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