Deadlift Tips

So it's no secret that deadlifts are my favorite lift, and I have spent a lotttt of time trying to improve my form (still not perfect as I'm always learning but much better than what it used to be!). I'd say I've been doing them as heavy as possible on a consistent basis the past six months even though I've been lifting for over a year and a half. I often struggled so much with low back problems that I was afraid to deadlift, but once that injury healed I really buckled down on my form and haven't had pain since! I've gone from pulling 115lbs to 195lbs in the past six months and couldn't be more excited with my progress! 

I've gotten a few questions about how I did this and my main two pieces of advice are: 1. GO SLOW. Leave your ego at the door and just work with a much lighter weight. Form > weight every. single. time. 

My second piece of advice is 2. Do your research like crazy. I specifically would google pain that I would have after deadlifting and what that would mean for certain aspects of my form. I watched tons and tons of videos about deadlifting, various articles, muscle activation during the lift, how to slowly increase strength, etc. Bottom line is you get out what you put in. If you don't do it the right way, you won't see the progress you want. 

Today I'm just going to walk you all through my set-up, common form problems I had, and basic tips on how to improve your form. 

The first thing you should do is video tape yourself. DO NOT use a mirror because ironically using the mirror to check your form will actually impair your form. A neutral neck is key during a deadlift so if you're looking over to the side or up to look at the mirror in front of you, your neck will not be neutral. This is one of the biggest things I see with people at my gym because they keep their heads up the whole time to watch themselves in the mirror. Instead, I set my phone up so that it tapes me from the side where I'm able to properly see the alignment of my neck, back, and hips. 

When I first approach the barbell, I make sure to keep my feet hip-distance (shoulder-distance is too wide) and the bar is across the middle of my foot. If it's too far back (closer to your leg) your shins will be in the way of the bar path. If it's too far forward then you can risk compromising your back as you'll have to pull the bar back towards you after the initial pull. 

Often times people will brag about their messed up shins from deadlifting, etc. as "battle scars" but if your shins get bloodied and scraped up on a continual basis then your form is wrong. There is of course some mild scraping involved as you have to keep the bar close to your legs BUT it should not cause any actual pain or damage. 

Your neck should be in line with your back and your back should be flat, you don't want it arched or rounded as that will lead to back pain. To help keep your neck neutral, focus on a fixed position. I use the edge of the mat but you could always place your water bottle or something else to look at to keep your neck neutral. Don't look down at your feet or the bar since your neck will now be extended. 

Your hips should be low but not as low as when you do a squat, they should be above parallel. A helpful way to check your hip position is to draw a pretend vertical line from your shoulder blades to the barbell. If it's straight then your hips are at a good position. 

In these pictures, you can see on the left that I had my hips a little too low because my shoulders were in line with the barbell and you want them to be in front. I corrected that in the right picture where my hips are slightly higher so that the bar is more in line with my shoulder blades. My neck is also slightly up in the right picture but I think I screenshotted too early on in the video (whoops) before I finally had my neck in position. 

So that is the initial set-up and now I'm going to talk more about the areas of form I personally struggled with. For me, the part I have to watch is the eccentric phase of the lift (when you lower the bar) because often times I would bend at my back rather than the hips. DO NOT bend at the waist as it will put too much strain on your lower back. Instead think of your hips as hinges and bend those first as you lower the weight, and then bend your knees once the bar has passed them. If you're coming down with the bar similar to a Romanian deadlift then you are not bending your hips and knees properly, which can put a lot of strain on your lower back once the bar passes your knees. 

To prevent arching or rounding of the back during the concentric phase (the initial pull) flex your legs a couple times to really focus on the mind-muscle connection. I sort of brace myself and actively think about using my legs so that there will be little strain on my back. If you are consistently having problems with your back arching or rounding, the weight is too heavy. 

I watch each video after the lift while I'm at the gym so that I can check if I made the improvements I needed to make. Usually I have things running through my head during the lift like "BEND AT THE HIPS, BEND AT THE HIPS" haha! Or whatever things I need to fix up about my form because that allows me to work on my internal feedback (a.k.a. listening to my body and feeling the movement). Then, the video (external feedback) lets me know if I in fact implemented the necessary changes and thus allows me to mentally connect the dots with my body. If the movement felt good (internal), looked good (external) then my body will slowly start to learn the proper movement sequences. If you consistently lift with improper form, that's the movement your body will learn and keep executing which is what will result in injury. 

Okay, so one of my final tips is to pay attention to the bar path. You want it to go up and down in a vertical smooth line. If it swings out too much then you're not keeping the bar close enough to your legs and vice versa. Bar path will tell you a lot about what you might need to change in your form. If/where you get pain after deadlifting will also clue you in to what you might be doing, and that's how I was able to fix up my form. 

So to sum everything up: 

1. Don't worry about weight but focus on improving form first. 

2. Videos > mirrors

3. For the setup: keep the bar across mid-foot, feet hip-distance, neck in line with the spine, shoulders in front of the bar, and hips above parallel. 

4. To avoid back pain/injury make sure during the concentric phase you don't arch or round the back, and to bend at the hips for the eccentric phase. 

5. Pay attention to bar path and any pain as that will help you identify problem areas as well. 

6. FEEL the movement (internal feedback) and compare that with the videos (external feedback) to teach your body proper form. 

Alright so I hope this was beneficial and informative! As I said, I'm no expert but I've done plenty of research combined with my own experience so I thought I'd share. If you have any questions or comments as always feel free to send me an email :)