How To Deadlift

Nice, Ive been wanting to learn how to deadlift…

dude your form is horrible you need to lower your butt a little lower

Gilberto,
Your hips should be higher than your knees when you start the lift. Remember you start a deadlift in a deadlift position, not a squatting position.

-Vic

NICE!

Will deadlifts help strengthen my legs more or my back more?

god! did’nt even know the dead lift, squats were so important. trying to remember what I’ve been doing in the previous gyms – but I’m sure they never told us this. Also was busy doing the “biceps”, “triceps”, calf raises and all that crap.

I am confused about the deadlift. Your instructions say to keep the bar in contact with the body during the whole lift, but when I try to do that, the bar smashes into my knees on the way up and down. I don’t understand how to keep my knees out of the way. Any thoughts about what I might be doing wrong? Thanks.

Deadlifts are not as easy to learn as one might think, especially for us slightly taller lifters. But they are well worth it. Vic is spot on when he mentions that pulling several hundred pounds in tight form is not only a great feeling but that kind of metabolic stim is the only way to gain genuine functional strength and real muscle not just “bulked up, pumped up mitochondria.” I think I am inspired to focus on deads for a while. Vic: I am curious to know what you think of the “trap” bar (trapezoid bar) for deadlifts?

@Matthew: The deadlift will strengthen the entire posterior chain (pretty much everything from your traps to your hamstrings). Which will it hit more, legs or back? That’s a tough call. The bottom line is to do the movement unless you have a medical restriction.

@sangita: Glad you’re a convert to functional movements!

@laura: Your best bet is to have a trainer experienced with the deadlift watch your technique. But yes, the bar should remain in contact with the leg through out the movement. Try making “light” contact with the leg as opposed to smashing the bar into the leg.

@Chris C: To be completely honest, I have never done trap bar deadlifts. But after watching Joe DeFranco’s “Strong” recently, I’m dying to give them a shot. If DeFranco has his guys doing them, I’m thinking it’s worth investigating. But just from watching the movement and basic knowledge of how the body moves, the trap bar will place the distribution of weight at a point closer to the body’s natural center line. Much the same way doing the movement with dumbbells would (which I have done and like). The bottom line always (and this is not a cop out but the reality of the matter) is to try it your self, track your results, and make your decision about the movement based on your own experience. That was the long way for me to say these three things:
1) I haven’t done the movement myself.
2) It looks like a solid movement to me.
3) Try it yourself for best results.
Thanks for all of your recent comments, Chris!

laura, I think you are making one of the following mistakes so that the bar smashes against your knees on the way up. You are either pulling with your hands instead on pressing with your heels or your knees are projecting way forward when you start the lift. Try to puch the butt a bit back at the starting position and make sure your shin is almost vertical to the floor.

I currently do not have a barbell; I have the Block dumbells. Can you suggest the best way to do a deadlift with the Block? Thank you.

ElCidOrth, you could use one arm and one leg at a time so that you can keep the weight in contact with the leg. You can still use 2 dumbells in place of the barbell, but form is harder to master as you can’t have a bar against the legs.

Vic- thanks for your response re: the trap bar. I always liked the “feel” of the olympic r seven-foot bar for dead-lifts- nothing compares- but started training with the trap bar for lower back safety reasons, although I honestly can not say that I feel more secure with it. I used the top dead lift (pull from the pins or knees) for several years, building up to 395 pounds (not a huge amount of weight, but for someone with a “bad back” it was a great accomplishment for me!)- by micro-loading once per week with as little as one pound or less each time as I got into the tough (for me) poundages. It really thickened my upper body. I never specialized on full deads but would like to do six months with them and see what happens. I will have to curtail my squats however, since recuperation while working both hard is an issue. Again, I like your teaching style a lot and appreciate the work that you put into this nice site. It really shows how much you like hardcore no-nonsense fitness that works (is there any other kind?) and I am sure that you are benefiting lots of people with your knowledge and passion. I have already turned a few people on to GymJunkies.

Hey Vic– Great website- Was wondering if there is anythign wrong with doing the straight legged deads alternating on weeks with the ones you show in the video.

Thanks!

Hi Vic, i’m a little confused. i thought what you were doing was de romanian deadlift. what’s the difference between a romanian deadlift and a deadlift?

Interesting and good info — but WHERE can you buy fake barbell plates?

Thanks

I’ve got bruises all over my shins! Is that a bad sign?

Hey this exercise makes my back feel great! I just wanted to ask, should a 16 yr old (me) be doing deadlifts?

Are there any modifications for someone with no access to a barbell? I only have access to dumbbells and I am reading your “how to lose fat” article and I don’t have barbells for either the deadlift, shoulder press or the squat. Please help. I need dumbbell alternatives until I can either save up enough to by a set or buy a gym membership.

Hey Vic I’ve been doing deadlifts for about 6 months now but a couple questions have arisen…

1. Should I be letting the bar totally rest of the floor between reps? Right now I kind of just “clank” the plates and the floor so I know I got down but I pretty much bear all the weight throughout the 5 reps. It was never a problem before but recently since I got up to 275lbs on the lift my back really tightens up at the end of the 5 sets and doesn’t feel right until I finish my drive home.

2. I can’t seem to do the lifts without making my shins bleed. I guess I scraped them once and now every time I start I rip the scab off and blood pours out. I tried wearing sweatpants but I still get the bleeding. I’m thinking of wrapping an Ace bandage around the shin tomorrow but I dunno if that will hamper the movement.

Thanks again for your site!

Very clean video and pictures for explanation. I want to do these more, but i messed up my back last time. Thanks for the info