The Knees Problem: If You Don't Change This, Your Deadlift Will NEVER Grow
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Are you making a mistake with your knees in the deadlift?
If you are, you’re doing one of the following:
Pulling the bar around your knees during the ascent, or . . .
Setting the bar down in a curved path around your knees during the descent.
Both of these make the deadlift harder, less efficient, and fabulously uncomfortable, so let’s fix them both with the same concept and cue.
If you want to see these errors and their solutions in action, check out the short video below.
Error 1: Pulling Around Your Knees
We use cues such as “push the floor,” “straighten the knees,” and “pull your kneecaps back” regularly to drive home the idea that the deadlift starts with knee extension. This knee extension helps lift the barbell and gets the knees out of the way, so understandably, it’s critical to the lift.
figure 1: Mike and phil demonstrate the error of pulling around the knees.
However, if these cues aren’t working for you, and you’re still pulling in a curved path around your knees (Figure 1), try reminding yourself to “make the bar move vertically” and “get your knees out of the way.”
That’s it.
Picture the correct bar path and get your knees slowly but surely out of the way of that bar path, and you’ll be executing the lift correctly.
Error 2: Setting the Bar Down Around Your Knees
After you lock out your deadlift, you should reach backward with your hips, bow to the floor, and set the bar down in a nice, vertical path so that it ends up on the floor directly over the middle of your foot.
However, many lifters try - whether consciously or subconsciously - to keep their torsos vertical when lowering the deadlift, and this results in a bar path that curves out and around the knees (Figure 2).
figure 2: mike demonstrates the error of setting the bar down around the knees.
This is inefficient, inaccurate, and it feels awful on the knees and back. If setting your deadlift down isn’t the easiest thing you do all day, you’re absolutely committing this error.
Again, remind yourself to “make the bar move vertically” and “get you knees out of the way” (or “keep your knees out of the way” if you prefer).
Visualize the bar traveling vertically - and quickly - downward, and keep your knees out of the way until the bar passes your knees, and you’ll have nailed it.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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