Picking a loaded bar off the floor and standing tall with it. In strongman it shows up as its own event (on a barbell, an axle or a car frame) and its hip hinge carries over to other floor lifts. In a survey of 213 strongman athletes, the deadlift was linked to more lower-back injuries than any other exercise, so you learn it with a braced, neutral back and loads you can control. From the side, a camera can read your back angle, your hip hinge and your lockout.
Set your position
Walk in until the bar sits over your mid-foot, about 1 in. (2–3 cm) from your shins. A bar that starts close travels less far forward on the way up.
the bar right over your laces, almost touching your shins.
Hinge down and grip the bar with your thumbs wrapped around it. Start with both palms facing you (double overhand). If grip limits you and the event allows straps, use straps rather than reaching for a mixed grip. Keep your elbows straight.
long, straight arms, like hooks.
Set a neutral back: chest up, head in line with your spine. Take a big breath, brace your trunk, and pull the slack out of the bar until you feel your whole body tighten.
tension through your arms, lats and hamstrings before the plates move.
Drive the floor away
Push the floor away so your hips and knees straighten at the same time. Keep your hips and chest rising together, and keep the back position you set. Heavier loads tend to round the back more, so hold that set position most carefully off the floor and through the middle of the pull.
your legs and hips doing the work together, your back staying set.
Keep the bar travelling in a straight line, brushing your shins and thighs.
the bar sliding up your legs, not swinging out.
Finish standing tall: knees and hips straight, shoulders back, without leaning back. Hold the top for about one second, as you would wait for a judge's down signal. Some strongman deadlift events allow hitching (resting the bar on your thighs and working it up), but learn a clean lockout first.
tall and still, hips through.
Lower with control
Lower the bar by pushing your hips back, keeping it close and your back set, and keep hold of it until the plates touch the floor. Re-breathe and re-brace before the next rep.
a controlled hinge back down, not a drop.
Feel it
A smooth pull where your legs and hips push together, the bar stays close, and your back holds the shape you set. If your back rounds further on each heavier set, today's load is too heavy. Researchers disagree on how much rounding itself causes injury, but they agree a more flexed spine raises shear load on the lower back, and most strongman training injuries in the survey happened at heavy loads (70–90% of max). Warm up properly and add weight gradually.
Fix-its
- Your back rounds as the weight goes up Drop to a load where you can hold your set back position, brace before the bar leaves the floor, and add weight in small jumps.
- Your hips shoot up first Push the floor away so your hips and knees straighten together. If your chest stays down while your hips rise, lighten the load and rehearse the start.
- The bar drifts away from you Start it about 1 in. from your shins over mid-foot and keep it brushing your legs in a straight line.
- You lean back at the top Stand tall with knees and hips straight and shoulders back. Leaning back or over-arching isn't a better lockout.
- You use a mixed grip and bend the palm-up arm In a review of filmed injuries, every mixed-grip deadlift biceps tear was on the palm-up arm. Use double overhand, or straps if the event allows them.
Drill
- Practise the hip hinge with a light bar: bar over mid-foot, 1 in. from the shins, back set, hips and knees straightening together.
- Film from the side at hip height and check that the bar travels straight and your hips and chest rise together.
- Pause about one second at lockout on every rep, standing tall without leaning back.
- Add weight in small jumps. End the session when your back position starts to change.
- Build up time on the axle or other event implements gradually. Strongman athletes were about twice as likely to get hurt per hour of implement training as per hour of barbell training.
Sources
- NSCA — Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, Module 3: Exercise Technique (2013)
- 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)
- Winwood, Hume, Cronin & Keogh — Retrospective Injury Epidemiology of Strongman Athletes, J Strength Cond Res (2014)
- Winwood — Strongman Implements Training: Applications for Strength and Conditioning Practice, PhD thesis, Auckland University of Technology (2015)
- Kapicioglu et al. — The Role of Deadlifts in Distal Biceps Brachii Tendon Ruptures, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine (2021)
- IronMind — Strongman Champions League Raw Rules (Strossen, 2016)
- Guinness World Records — Heaviest Strongman deadlift (rules description)
- World Heavy Events Association — Event and record rules (axle deadlift)
Last checked 2026-10-25.