Second, when the wrists are bent, the lifter is often resting on the bar with slack in the arms, and this can contribute to yanking or jerking the bar off the floor instead of smoothly pulling or “squeezing” the bar off the floor. Jerking a heavy deadlift off the floor doesn’t work well - remember, it’s heavy, so you can’t lift it quickly even if you try. Instead, when we try to yank the bar off the floor, the back gets soft and flexes, which results in less efficient force transfer, and this results in a less efficient and more difficult pull. Keep the wrists straight.
Third, when the wrists are bent and the lifter is resting on the bar, this makes it difficult for the lifter to be balanced on the middle of the foot. You feel your balance in your feet, and if a good chunk of your weight is resting on the bar, it’s difficult to tell whether you are balanced on your midfoot or not. Very often, the lifter’s balance will be forward when resting on the bar, and this is a situation that then has to be corrected before pulling the bar off the floor. Don’t make your balance an additional variable in your lifting.
Finally, this dastardly duo of bent wrists and resting on the bar encourages lifters to stall between reps. You know who you are. Get the set over and done with. Don’t make a set of 5 reps take 2 minutes when it should have taken 30 seconds. Set the bar down over the middle of your foot, take a breath, squeeze your chest up, and then pull . . . all with straight wrists. Remember, the best resting position for the deadlift is simply being done with your deadlifts. Punch the clock. Finish the set.
Keep your wrists straight in the deadlift. It’ll make you a better human.
