Deadlift Form: How to Pull Heavy With a Neutral Back and the Bar Close

The deadlift looks simple, which is exactly why it is so easy to get wrong. Here is how to set up, brace, pull and lower the bar, and how to fix the mistakes most lifters make.

On paper, the deadlift could not be simpler: pick a loaded bar up off the floor and stand tall. In practice, your body will always find some way to grind the weight up, good or not. This guide to deadlift form covers the setup, the brace, the pull and the lowering, the common mistakes, and how to add weight without your technique falling apart.

The setup decides the lift

Most deadlift problems start before the bar leaves the floor, so make your setup identical every time, whether there is 40 kg (90 lb) or 140 kg (310 lb) on the bar.

Feet

Stand with your feet roughly hip-width apart, about where you would put them for a vertical jump. Toes point forward or turn out slightly. The bar should sit over the middle of your foot, which for most people means it is a few centimetres (about an inch) from your shins.

Grip

Hinge down and grab the bar just outside your legs, so your arms hang straight without your knees pushing them out. Start with a double overhand grip. When your grip becomes the limit, switch to a mixed grip (one palm facing you, one away) or use lifting straps on your heaviest sets.

Hips, back and gaze

Bend your knees until your shins touch the bar, without rolling it forward. Your hips will now sit somewhere between your knees and your shoulders. Long legs and a short torso usually mean higher hips, and that is fine.

Your back should be neutral, meaning in its natural shape from your lower back to your neck. Chest slightly up, shoulders directly over or just in front of the bar. Look at the floor a couple of metres ahead so your neck stays in line with your spine rather than craning up.

Build tension before you pull

Before the bar moves, your whole body should be tight. This is what separates a controlled deadlift from a yank.

1. Breathe in deep into your belly and brace your core as if someone were about to shove you in the stomach. Hold that breath through the hard part of the rep.
2. Pull the bar into you. This switches on your lats and keeps the bar close.
3. Take the slack out. Pull up just enough that the bar and plates click against each other, without the weight leaving the floor. Now you are ready.

The whole setup takes a few seconds. If something feels off, stand up and start again rather than pulling from a sloppy position.

The pull and the lowering

Think of the first part as a leg press: you push the floor away with your whole foot rather than hauling the bar up with your back. Your knees straighten, your hips and shoulders rise together, and your back angle stays roughly the same until the bar passes your knees.

Once the bar clears your knees, your hips take over. Drive them forward towards the bar until you are standing tall, with the bar sliding up your thighs. At lockout, squeeze your glutes and stand straight with your shoulders relaxed. There is no need to lean back.

Lowering the bar

The descent is the same movement in reverse. Push your hips back with your knees only slightly bent until the bar passes your knees, then bend your knees so the bar lands back over mid-foot. Keep your core braced all the way down.

Between reps, setting the bar down fully and rebuilding your brace is the better choice for most people, especially as the weight gets heavy.

Common deadlift form mistakes and how to fix them

Rounded back

For most lifters the goal is a neutral back from the floor to lockout. If your back rounds a little more with every rep, the weight is too heavy or you are losing your brace. Drop the load until you can hold your position, and put extra focus on your breath and on pulling the bar into you before it leaves the floor.

Bar drifting away from your body

The further forward the bar travels, the longer the lever your back has to work against. This usually starts in the setup, with the bar over your toes instead of mid-foot. Step closer and let the bar brush your legs all the way up.

Hips shooting up first

If your hips rise while the bar stays on the floor, the lift turns into a stiff-legged pull with your chest pitched forward. Often the cause is starting with your hips too low, as if you were squatting the weight up. Find a starting height where the bar breaks the floor as soon as you push, and think "chest and hips up together".

Leaning back at the top

Leaning back at lockout to show the rep is done adds nothing to the lift and shifts the load onto your lower back at a point where you do not need it. Finish by squeezing your glutes and standing straight, as if your back were against a wall.

Jerking the bar off the floor

Yanking the bar means you lose your position before the tension is there, and your hips often shoot up or your back rounds straight away. The fix is the step before: take the slack out, feel the bar click, then push. The lift itself can be fast, but the start should be firm, not jerky.

Deadlift variations in brief

• Conventional deadlift is what this guide describes: feet hip-width, hands outside your legs.
• Sumo deadlift uses a wide stance with toes turned out and hands inside your knees. Your torso is more upright and the bar travels a shorter distance. Try both and see which suits you.
• Romanian deadlift starts from the top. You lower the bar with soft knees by pushing your hips back until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then stand back up. The bar does not need to touch the floor. It is a great accessory that also teaches the hip hinge.

Film yourself from the side

You cannot see your own back during a lift, and what you feel does not always match what is happening. Prop your phone at hip height, directly side-on and a couple of metres away, so your whole body and the bar are in frame from start to lockout. Film a warm-up set and a heavier set to see whether your form changes under load.

When you watch it back, ask yourself:

• Does the bar move in a straight line over mid-foot?
• Do your hips and shoulders rise together off the floor?
• Does your back look the same on the first rep and the last?
• Do you finish tall without leaning back?

If you want a second opinion, you can film your deadlift from the side in TANK. The technique analysis scores the lift from 0 to 100 and gives you tips for every rep, so you can see exactly where your form starts to slip.

How to add weight

You can progress on the deadlift for a long time, but it is easy to push too fast. Add small jumps, for example 2.5–5 kg (5–10 lb) a week as a beginner and less once you have some training behind you. The underlying principle is covered in our guide to progressive overload.

• Only add weight when your form holds. If every rep looks the same on video, go up. If not, stay put.
• Leave a few reps in reserve. Most sessions do not need to be max efforts. Heavy deadlifts are draining.
• Keep sets fairly short. Sets of 3–6 reps work well for most people. In long sets, technique tends to fall apart towards the end.
• Once or twice a week is plenty for most lifters who also squat and train legs.

If something actually hurts, rather than just feeling heavy, it is wise to drop the lift for now and talk to a physiotherapist or an experienced coach before carrying on.

The short version

Good deadlift form means the same thing every rep: bar over mid-foot, neutral back, tension before the bar moves, legs push and hips finish. Film yourself, fix one thing at a time and add weight only when every rep looks the same.