Deadlift: technique step by step

Setup

• Stand with the bar over the middle of your foot, roughly one centimetre from your shins.
• Grip the bar just outside your legs. Don't bend the bar — get into position by dropping your hips until your shins touch the bar.
• Brace the whole body: chest up, spine in its neutral position (neither rounded nor over-arched), lats pulled down, arms as straight levers.
• Breathe deep into your belly and create intra-abdominal pressure (as if bracing for a punch).

The lift

1. Push the floor away with your legs — hips and chest rise at the same rate.
2. The bar travels straight up, close to the body the whole way.
3. Once the bar passes your knees, drive the hips forward and lock out by squeezing the glutes — without leaning back.
4. Lower with control along the same path, or drop with control when training heavy.

Common mistakes

• Rounded back: the most common cause of pain. Lower the weight and drill the setup.
• Jerking the start: take the slack out of the bar before you pull.
• Bar drifting forward: keep it close to your body; scraped shins are normal at first.
• Squatting the pull: hips too low puts your knees in the way. The deadlift is a hip-dominant movement, not a squat with the bar on the floor.