeze your glutes, bring them forward. When you do this, you’ll feel little stress in your lower back.
About the grip. Use a pronated grip for as long as you can. When grip starts to weaken, but you feel other muscles can lift more, switch to a mixed grip.
Interesting site. Will make it a point to visit regularly.
Thanks MacGyver Del!
Quality tips, cheers! I’ve been working a lot on deadlifting form recently and you’ve given me some more things to think about. I use my hips in the lift but I had never thought about specifically squeezing the glutes as well.
Thanks Sally. You’ve got a nice site too. Squeezing the glutes will make a big difference in safety & weight. Squeezing the glutes is actually correct deadlift technique. Let me know how it goes.
Mehdi, when looking at your deadlift video, the ‘Proper Deadlift Technique’ one, on youtube I notice that when you lower the weight, you break your knees before the weight has passed your knees. According to a T-nation article this is bad for your knees. This is the article: http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1588392 , you can scroll down to the ‘Knee Break Lowering’ part to see what I’m talking about.
Do you think they are right, or do you still believe the deadlift you show in your video is 100% correct?
@Armando
They’re totally right. It’s bad for your knees if you hit your knees on the way down. You can see on the video that my lower back stays straight, and that I roll the weight to my knees before bringing it down. I’m NOT hitting my knees. A correcter way is to bend more at the hips on the way down.
Mehdi, I didn’t actually mean that you hit your knees with the bar. I meant you unlock the knees when you’re holding the bar ABOVE your knees, which is too early according to the article.
Maybe it makes more sense if I directly quote a bit of the article
” push the hips back and keep the spine neutral. Don’t break the knees until the bar has passed them. Then you can half squat, half deadlift the bar to the floor.”
@Armando
I read the article before
You don’t see me rounding, you don’t see me hitting the knees. These are both bad. The further the bar of of your body, the higher the torque on your lower back. I have history of lower back pain, this way of lowering the weight is a direct result of minimizing what hurts. I’m working at it however now that my back is better.
My bad, I think I have misinterpreted the article. ( English is not my first language) I thought bending your knees whilst holding the weight up high puts alot of unnecessary stress on the knees, but the article is talking about actually hitting the knees, like you said.
Anyways, thanks for the quick response and clarifying it up
Love your site and articles, keep posting!
Cheers.
No problem, I understand, English is not my primary language too. Thanks for the motivating words on the blog, good luck with the deadlifts.