Pick a loaded barbell up off the floor and stand tall with it. It builds the hips, legs and back, and it's the lift where back position matters most: as the weight gets heavier, the lower back tends to round more. Keep your back neutral (flat, not rounded or over-arched) on every rep. If you can't, the weight is too heavy for today. Start light and build up slowly.
Set up
Stand with the bar over the middle of your feet, about an inch from your shins, feet about hip-width apart. A bar set over the mid-foot instead of out over your toes gives a straighter, more vertical pull.
Hinge down and grip the bar just outside your legs. Start with a double-overhand grip (both palms facing you). A mixed grip (one palm each way) is a common option once your grip gives out before your legs do. Wrap your thumbs around the bar.
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. Keep your neck in line with your back.
long, flat back; arms like straight ropes.
Brace
Breathe in, brace your midsection hard, and pull the slack out of the bar before it leaves the floor. Pull up just enough that the bar and plates are tight against you, without lifting yet. Then hold that tension as you pull.
tight from head to heels before the plates move.
Pull
Push the floor away and let the bar travel straight up, close to your legs. Your hips and knees extend at the same time, so your hips and shoulders rise together. If your hips shoot up first, your back ends up doing the work.
pressing the floor down, not yanking the bar up.
Keep the bar in contact with, or very close to, your shins and thighs the whole way. Don't rest it on your thighs and hitch it up in stages. In competition that fails the lift.
Lock out
Finish standing tall: knees locked straight, hips through, shoulders back. Stand up straight. Don't lean back or arch hard at the top.
tall and stacked, glutes tight, no leaning back.
Lower the bar under control with both hands still gripping it. Push your hips back first, keep the bar close, and set it down. Don't drop or slam it. Each rep starts from a dead stop on the floor, so reset your back and brace before the next one.
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 on each rep, end the set and take weight off.
Fix-its
- Your lower back rounds Rounding tends to grow as the load gets heavier. Lower the weight to where you can hold a neutral back, reset before every rep, and brace before the bar leaves the floor.
- Hips shoot up first Your knees straighten before your chest moves, and the lift becomes a back lift. 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 front makes the pull longer and less vertical.
- You yank it off the floor Pull the slack out first, so the bar is tight against you and your back is set, then push the floor away smoothly. Keep the position you set on the floor as the bar breaks off it.
- Leaning back or over-arching at the top Lockout means standing tall with knees locked and shoulders back. 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 to your knees, keeping 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)
- USA Powerlifting — Rulebook v2026.2, 4.5–4.6 Deadlift: Rules of Performance and Disqualification (2026)
- 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.