Engaging Your Lats When Deadlifting

We all can admire a beautifully wide pair of lats. In Powerlifting circles, it’s a common topic of conversation- and not just for aesthetic reasons. The lats are involved in each of the Big 3, essential for your positioning and efficiency. Lat engagement is a crucial yet underutilized component of a strong deadlift. We all know the deadlift engages your legs, upper body, core, and more- yet many lifters struggle to maintain upper back tension during their reps, ultimately costing them that PR attempt. That’s something we all want to avoid, right? So, focus on those lats- before & during your pulls- to perform at your best potential.

Importance of lats in the deadlift

You’ve heard that you need to “engage your lats-” that they're seemingly crucial in every lift you perform- but why is this so essential in your deadlift reps? How does lat strength truly carry over?

Proper lat recruitment ensures efficiency when you’re deadlifting.

Efficiency ensures greater strength potential.

During a heavy pull, the lats help stabilize the upper body, maintain tension, keep the bar close to your body, and decrease the demands on the posterior chain.

The lats function to adduct the arm (bring it in toward your midline), extend the shoulder (pull it in toward you), depress the scapula (pull your shoulders down), etc. In the deadlift, when the lats adduct the arms and extend the shoulder, the bar remains locked in toward you- which is essential for efficiency. When the bar gets away, it's nearly impossible to finish that pull!

Additionally, this decreases the moment arm- or distance between the joint and the force it acts on- of the hips. The bar is closer to your entire body, so your glutes, lower back, and hamstrings don’t have to do as much work to move that weight.

Proper lat positioning also helps you remain neutral throughout your upper back, which is advantageous, especially at lockout. That way, your shoulders can stay over the bar, so you only have to squeeze your butt to lock it out- rather than fighting to extend your upper body at the top. With a neutral position, most of that stress is removed from your spine, assisting your body in finishing the rep.

Essentially, the lats will help you minimize any additional workload on your body, allowing you to lift more.

2. How to improve lat tension

Now that you’ve been thoroughly convinced to think about your lats during the deadlift, how do you apply this information? A significant aspect is ensuring proper setup & thinking about your upper back, even before you start the rep.

Here are a couple of helpful tips:

A) Setup

From a standing position, line up the bar with your midfoot (conventional) or against your shins (sumo).

Once you’ve set your hips, the bar should be right against your shins to begin the pull. This is an essential component of lat engagement- if the bar is too far away, you’ll likely round through the spine & lose tension to break the floor.

Think about pulling the bar into your body, setting your shoulders “back,” and during the rep- don’t let the bar get away. It should literally scrape your shins and thighs up to lockout.

B) Slack pull

“Pulling the slack” is essential for maintaining lat engagement throughout the rep. If you avoid this crucial step, you'll likely lose upper back tension, and the weight will feel heavier, too.

You can pull the slack out either:

a) before setting your hips into position (dynamic start) or

b) after you’re in position (static start), depending on your preference, but that’s a topic for a different day.

Either way, make sure that you do it!

Set your grip, pull your shoulders back, and tug at the weight.

Think about pulling “up” on the bar, then pulling it “back” in toward you.

You should hear a “click” noise when you do so.

The “slack” is the small space between the bar and the plates- when the bar is resting on the ground, so by pulling it “out,” you’re pre-pulling some of that initial load. Doing so moves it closer to your center of mass, increasing the efficiency of the lift. You want to hold onto that “slack” as you pull, and this will help your lats remain locked into place.

Include the slack pull as part of your setup, part of a repeatable checklist for every deadlift you perform. Don’t ignore it, or you’ll pay the price.

C) Cueing

It can be difficult for lifters to connect to their lats- many struggle with conceptualizing this muscle group. Remember, your lats run down the sides of your back, starting around your armpits- that’s what you want to "feel."

A variety of cues exist to help you work on engaging them, so choose whichever connects most with you:

”Pull the bar into your body,” as mentioned above. Perform this with your upper back, rotating through the shoulder to get the bar closer- rather than just rolling it against your shins.
”Chest open”/”Lead with the chest”-if you struggle with rounding your upper back, this can be a helpful thought. Imagine pointing your nipples to the wall ahead- and keeping that upright position through the rep.
”Imagine you have an orange in each of your armpits and want to make orange juice. Squeeze the orange!” This cue can help you visualize your lats & create tension.
”Set the shoulders back”-another cue for pulling the bar in toward you & maintaining your position.
”Squeeze your arms by your sides”- can be another way to visualize that upper back tension.

Whichever one(s) spoke to you the most, connecting your brain to your body, imagine that during your next deadlift session. Stay focused through your reps, move with intent, and feel the difference. Try filming your sets to notice whether you’re applying the cues.

D) Grip- Hook vs. mixed

A final factor to consider when it comes to technique & improving lat engagement is how you grip the bar. Changing this detail alone can help you better set your upper back, improve positioning, and transform your pull.

The most common grip you’ll see in Powerlifting is the mixed grip, where one hand is under the bar & the other is over. While this grip is certainly secure and can work well for many, it can cause lat tension issues. The asymmetry may cause the bar to “helicopter,” as one shoulder is more extended than the other. This fact makes it harder to keep that bar close to your body.

A possible solution to this issue is hook grip, which allows you to grip the bar double-overhand style- without slipping. That way, there's more symmetry, which makes upper back tension easier to maintain. With Hook, your thumbs act as “straps” on the bar, fingers wrapped over their tops, keeping them secure. While this technique is painful (ask anyone who does it), it can help improve positioning and lat engagement, mitigating that “helicopter” issue stated earlier.

If you perpetually struggle with lat tension, despite cueing, setup changes, technique work, etc.- Hook may be your answer. For some lifters’ anatomy, it works better, period- as much as they may hate to admit that. The pain is worth the gains, and that’s what it may come to, depending on the individual. I’m team Hook, and I’ll die on that hill, but- some can still succeed with a mixed grip. It’s just a factor worth considering.

3. Accessory movements to improve lat engagement

If lat tension is your weakness, you’ll want to attack that in your programming to support your deadlift strength. Improvements in setup and mind-body connection will help, but choosing movements that inherently help you focus on your lats goes a long way, too. Use the tools simultaneously for the best results.

Here are 5 of my favorite variations:

A) Snatch grip-

Snatch grip deadlifts are arguably the best Pulling accessory to develop your upper back. The wider grip forces you into a more upright position, further challenging your lat tension & ability to keep the bar close. When performing them, use straps- since the grip is more challenging, too- so you can keep the focus on your lats. Set your hips a little lower than a typical deadlift, and focus on keeping your chest *up* during the whole rep.

These can be used for moderate sets and reps to build strength, and Snatch-grip RDLs are a great variation for volume, too.

B) Eccentrics-

Slowing down the eccentric portion of your deadlift has many potential benefits for you as an athlete. We rarely train this part of the movement, so it provides a unique stimulus to your pulling strength. One of these aspects is improved positioning. The eccentric increases your time under tension, requiring you to stay tight longer & giving you more time to focus on your upper back. You’re challenged to keep lat engagement on the descent. Because you're moving with intent during the lowering portion, you'll find your proper starting position, improving your setup. Add these in for sets of 3-5 in any training phase- and your regular deadlifts will feel noticeably better.

For similar reasons, RDLs can also be a great option for focusing on your lats.

C) Boris-

Named after the great Boris Sheiko, this variation is phenomenal for nailing down your setup & positioning off the floor. Many lifters lose their upper back either a) at the initial pull or b) toward the knee, so incorporating these can help you mitigate that. They essentially give you 2-3x the practice of pulling off the ground- to perform a single rep, do 1-2 pulls just to the knee, then a full one to lockout. Under fatigue, your positioning is challenged, requiring you to focus on your cueing and setup. Since there’s inherently more volume involved, don’t go too crazy on your reps here: keep it between 2-3 full reps (1-2 pulls to the knee+1 lockout=1 rep)- in a strength or volume phase.

D) Pauses-

Pausing your deadlifts can support your performance in many ways- from lockout strength and bracing to upper back tension. The key here is to place the pause at/just below your sticking point, where you tend to experience form breakdown. For some lifters, that may be the initial inch off the ground; for others, it may be right below the knee. The pause inherently helps you address & focus on your technique- providing a “checkpoint” to analyze your positioning- and increasing the time under tension, like eccentrics. Make the pause a true static one- 2 or 3 full seconds should suffice. The goal is to keep your shoulders over the bar during the whole rep, through the pause. Incorporate these for sets of 2-5 in any phase, honestly- they’re highly applicable to your competition deadlifts.

E) Upper back work-

Beyond deadlifts themselves, you want to be focusing a lot of your accessories on your upper back- if that's a weak point for you. You may not have, necessarily, “weak” lats, but you may struggle connecting to them- in which case, accessories will help, too. I like upper back work at a frequency of 2-3x/week for Powerlifters, aiming for 3-4x to further address weaknesses. The key is- to not only program upper back stuff- but to execute with intent. Rushing through your accessories is how you devoid yourself of their benefits. Especially when the goal is to support a technical weakness, how you do them will determine what you get from them. These lat accessory movements can allow you to connect with those muscle groups better than before, feeling the same motions you do in your competition lifts- therefore, transferring to improved performance. Make the most out of these accessories, connecting your brain to every rep- and to your main lifts, themselves. If you're truly looking to go the extra mile- and gain that additional inch toward your goals- these details make all the difference.

There are a variety of options when it comes to upper back movements, and you really can’t go wrong. Pendlay and Barbell rows help you train the deadlift position and can be loaded heavier, so they have a higher degree of specificity, which is a significant benefit. Straight-arm pulldowns can help you better feel your lats, especially for keeping the bar close in the deadlift- since your arms mimic the position- they remain extended. Dumbbell rows & single-arm pulldowns can help you better connect to your lats because of the unilateral aspect. Incorporate a variety throughout your week- heavy, light, single-arm, bilateral, cable, dumbbell, vertical, horizontal, and focus on building a few at a time. Push your accessories, and perform them with purpose.

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“Engage your lats”-it’s a cue every athlete has heard at some point, regardless of what lift you’re performing. We all know that the lats are important- yet many lack the understanding of why; and how to properly apply this to their training. During a deadlift, the lats assist in maintaining proper spinal position, supporting the movement of other muscle groups, and keeping the bar close- all of which improve your efficiency. Making changes to your setup, slack pull, cueing, and possibly even grip style, can help you better engage your lats. Beyond that, building your program around this potential weakness will also support your strength. The bottom line is that your upper back plays a crucial role in your deadlifts- don’t ignore this fact. Thinking about your lats, and making them a priority in your training, could be what you need to continue progressing your strength.