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How to deadlift
A complete guide to the conventional barbell deadlift — starting position, bracing, bar path, grip options, and the form faults that cause most lower back pain.
- The start — bar over midfoot, shoulders just in front of it, back flat.
- Lockout — hips and knees straight, ribs down, no lean back.
- Primary muscles
- spinal erectors
- Also works
- glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and upper back
- Equipment
- barbell
- Type
- compound, hinge
- Level
- intermediate
- Also called
- Conventional Deadlift and Deadlift
The deadlift is the simplest lift to describe and the easiest to get wrong, because almost all of it is decided before the bar leaves the floor. A rep that starts with the bar too far forward or the hips too low cannot be rescued halfway up. Get the setup right and the pull mostly takes care of itself.
It is also the lift with the worst reputation, which it does not deserve. Deadlifts do not damage backs; deadlifts done with a spine that moves under load damage backs. The difference is entirely a matter of position and load selection.
The set-up
- Stand with the bar over the middle of your foot — roughly an inch from your shins. Hip-width stance, toes slightly out. From above, the bar should cut your foot in half.
- Hinge at the hips and grip the bar just outside your shins. Do not squat down to it; bend forward and reach.
- Bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. Critically, the bar does not move forward to meet your shins — your shins come back to it.
- Lift your chest and pull the slack out of the bar until you hear or feel it click against the plates. Your shoulders should end up just in front of the bar, hips well above your knees.
- Take a big breath into your stomach, brace hard, and lock your lats by thinking about squeezing an orange in each armpit.
The rep
- Push the floor away with your legs rather than pulling with your back. The bar leaves the ground because your knees straighten.
- Keep the bar in contact with your legs the whole way up. It should drag up your shins and thighs — long socks are not optional.
- Once the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward to meet it.
- Lock out by standing tall with your glutes squeezed. Do not lean back, do not shrug, do not hyperextend. A finished deadlift is just standing up holding a barbell.
- Return it by pushing your hips back first, then bending your knees once the bar clears them. Lower under control — do not follow the bar down with a rounded back.
Common mistakes
- Starting with the bar too far forward
- The most common error, and it makes every other fault more likely. If the bar is over your toes it has to travel backwards before it can travel up, which is why the rep feels like it is dragging you forward. Bar over midfoot, every single time.
- Squatting the deadlift
- Hips too low turns the pull into a squat with a terrible bar position — the bar has to swing around the knees. Your hips start above your knees and below your shoulders. If your shins are vertical at the start, your hips are too low.
- The back rounding at the start
- A little upper back rounding is a stylistic choice some strong lifters make. Lower back rounding under load is not, and it is the mechanism behind most deadlift injuries. If it appears, the weight is too heavy for your current bracing — that is information, not a verdict.
- Hyperextending at the top
- Leaning back at lockout does nothing for the lift and compresses the lumbar spine at the worst possible moment. Stand up, squeeze the glutes, stop.
Sets and reps
Deadlifts are the most fatiguing lift per set in the gym. One heavy session a week is plenty for most people, and the fastest way to stall is to treat it like the bench press and chase frequency.
| Goal | Prescription | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–4 sets of 3–5 | Three to five minutes between sets. Quality over quantity. |
| Muscle | 3 sets of 6–8 | Or run Romanian deadlifts for the higher-rep work instead. |
| First year lifting | 1–2 sets of 5 | Once a week. Fewer sets than you expect, more attention to position. |
Variations worth knowing
- Romanian deadlift
- Starts at the top and never touches the floor. Trains the hamstrings through a long stretch and teaches the hinge with far less spinal fatigue.
- Trap bar deadlift
- Neutral grip, load closer to your centre of mass, more upright torso. The friendliest version if your lower back is the limiting factor.
- Deficit deadlift
- Standing on a 2–4cm platform to extend the range. Useful accessory if you are slow off the floor — punishing if your setup is not already solid.
Questions
Should I use a mixed grip or straps?
Use a double-overhand grip for as long as it holds. Beyond that, straps for volume work and mixed grip for your heaviest singles — and alternate which hand is over. A permanently mixed grip creates a small asymmetry, and it is the arm that gets a bicep tear on a grinding rep.
Is it bad if my back rounds a little?
Slight upper back rounding is common in experienced lifters and is not inherently dangerous. Lower back rounding is what to avoid — that is where the discs are and where the load is worst tolerated. If your lumbar spine moves during the pull, the weight is telling you something.
How often should I deadlift?
Once a week heavy is enough for most people. Add a second, lighter hinge session — Romanian deadlifts or block pulls — if you want more volume without more recovery cost.
Why is my lower back sore the next day?
Some erector soreness after deadlifts is normal, especially early on. Sharp pain, pain that wakes you up, or pain down a leg is not, and is worth getting looked at rather than training through.
Should I drop the bar at the top?
If the gym allows it and you are pulling near-maximally, lowering under control still beats dropping — the eccentric is training too. What you should never do is bounce reps off the floor to save effort; reset each rep.
How do I track deadlift progress without just chasing a max?
Log every working set and watch the trend across a block rather than a session. Because deadlifts run at low frequency, a single bad day skews how it feels. Workout Chat charts each movement separately and reads changes against the equal window before them, so you can see whether the block actually worked.
Log it the moment you rack it.
Type “conventional deadlift 3x5 at 80kg” and it's recorded, charted, and checked against your best.
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