2 Clues to SPOT Your Terrible Deadlift EARLY!
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If you've got a deadlift that's drifting away from you as you pull, that's a problem.
Let’s fix it.
Why Does This Happen?
This problem is often caused by accidentally “getting forward” during the setup process. In other words, during the five-step setup for the deadlift, you accidentally allow your balance to shift forward, and this almost always happens during either step two or step three of the setup process.
I would strongly recommend watching the short video below to see these errors and their solutions demonstrated.
A brief recap of the five-step setup for the deadlift:
Stance: Take a relatively narrow stance wherein your vertical shins are one inch from the barbell.
Grip: Bend over to grab the bar, but do not move the bar, and don’t touch the bar with your shins (keep the shins vertical) just yet.
Shins: Bend you knees slightly until your shins touch the bar.
Chest: Squeeze your chest up (without dropping your hips) and set your back in flat, rigid extension.
Pull: Drag the bar up your legs.
Problem During Step 2
Remember that midfoot balance is assumed, i.e., you want to be balanced on the middle of your foot and not on either the balls of your feet or on your heels. However, people often allow their balance to shift forward to the balls of their feet when - during step 2 - they bend over to take their grip.
step 2: Taking the grip incorrectly with balance forward (left) and taking the grip correctly with balance over midfoot (right)
If you find yourself doing this, simply cue yourself “midfoot,” or you can even overcue yourself “heels.” We don’t actually want to be balanced on our heels, but this type of overcue can be useful to prevent ourselves from rocking forward.
Problem During Step 3
During step 3, you should bend your knees slightly (i.e., drop your hips slightly) until your shins touch the barbell, but people will sometimes accidentally rock forward to bring their shins to the bar instead.
step 3: bringing the shins to the bar incorrectly by rocking forward (left) and bringing the shins to the bar correctly by bending the knees (right)
If you are committing this error, use the cue “hips drop slightly” or simply “bend your knees” to ensure that you’re bringing your shins to the bar by bending the knees and not by shifting your balance forward.
After that, squeeze your chest up and pull as usual, dragging the bar up your legs.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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