Image credit: Powershotsmag.com
Lowering the bar is one of the things that goes bad most often on the Deadlift. Waking up with knee pain the day after because you hit your knees again. Or worse, back pain because you rounded your back on the way down.
I see both errors over & over in the Forum: rounding back, hitting knees, hitting knees again, more back rounding & another pair of knees that will hurt the day after. Here’s how to lower the bar correctly on Deadlifts.
How NOT to Lower The Bar on Deadlifts. If you don’t lower the bar correctly on Deadlifts, you’ll rarely Squat correctly neither.
- Rounding Your Back. Puts anterior pressure on your intervertebral lumbar discs, which can cause spinal injuries like herniated discs.
- Hitting Your Knees. Hurts and puts the bar away from your shins. You’ll pull with your shoulders above the bar, turning Deadlifts into Squats.
Here’s a video of how NOT to Deadlift. I hit my knees on the way down which puts the bar away from my shins. Unless you pull the bar against your shins, your shoulders end up above/behind the bar with your hips too low.
Why You Don’t Lower The Bar Correctly. This is where individualization comes in. There are lot of reasons why you could do things wrong.
- Bad Technique. You forget to keep your shoulder-blades back & down and chest up. You look at your feet on the way down. You don’t know how to lower the weight using your hips.
- Tight Hips. You lack hip mobility: tight hamstrings & glutes. You feel your hamstrings pull when you lower the bar.
- Bad Posture. If you have posterior pelvic tilt, your lower back will round when bending over. This is linked with tight hips and weak Psoas / abs.
How to Lower The Bar Correctly on Deadlifts. Move your hips first on the way down, not your knees. Push your hips back as far as you can. Flex your knees once the bar reaches knee level to bring the bar back to the floor.
- Keep Your Chest Up. If your upper-back is straight, rounding your lower back gets harder. Chest up, shoulder-blades back & down.
- Head up. Looking at the ceiling will hurt your neck. Looking down rounds your back. Keep your neck inline with your spine. Don’t look at your feet.
- Bend Your Hips First. Lower the weight by bending your hips first, not your knees. Use the same technique as when you Squat down.
- Push Your Hips Back. Think of sitting on a toilet. Push your hips back as far as you can. Flex your knees once the bar reaches knee level.
Check the video below. Hips go back first on the way down. Knees flex once the bar reaches knee level. The bar doesn’t hit the knees. The pull starts with the bar against shins and shoulder- blades above the bar.
If You Still Can’t Lower The Bar Correctly. Chances are your lower back will keep rounding even though you do all of the above.
- Improve Hip Mobility. If you have posterior pelvic tilt, exercises like the Seated 90/90 Stretch & Knee Hugs will help a lot. Check the hip mobility post & magnificent mobility for more.
- Lower The Weight. Some people Deadlift with a round lower back for years without getting injured. They’re exceptions. Lower the weight to practice technique rather than taking risks.
- Rack Pulls. Substitute Deadlifts by Rack Pulls until hip mobility improves. Do lots of dynamic stretching. Get back to Deadlifts as soon as you can.
Never substitute an exercise by another because you can’t do it correctly from the start. Spend time practicing technique. If you don’t see any improvements after several weeks and you did your best, then consider switching.
Very timely read was just doing deadlifts this morning. But this is one exercise i have no problems with. Video clip is really helpful though to see how to do it correctly.
I was guilty of bending my knees first on the way down (even after reading Starting Strength and knowing not to). I focused on hips back on Friday and it made a huge difference in comfort/control on the way down. Great videos Mehdi, it makes so much sense to see the bar path travel perfectly vertical in the second video (most efficient way to deadlift).
Well thanks for this post
Guess I can use it considering that you used 2 of my videos as example 
Lower the weight - good advice. I found when I first started 5×5 I was so focused on increasing weight that my form slipped.
Very good post, i think that’s a question that a lot of people have.
I don’t do much lifting, but the deadlift is one lift I plan to do more often. These good/bad videos will really help, thanks.
Great post Mehdi, and I’m always amazed at how good the banner pictures are. Perfect for each post!
Nice workl, Mehdi. I’m with yooN on the pics. Where do you find all your photos? They’re fantastic!
Good post; this is a problem for me on the deadlift. I’ll try it out tomorrow.
Do you ever consider putting some clips of you doing things like the proper form is slow motion? Personally I think they’d be very helpful.
dear Medhi
I just began the 5×5 1 month and half ago and I’m having a problem with the deadlifts. My problem is when I finish the deadlifts, I feel my lower back hurting. The hurt lasts quite short and then disappears. Does that mean I perform improperly or it is just the consequence of heavy weight? When I lift medium weight, I dont have this problem.
Im looking forward to your response.
@Harrysputnik
Pictures - this one included - have usually a link at the bottom with the original source.
@elVarouza
You mean slow motion like in the Matrix? I have other ideas, but I lack the tools atm.
@An
Back pain on Deadlifts can be caused by a lot of things. Read this post on how to avoid back pain on deadlifts.
May I suggest that for all your instructional video, use an empty bar instead, so that the plate will not block the view?
On the slow motion video, I can do that easily enough. Actually, it’s how I typically analyse my own lifting form from video.
I’m assuming you can see my e-mail, as the blog administrator, so go ahead and send me any videos you want slowed down (if they’re small enough to send as attachments) or a link to an FTP folder I can get them from and upload the slow-motion edits to.
It won’t be Matrix-smooth. But it does make it a lot easier to pick up on the details.
Had that problem in the very beginning as I have very long limbs..but I had to first lower the weight and keep my legs slightly closer than shoulder width and my form improved drastically.
That first vid looked exactly like me! No wonder my back would yell at me after each set.
@Bruce Wee
You will learn most by reading the instructions and/or have someone coach you live. Watching videos only works if you know what to look for.
@Christian
Matrix stuff was jk. No need for it, thanks.
When I lower weight I sort of just guide it down, I don’t slower it much. I don’t think I could lower it under tension (250lbs). It makes a crashing noise when it touches the floor. Is it OK? Or I should drop the weight until I can lower it under tension?
HEY MAN LOVE YOUR SITE, you are awsome.. i finally got to lower the bar correctly after deadlifting for almost 6 months… YOU ROCK.. you know whats also kinna wierd.. deadlifts and squats are my favorite lift but i hate bicep curls haha… pretty funny cause deads and squats leave me almost dead but they are fun and exciting.. curling is annoying as hell and kinna boring… but ohh well thanks again man i got the rippetoes book and read it over but you explained so good that i got the idea and now deadlift works better my upper back is very taxed and my lower dont even feel it
@nelson,
Probably a good thing that you do not like bicep curls. It is not part of StrongLifts 5×5 and Rippetoe only explains how to do it (correctly) because he says “you’ll want to do it anyway”.
@MikeOne
Dropping the bar (under control, at least to the extent that it doesn’t go bouncing off somewhere) is pretty common with heavy deadlifts. But you need proper equipment (a platform and bumper plates) to do it without eventually wrecking your floor, bar, plates, and/or friendly relationship with everyone else in the gym.
And I personally find that a controlled eccentric (slow enough to set the bar down about as “gently” as is really possible with 300+ pounds) adds a lot of value to the movement. For one thing, it’s an extra challenge for your grip - and there aren’t many things more functionally useful than strong forearms. It’s also a good way to train yourself on maintaining some semblance of smooth coordination under heavy loads - useful if you’re helping people move and setting down stuff not quite so durable as iron on floors no quite so forgiving as rubber. And what I’ve heard and read about hypertrophy suggest that the controlled eccentric probably does even more for putting on muscle than the explosive concentric.
So I’d advise you to reduce the load a little and practice lowering the bar nicely. It shouldn’t be long before the concentric is your limiting factor again, so long as you follow the technique advice in this article.
@Nelson
Curls are hardly an essential. Sometimes I do curls or wrist curls for the sake of having something to do if I finish my workout early and am waiting on the guy I carpooled with (they’re easy, which is nice when you’ve just done something like deadlifts). But I’ve noticed that rows and chins have done a lot more for my arms (and strict-form curling weight) than curls ever did back before I learned the value of the big compounds.
Besides, there isn’t much that looks sillier than a guy with huge arms and underdeveloped legs and lats. It’s like those people who’ll take a four-cylinder sedan and accessorize it like it was some sort of race car.
This is a great article Mehdi. Deadlifting used to be the exercise I hate the most, but Ive grown to really love it!
-Justin