What Pulling Back on the Deadlift Really Means
Aug 7th, 2007 by Mehdi Tags: Deadlift, Exercise, Lower Back, Strength Training, Weight Lifting
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I wrote earlier that a proper deadlift should be done by bringing the hips forward, not pulling back.
Ali asked: “Strengh training coaches like Pavel Tsatsouline & Dave Tate recommend pulling back. I’ve read Mark Rippetoe’s views and he echoes what u say. Could u explain further? I know the beginning of the Deadlift is like a Squat: keep hips down, extend the legs and then pull back. Is this correct or not?
What Pulling Back Isn’t. When I tell you not to pull back, I mean: don’t pull back with your lower back. If someone tells you he got a hernia from deadlifting, it’s probably because he was pulling with his lower back.
The only thing your lower back should do is staying rigid. The weight will try to bend your back. Keep your lower back straight. That’s how the deadlift will give you a strong back.
What Pulling Back Is. So what do Pavel Tsatsouline & Dave Tate mean when they advise you to pull back on the deadlift? Two things:
- Lean back
- Pull the bar toward your body
Dave Tate on leaning back: “What happens when the weight on one end is coming down? The other end goes up.” In other words: let your body fall backward & the bar will go up. No you won’t fall, unless your deadlifting less than you’re own bodyweight.
The closer the bar to your body, the less torque on your lower back. That’s why you should pull the bar toward you using your lats while bringing your hips forward. You’ll rarely feel anything in your lower back deadlifting this way.
Exercise a lot. Focus on your deadlift technique. Bar close to your body, shoulders back, hips forward. Do some glute activation. It takes some time to find the groove, but once you do, you’ll understand what pulling back means.
You have questions on the deadlift or other strength training exercises? Post them using the comments.
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Hi Mehdi,
Ive been re looking over all your deadlift posts. Ive got up to 65kg n my lower back really hurts after i do it. I know my technique is wrong. How much do you bend your knee’s? when i pull the bar up it hits my shins, n it means i have to pull the bar out, or bend my back to lift it any further that hurts my back. When i go to put the weight on the floor, if i keep it close to my body it ends up in my lap so again i have to bend my back to get it over my legs.
Eddie, check the video of the deadlift technique
Bend your knees so the weight gets on the floor. How much depends on the length of your limbs. Some tips:
-put the weight on your heels & push from the heels. I suppose you’re on your toes, that’s why the bar hits your shins.
-when putting the weight back: let the bar roll from your upper thights to your shins by bending at the hips. Once the bar is at knee level, bend completely through your knees so the bar is on the floor.
Can you make a video of your deadlift technique, I could better advise you if I can see your form Eddie.
I think a good article(3 part article really) is Eric Cressey’s Mastering/Troubleshooting the deadlift Part 1-3 on T-Nation.com.
Mark Rippetoe also has a recent article on the analysis of the deadlift on the CrossFit journal. You can find it if you google his name. Pretty interesting stuff.
To me, correct form can be simplistically broken down into 2 parts - from the ground up to the knee, and from the knee up to lockout. In the former, the knees straighten and the bar moves, while keeping the back tight and the back angle roughly the same. On the latter, the hip straightens, bringing your body to a straight line. Rippetoe’s article goes into the biomechanics of this very well. I highly recommend reading it.
Flash videos in Cressey’s article are really great and are helpful for any one, also you can download videos by Rippitoe on crossfit they are also pretty good.
I personally learned Deadlifting technique by reading “power to people” by pavel
To lift heavy weight key is to keep weight as close to your body and make sure that bar should travel in straight line as this is the shortest path. If you having problem try with light weight, your main focus should be form here.
Also just want to add that squats and deadlifts are 2 completly diffrent motion and if you are tying to do DL in squat style then you are definitely in deep trouble. The Hip should always be at a higher level and shoulder should be in line with bar.
Great convo going. Thanks for commenting Galapagos & Harsh.
Galapagos is right about breaking the movement into 2 parts. One way to learn to deadlift, is to reverse the movement. Starting from top to bottom. Bend from the hips to get the bar at knee level, bend from the knees to get the bar on the floor.
Mark Rippetoe’s article can be found here
Eric Cressey article on t-nation: here
And as Harsh writes: if needed lower the weight until you’ve mastered the technique. Keep the bar close to you & push from the heels.
I can not emphasize the push from the heels enough. If the bar hits your shins Eddie, you’re pulling the bar with your arms or by extending the hips rather than pushing with the heels. Pushing with the heels straightens your knees, this leads to the knees going back while the bar goes up. Imo, you’re not pushing from the heels.
Toes up - push from the heels.
I hit my max deadlift, or about 95% today. On my heaviest lift (320lbs), my lower back got tight on the first part of the lift, from the ground to my knees. I stopped then because I didn’t want to go heavier and hurt myself before a big competition next week… Any tips/ideas on what I can do on that first segment to keep injury away? What are your thoughts on belts? It seems that some folks swear by them and others swear at them.
I’m a relative newcomer, have only been lifting since last November, and I enjoy your site. I need to print off your “directions” on proper form (because I am largely self trained) and take them to the gym with me.
I feel flattered that you print the strength training articles & take them with you at the gym, catfish.
What do you mean with “your lower back got tight”? As long as your lower back stays neutral, you’re bringing the hips forward, keeping the bar close to your body and starting the lift by extending the knees you’re ok.
Focus on extending the knees at the start of the deadlift. This can be done by pushing from the heels. If needed, curl your toes.
About the belt: I never use one. Limit the use of a belt on your max sets. Belts make you stronger & add support to the back. But it’s still possible to injure your back if your technique is not right.
Salaam Mehdi
Great clarification on the “pull back”- it makes sense now.
You’re welcome Ali.
Actually there’s some contention on the Mark Rippetoe’s direction if you look at the comments there. Apparently Dave Tate disagrees with 2 of the points, and they had a conversation, but he’s not publishing it…wonder what the conversation was about…
Shoulders & bar positioning probably. Rippetoe avocates bar close to knees/shoulders above the bar. Dave Tate shoulders behind the bar, bar far from knees.
Imo, deadlift related questions like “where should shoulders be”, “where should hips be”, “where should bar be” are useless. It all depends on your bodytype. Long legs vs. short legs - long torso vs. short torso. All of that influence the bar/shoulders/hip relation.
Both have deadlifted +600lbs so they know what they’re talking about. Dave Tate trains lots of powerlifters. Rippetoe is part of crossfit. The athletes they train are very different. And then there’s also the personal experience factor. We tend to advise what worked for us.
Read a lot. Practice a lot. Only way to find out.
Thanks for the response, let me clarify what I meant by “tight”…
My lower back felt like I was getting ready to strain and/or get hurt - Tight, like right before a cramp.
Now that I’m off my max week, I’m going to spend a few weeks prepping for a big competition by lowering weight/raising reps and I’ll work on proper form and technique.
I enjoy your stuff, lots of good information!
Catfish, focus on:
-keeping chest foward
-keeping shoulders back & down
-loooking forward
When you do all of that, the lower back will stay neutral. Next focus on pushing from the heels & bringing the hips forward. Keep me updated. Good luck.
I hit the deadlift today and had no problem doing max reps on about 70% of one RM. Before, as I would get to the end of the set, my lower back would tighten up. Today I really focused on putting the bar close to my shins (touching actually) at the start of the lift - before was 3-4 inches away or so, and just stood up, lifting with my legs and pushing my heels down. No problems today and I will keep working on this.
Thanks!
You’re welcome Catfish. Glad to read the deadlift technique works.