The Mistake That is KILLING Your Deadlift! | How to Set Your Back: Part 4

The Problem
You don’t want to look like the fool in Figure 1 when you’re deadlifting. After all, before you pull the barbell off the floor, you want your back to be in flat, rigid extension, so with this in mind, welcome back to our series on how to accomplish exactly that.

figure 1: no one should look like this . . . it’s just hideous.

In Part 1 of this series, we covered the cue “squeeze your chest up,” which is included in the 5-step setup for the deadlift, in Part 2, we talked about “pushing your belly down between your thighs,” and in Part 3, we discussed the cue “wrinkles in your shirt.” However, if those concepts and cues aren’t working for you, try today’s cue on for size . . .

Cue #4: Point Your Rectum at the Wall
Is this an anatomically blunt cue? Absolutely, and if you’re surprised by this one, stick around to the end of this article for a related cue that’ll make your mind . . . explode.

In the meantime, being blunt is exactly the point of this cue (I’d recommend watching the included video). You’re focusing on something very specific, telling yourself to point it in a very specific direction, and thus giving yourself a very specific task to accomplish.

Point your rectum at the wall behind you.

This gets across the idea that there should be a slight tilt of the hips (i.e., anterior pelvic tilt) to accomplish the task of setting your back. After all, you don’t point your rectum at the wall by raising your butt but rather by a slight forward tilting of the pelvis.

Another Way to Cue Yourself
My favorite version of this cue - a bit crude, but extraordinarily memorable - is as follows:

If you have explosive diarrhea, you need to spray the wall behind you - not the floor.

Figure 2: Becky sets her back nicely, but milo and parker are not fans of this cue.

A rather colorful concept, to be sure, but it often does the job nicely . . . especially if you have the sense of humor of a 14-year-old boy. Either way, whether you point your rectum at the wall or try to spray the wall, we hope this assists you in your quest for a better, stronger deadlift.

We’ll be back for Part 5 in the near future, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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How to Deadlift: Set Your Back the RIGHT Way - Part 3

Quick Recap
In the previous articles in this series, we covered two cues to help get your back correctly set in rigid and flat extension. In Part 1, we discussed the “squeeze your chest up cue” that’s already present in the deadlift 5-step setup, and in Part 2, we examined the cue of “push your belly down between your thighs.”

In this article, we introduce a third cue to help you get the job done. I’d also recommend watching the included video above to see this cue in action.

Cue #3: Wrinkles in the Shirt
When using this cue, you try to create a series of wrinkles along your back in the fabric of your shirt.

Figure 1: this poor fool can’t see how ridiculous he looks.

This cue often works quite well because - even though you might not have a good sense of how to set your back or even what’s going on with your back (since you can’t see it while lifting a barbell as shown in Figure 1) - you might still have a solid idea of what movement is necessary to create wrinkles in the back of your shirt (Figure 2). 

Another way to picture it . . .
Picturing an arched back (i.e., the opposite of a flexed or rounded back) can help with this process.

figure 2: Notice the wrinkles in becky’s shirt? this is much better.

Granted, you don’t want an arched back - if you arch (i.e., overextend) your back, you’re actually overdoing it. We don’t want an overextended back, but if you’re having a tough time getting your back in extension when setting up to pull, you can try to arch your back because you won’t actually be able to accomplish it anyway. In other words, the picture of an arched back is a useful overcue.

Try this cue the next time you deadlift, and we’ll be back in Part 4 of this series in the near future.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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The Knees Problem | If You Don't Change This, Your Deadlift Will NEVER Grow

There are 2 deadlift mistakes you're making with your knees. Let's fix both of them with one simple concept.

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The Deadlift: Follow the Bar

This is hideous (on multiple levels). Don’t be like this fool.

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/04/22)

Lowering the deadlift should be rather easy - after all, the tough part of the lift is already done, right? With that being said, setting the barbell down after the deadlift is locked out can be tricky for some lifters, especially new lifters.

Figure 1: How NOT to lower the deadlift. This nincompoop is trying to keep his torso vertical on the way down.

This is usually due to a misguided desire to keep the back as vertical as possible on the way down (Figure 1), although we’ve also seen it happen because someone is nervous about bending over with a heavy weight in hand.

Here’s a cue that can help simplify the process and potentially remove some nervousness: Follow the bar down.

At the top of the deadlift, you’ve already picked up the bar, which you know is the hardest part, and you were very bent over during a good portion of that process, so you also know - at least intellectually - that bending over again as you set it down should be even easier. But it’s sometimes tough to convince our bodies to follow that logic and actually bend over, so if the usual “hips back and bend at the the hips” cue isn’t working for you, just tell yourself to follow the bar down to the floor.

Figure 2: This . . . is much better. Hips back, chest down, and simply follow the bar down.

In other words, gravity will take the bar straight down to the floor, and you’re simply following the bar by keeping your hands attached to it (Figure 2).

Now, you’re not dropping the bar, but it should be relatively fast on the way down, and if thinking of the process as a controlled drop helps - at least for now - then go ahead and think of it that way. Simply follow the bar down and keep the rest of your body out of the way.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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How to Deadlift: Set Your Back the RIGHT Way - Part 2

The Problem
When we deadlift, you want your back in flat and rigid extension before you pull the barbell off the floor, but this can be difficult to do (with the result being a soft, semi-rounded back as seen in Figure 1). With this in mind, welcome to Part 2 in our series on how to accomplish exactly that.

Figure 1: Not like this . . . not like this.

In Part 1, we covered how to use the cue that’s already present in the 5-step deadlift setup - i.e., “squeeze your chest up” - the idea being that applying this cue sets off a wave of contraction that runs from your thoracic spine all the way down to your lumbar spine and thus gets your back rigid and flat (Figure 2).

However, if that cue isn’t working well for you and your back is still a bit rounded, try the following cue instead . . .

Figure 2: This . . . is much better.

Cue #2: Push Your Belly Down Between Your Thighs.
If you push your stomach down between your thighs (you can also cue “push your belly down between your femurs”), you’re going to get a nice, tight, flat, rigid back (Figure 2), which is exactly the type of efficient, force-transferring segment that we want when we deadlift.

Another Way to Picture It
If it helps, you can instead imagine a rope attached to your belly button, and that rope is pulling your belly button down toward the floor (leaving your hips and shoulders exactly where they are).

Hopefully, you found this useful, and we’ll be back in Part 3 of this series in the near future to cover more ways to address this problem.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Want a Bigger Deadlift? Learn to Deficit Deadlift.

Learn to deficit deadlift as Phil and Mike explain and demonstrate how to perform the lift as well as discuss why you might want to do deficit deadlifts in your training program.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 04/25/22)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.