5 Deadlift Tips that Will Transform your Strength
Deadlifts. We all love the feeling of a satisfying, heavy pull. We constantly pursue a higher number, seeking to unlock the next milestone in picking up more weight off the ground. It's one of the most badass feats an individual can complete. Deadlifts are the best and final event of the day in a meet, the training day we all look forward to. When you begin to work on the minute details of your technique, your love for the lift further expands. Like any of the Big Three, your form, execution, and intention are everything in the deadlift. The seemingly minuscule changes can add up significantly to aid your strength and efficiency in performance. Read below- to learn a few helpful tips & cues that can drastically improve your strength in this staple lift.
Find your foot stance- not too wide or narrow.
An often overlooked- because it’s seemingly so simple- aspect of your deadlift is foot position. Feet placement, however, can determine where your weakness lies and which muscle groups are advantaged.
With Conventional, I see many lifters setting up with a far too wide stance. While this can work for a select few, that’s typically the minority. Many athletes do better with a relatively narrow position- feet placed about shoulder-width apart. Why? This position will, you guessed it- help you target your quads, which will make your pull off the floor far more efficient. A closer width can also help cue you to push through your toes.
Additionally, some athletes do well with slight toe-out. If you find it difficult to:
a) Fight knee cave, or
b) connect to your glutes/hips,
Slightly turning your toes out can help you do so.
Putting more weight on the outside of your toes and slightly opening up your hips can improve your starting position and work with your anatomy- if you’re stronger in more externally rotated positions.
With Sumo pullers, the most common mistake I see athletes make is trying to copy other lifters’ foot widths. The degree of variance in this deadlift is far greater: anything from hip width to feet-touching-the-plates could constitute a Sumo Deadlift. However, this technical aspect benefits you- it provides many options to find the foot width that works best for your body.
-For one lifter, a closer sumo stance (even hybrid) may feel less stressful on the hips & easier to recruit the quads,
-Whereas for another, an ultra-wide sumo may fit your anatomy, and the decreased range of motion may improve efficiency.
Many athletes fall between the extremes, and starting with your toes inside the knurling is usually a solid place to begin. Then, experiment with a different position if pain, strength, or mobility levels change over time.
The bottom line? Ensure that your foot position is intentional and supports your strength as a Deadlifter. Don’t just stand in any random spot.
2. Start the lift at the correct distance from the bar.
A major setup fault I observe in many athletes is- not starting the lift at the proper distance from the bar.
Setting up too close or far can compromise efficiency, the opposite of what we want:
-If you set up too close, it'll be hard to bend your knees to use leg drive, and you may have to round your upper back to find the bar,
-If you set up too far away, that initial pull will be incredibly difficult, and most of that load will be on your lower back.
So, where should you orient yourself?
-For Conventional: When standing, start with your shoelaces under the bar. You want room for some knee bend in your setup, but the bar should end near your shins for the initial pull. Essentially, begin with the bar toward your midfoot/toes (from standing), then once you're in position, it'll be closer to your body.
-For Sumo: You’ll want to be a lot closer to the bar since your hips will be closer to it, too. Align your toes against that barbell, turn them out, keep your chest upright, and set your hips.
In both Deadlifts, the bar should glide up your shins and thighs during the rep. When the bar is nearby, you can maintain lat tension and make that weight move!
Small details like bar distance can make the most significant differences in how a lift feels & moves overall. Don’t ignore this crucial component of your setup.
3. Time your brace.
We all know about the importance of bracing, but many athletes find confusion about *when* to do it. After all, the goal of a proper brace is to improve efficiency- so you'll want that when the lift gets difficult.
With a proper brace, a single breath should hold you for the entire concentric portion of the movement (getting the bar from the floor to lockout). This technique means you should NOT be actively exhaling when you lift the barbell up- as that will cause you to lose tension & positioning.
Instead, aim to brace right before you pull. I like to make it the last step of a setup: you’ve found your hip position, pulled the slack out, then go to brace right before the bar leaves the ground. At that point, you’ve got the right angles, and now you create tension to move the weight.
So, immediately before pushing with your legs, take a big breath in, then slightly exhale, holding that pressure through your abs. Think about “bearing down” or “taking a punch,” whatever helps. Don’t let it out until you get to lockout, then exhale & lower the weight to the ground.
You’ll be surprised at how much easier your lift feels with a proper brace.
4. Stay patient & take time in your setup.
The deadlift is not only a test of physical strength- but mental fortitude, as well. It’s a lift of pure grit and tenacity, challenging your ability to grind through discomfort and find stability when difficulties arise. Set that intention before the rep even starts- in your setup.
Everyone has their unique checklist they go through- the one that helps each athlete feel “ready” for a heavy lift. Experiment with different styles to find what feels most fitting for you. Your setup should be repeatable and efficient.
Make it a fluid sequence of steps that feels comfortable for you. Finding this will take some experimentation, but see below for an example:
Get yourself mentally ready. Maybe it’s a deep breath, a stomp, scream-whatever feels authentic to you.
Set your feet exactly where your strongest position lies.
Shoot your hips back to the wall behind you, and bend down to reach the bar.
Set your grip on the barbell, take a big slack pull, and place your shoulders into position (pulling the bar into your body).
Set your hips, dropping your shins to the bar.
Take a big brace, and begin your pull.
Avoid rushing through these crucial steps. Going through the motions is how you forget something and find that you’re in the wrong position- once it’s too late. A single change in your pre-lift execution could make or break your lift, determining whether you can grind it out or have to let go of it. Don’t go for the rep until it feels right to you- until you’re as prepared as possible.
And, once you start applying pressure and attempting to move it, practice patience. One of the most common reasons athletes fail their lifts is a lack of patience. If the weight feels heavy, and you compensate by changing your back or shoulder position, good luck locking that bar out! Your setup position was created for a reason- because it’s (ideally) the best position for you to move some weight.
Trusting that the weight will move- even when it feels stapled and stagnant-is a demanding mental battle. Yet, if you’re patient enough, your tension will be enough to break it off the ground, and you’ll thank yourself when the bar moves past your knees with ease. Patience in the starting position makes for a successful finish.
While the "patience" cue is often preached to sumo pullers- since the lift is mechanically, hardest off the floor, the same sentiment applies to Conventional Deadlifters, too. Rushing those first couple inches off the floor, for anyone, will likely compromise upper back position- and/or cause your hips to shoot up: two major inefficiencies we want to avoid.
The bottom line is, when deadlifting- avoid going through the motions or trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. Execute every step of your lift with intent. Your brain should be committed to the rep- as long as it might take- before it begins. Applying that sentiment is how you turn a “good” deadlift into a “great" deadlift- so you can break your current plateau.
5. "Push" through your toes.
One of the most common misconceptions when deadlifting is that it’s simply a “pulling” motion, that you’re just “pulling” the bar off the ground.
While your hamstrings, glutes, and back- (a.k.a. "pulling muscles") are recruited in this movement- essential to your execution, avoiding your anterior chain (the front side of your body) will sell you short in your strength.
Using your quads to help you in the deadlift will be a game-changer for your performance. The goal is to consider it a full-body lift, where every muscle group works together to move the load.
Your quads can produce a lot of force, and when you can take advantage of this fact, recruiting more musculature, that deadlift will blow up.
How can you apply this?
Ensure that your hips aren’t set too high in the initial pull. You want some knee bend, whether you’re performing Sumo or Conventional. And while the hips should be higher than the knees (if viewing from the side), don’t be RDLing your deadlifts. That’s step one: bend your knees in your setup.
Next, think about putting your weight onto your big toes. If you’re too far back in your heels, you won’t be able to use that knee flexion & will likely feel unstable toward the top.
Finally, when you initiate the rep, imagine you’re “pushing the floor away from you.” Think about this like getting up from the bottom of a squat, or if you’ve got experience with machines- using a leg press. Driving your feet into the ground will allow you to use your quads right off the floor.
When you find your quads, you find your new deadlift PR- so use them to your benefit!
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Deadlifts. The King Of All Lifts, the Only Lift That Matters, as some call it. It’s many athletes’ favorite lift to perform- there’s no feeling quite like that of locking out some heavy shit. We all strive to watch that number soar, perpetually chasing that next big pull. In line with this goal, your technique plays a massive role in achieving your next PR. Form and efficiency are interrelated, and making a tweak could be the breakthrough you need to bust a current plateau. Don’t ignore your setup- and adopt the "continual improvement" mentality with your technique. There’s no finish line & you can always build up your proficiency. If you apply that, you’ll be shocked at your deadlift transformation and, guarantee- satisfied with the result.
