Hitting your knees on Deadlifts can happen both when pulling the weight off the floor and when lowering it back to the ground. It is obviously painful to hit your knees repeatedly, and it's proof that your Deadlift technique is all wrong.

In this post I'm first going to show you how to quit hitting your knees when you lower the bar on Deadlifts, and then when you pull the bar off the floor.

How to Stop Hitting Your Knees On The Way Down. Aside from the fact that it hurts, hitting your knees on the way down also puts the bar too far away from your body for your next rep. You'll have to pull the bar close to your body first otherwise you'll stress your lower back more. Here's how to fix this:

• Move Your Hips First. You'll hit your knees every time you bend them too early. Always lower the bar on Deadlifts by pushing your hips back first, and only bend your knees once the bar reaches knee level.
• Stretch Your Hips. If your lower back starts to round even though your chest is up, your shoulders are back, and your head is inline with your torso, then you lack hip mobility. Do Squat 2 Stands as warm-up.

It's really not rocket science - simply lower the bar by pushing your hips back as far as you can, and then bend your legs once the bar reaches knee level. Keep your chest up, shoulders back and your head inline with your torso (not looking at your feet, nor at the ceiling) and you'll never hit your knees again.

How to Quit Hitting Your Knees On The Way up. If your knees and shins are taking a beating everytime you pull the weight off the floor, then your hips start too low. Realize that Deadlifts are NOT Squats - in the starting position your hips shouldn't be low like when Squatting parallel, they ought to be higher.

• Get The Bar Above Your Mid-Foot. This will prevent too much bending of your ankles. Walk to the bar and position your feet so the barbell ends directly over the center of your feet when looking from the side.
• Put Your Shoulder-Blades Over The Bar. Keep the barbell above the center of your feet and lower your hips until your shins touch the bar and your shoulder-blades are over the bar when looking from the side.

Your exact hip position will depend on your build - a guy with short tighs and a long torso will have his hips lower than one with with long thighs and a short torso like me. Just put the bar above the center of your feet and your shoulder-blades over the bar, and you'll never hit your knees again when Deadlifting.