Pick a loaded barbell up off the floor and stand tall with it. It trains your hips, legs and back together. Your back position matters most here: the heavier the bar, the more your back tends to round. In the gym you're training, not testing a max, so pick a weight you can lift with a neutral back on every rep, and start light.
Set up
Stand with the bar over the middle of your feet, about an inch from your shins, feet about hip-width apart. Starting with the bar close gives a straighter, more vertical pull than starting with it out over your toes.
Hinge down and grip the bar just outside your legs, thumbs wrapped around it. Use a double-overhand grip (both palms facing you) to start. A mixed grip (one palm each way) is an option later if your grip fails before your legs do.
Bring your shins to the bar, set your hips between a squat and a stiff-leg position, and set your back neutral. Chest up, shoulders over or just in front of the bar, arms straight, neck in line with your back.
long, flat back; arms like straight ropes.
Breathe in, brace your midsection, and pull the slack out of the bar before it leaves the floor. Pull just enough that the bar is tight against the plates and your back is locked in, without lifting yet.
tight from head to heels before the plates move.
Pull
Push the floor away so your hips and knees straighten at the same time. Your hips and shoulders rise together and your back angle stays steady off the floor. If your knees straighten first and your hips shoot up, your back takes over the lift.
pressing the floor down, not yanking the bar up.
Keep the bar travelling in a straight line, brushing or very close to your shins and thighs. Arms stay straight the whole way; they hold the bar, they don't pull it.
Lock out
Finish standing tall: hips and knees straight, shoulders back, back still neutral. Squeeze your glutes to finish. Don't lean back or arch your lower back at the top.
tall and stacked, glutes tight, no leaning back.
Lower the bar under control with both hands. Push your hips back first, keep the bar close to your legs, and set it down rather than dropping it. Reset your back and brace again before the next rep.
Feel it
A braced, neutral back from the floor to lockout. The bar moves in a straight line close to your body, and your hips and shoulders rise together. If your lower back starts to round, or rounds more with each rep, end the set and take weight off. Pain (not just effort) is a reason to stop.
Fix-its
- Your back rounds Rounding tends to grow as the load gets heavier. Drop the weight until you can hold a neutral back on every rep, reset between reps, and brace before the bar leaves the floor.
- Hips shoot up first Your knees straighten before your chest moves and you end up leaning far over the bar. Think "push the floor away" so hips and knees extend together.
- Bar drifts away from your legs Start with the bar over mid-foot, about an inch from your shins, and keep it brushing your legs on the way up. A bar out in front makes the pull longer and less vertical.
- You yank it off the floor Pull the slack out first so the bar is tight and your back is set, then push the floor away smoothly. Keep the position you set as the bar breaks off the floor.
- Leaning back or over-arching at the top Lockout is just standing tall with hips and knees straight. Finish by squeezing your glutes, not by bending backward.
Drill
- Hip hinge with no weight: hands on your thighs, push your hips back and slide your hands toward your knees with your back flat. Stop where your back starts to round.
- Empty bar, raised on blocks or plates if you can't reach the floor with a flat back: set up, pull the slack out, brace and pull. Reset fully between reps.
- Add weight in small jumps. Film from the side at hip height and check every rep: back neutral, bar close, hips and shoulders rising together. Stop adding weight when any of those starts to slip.
Sources
- NSCA — Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, Module 3: Exercise Technique (2013)
- Hales M — Improving the Deadlift: Understanding Biomechanical Constraints and Physiological Adaptations to Resistance Exercise, Strength Cond J 32(4) (2010)
- Edington et al. — The Effect of Set Up Position on EMG Amplitude, Lumbar Spine Kinetics, and Total Force Output During Maximal Isometric Conventional-Stance Deadlifts, Sports (2018)
- Shoji et al. — Load-dependent increase in lumbar kyphosis is associated with posterior pelvic tilt during deadlift, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (2025)
Last checked 2026-10-25.