The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong - Part 2
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 07/01/22)
This is Part 2 in our series of articles on common deadlift errors and how to fix them. Today’s error is that of bent wrists during the setup process.
His socks are oh-so-fine, but what’s wrong with this fool’s wrists?
When the barbell is sitting on the floor, your wrists should not be bent backward, i.e., they should not be in full extension. Simply put, your wrists should be straight throughout the entire setup process.
The error of bent wrists in the deadlift is actually related to the error we discussed in last week’s article - that of having your balance forward of midfoot - because, if your wrists are bent, you are most likely resting some of your own weight on the bar, and this tends to ruin the goal of midfoot balance.
Instead of being midfoot, your balance will be a bit forward (possibly a lot forward), but you won’t realize it until later when you attempt to pull the bar off the floor (and the bar starts to swing away from you). Bent wrists also give you artificially short arms, which is never an advantage in the deadlift.
Absolutely hideous. What’s he doing? Trying to push the bar down into the floor? Don’t be like this fool.
Bent wrists absolutely kill deadlifts, so how can we fix this? To start, simply cue yourself “straight wrists” or maybe even “long arms.”
If that doesn’t work, you can cue yourself to put a bit of upward tension (i.e., upward pull) on the bar when you take your grip (be careful not to move the bar forward or backward).
In other words, your wrists should always look like you are about to start pulling on something - not pushing on something.
This . . . is much better.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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