The 9th Circle of Deadlift Hell: The Drifting Barbell

(Throughout this article, you’ll find several videos related to today’s topic. This article is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/29/21.)

You’ve memorized the 5 step setup for the deadlift, you rehearse it in your head every night as you lie in bed, and yet, somehow, you still struggle with step 5 - “Drag the bar up your shins.” No matter how hard you try, that stupid bar seems to always swing away from your legs as you pull it off the floor.

In the deadlift, the bar needs to be in a close, committed relationship with your shins as you pull it off the floor, and a bar that swings away from you betrays that relationship and makes for a much harder deadlift, so if you’re struggling to escape this 9th circle of deadlift hell, try out one of the following fixes:

Use Chalk
This is so obvious as to be painful, but please, for the love of all that is good in the world, use chalk when you’re lifting, and use chalk especially when deadlifting. Get some chalk on your hands before you start warming up the deadlift, and then apply some more chalk before you pull your work set(s).

If you won’t use chalk, summon up your inner Kelly Clarkson and just walk away. You’ve decided not to lift weights today, so leave the gym and come back when you’ve changed your mind.

As you can tell, the phenomenon of not using chalk aggravates me somewhat. Most people use chalk, and the phenomenon is - not surprisingly - restricted only to those who would lift more and be stronger if they also used chalk. I have other words on this topic, but they are not fit for print.

Chalk affects your ability to transmit force to the bar efficiently, and that, in turn, affects your ability to control the bar and keep it close. Use chalk.

Use the Appropriate Grip
You can’t use double overhand forever, so start using a hook grip or an alternate grip before your grip starts to become an issue. If you persist in using a grip that isn’t working for you, I have other words for you, too.

Grip affects your ability to transmit force to the bar efficiently, and that in turn affects your ability to control the bar and keep it close. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Get a grip.

Midfoot Balance
The combined center of mass of the lifter-barbell system should be balanced over the middle of the foot. In other words, you and the barbell together should be balanced - not on the balls of your feet and not on your heels - but rather right over the middle of your feet.

People often get onto the balls of their feet in steps two or three of the setup process - the “bend at the waist and take a grip” step or the “bend your knees to bring your shins to the bar” step, respectively - and this will cause the bar to swing away from you as you break it off the floor. The easiest fix is to simply make sure that you stay midfoot as you execute these steps, but if you find that you’ve rocked forward a bit onto the balls of your feet, simply rock back a bit until you are balanced over the middle of your feet again. Ideally, you want to do this before step four (i.e., before you squeeze your chest up to set your back).

“Pin It to Your Shins”
Your lats are responsible for keeping the bar close, i.e., keeping it on your shins, but you don’t need to think about your massive lats while deadlifting. Instead, just cue yourself to keep the bar pinned to your shins as you squeeze the bar off the floor. Pin it to your shins.

Step 4: Squeeze Your Chest Up . . . Then Pause
During step four of the setup process, you squeeze your chest up and set your back in rigid extension. Many people will squeeze their chest up and immediately try to break the bar off the floor. This often results in hips that drop and a bar that swings away from the lifter (if it actually comes off the floor at all).

Instead, try this: Squeeze your chest up hard like you always do (without dropping your hips), putting a lot of tension on the bar, and then . . . pause one second. Do NOT relax that tension that you’ve placed on the bar - keep pulling. It should feel like the bar is bending upward in the middle, and indeed, if it’s heavy enough, it will be. THEN put even more tension on the bar, pulling harder until the bar comes off the floor.

This pause has helped a number of lifters for two reasons. First, it tends to discourage dropping the hips right before pulling the bar off the floor. Second, it also allows step four to function as a quick diagnostic step of sorts - when you’ve got a decent amount of tension on the bar, you can assess whether or not you and the barbell are still balanced on your midfoot and you can also assess whether or not you’re trying to keep the bar pinned to your shins. If you’re not doing one of these tasks, you can make a small correction and then pull the bar off the floor.

If your deadlift keeps swinging away, see if one of the tips above helps. Dante will be cheering for you.

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