The deadlift is one of the best exercises there is: it works your legs, glutes, back and grip all at once. It's also one of the most intimidating when you start. With a good setup and light weights at first, it's a very safe exercise.
Before you start
If you've never done it, practise the hip hinge first: standing, with a dowel along your back, push your hips back without losing contact between the dowel and your head, upper back and tailbone. That's the basic movement.
Step by step
- Feet: hip-width apart, with the bar over the middle of your foot (roughly over your laces).
- Grip: bend down and grab the bar just outside your legs, with straight arms.
- Shins to the bar: lower your hips until your shins touch the bar. Without moving the bar.
- Tight back: lift your chest and think about pulling your armpits towards the bar, as if you wanted to bend it towards you. Your back should be flat, not rounded.
- Breathe and brace: take a breath and brace your abs as if someone were about to punch you.
- Push the floor away: don't pull with your arms. Push the floor with your legs and let the bar travel up close to your body.
- Finish standing: hips and knees straight, without leaning back.
- Lower with control: hips back first and, once the bar passes your knees, bend your legs. The bar comes down the same way it went up.
Most common mistakes
- The bar drifts away from your body: the further away it is, the more your back suffers. It should brush your legs.
- Your hips shoot up before the bar moves: you end up doing a good morning. Push with your legs from the start.
- Yanking the bar: build tension before the bar leaves the floor. Tighten first, then lift.
- Rounding your back: if it happens, the weight is too heavy or your setup isn't right.
- Leaning back at the top: at the end, you just need to stand up straight.
How much weight to use
Start with the bar and light plates. If the plates are small and the bar sits very low, raise it on some plates or blocks so it's at the normal height. Do 3 sets of 5 leaving three or four reps in reserve and add weight gradually each week.
A word of caution
If you feel lower-back pain that doesn't go away, stop adding weight. Have a professional review your technique.
Film yourself from the side and compare it with these steps. And if you'd like me to review your deadlift on video, tell me where you are.