The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong - Part 3

This is Part 3 in our series of articles on common deadlift errors and how to fix them. Today’s error is that of too much breathing and therefore too much time spent on the floor between reps.

“One breath. Ok, here I go . . . maybe another breath. Ok, got it, let’s go . . . well, one more breath will probably help . . .”

The trap of spending too much time between reps in the deadlift is an incredibly easy one to fall into - you’ve set the barbell down, you’re tired, the weight is heavy, you’ve started to question whether or not you’ll get the next rep - next, you start to question whether or not you’ll even attempt the next rep.

Spending a lot of time between reps is not productive, and in fact, it will actually tire you out - you’re in a crouched position of sorts, and it takes energy to stay in the position - so spending less time with the bar on the floor between reps will actually make for a more efficient (read: easier) set. The only truly good resting position for a deadlift is sitting down in the chair when you’ve completed the set, so let’s fix this problem.

When you’ve set down a completed rep and you’re getting ready to pull the next one, treat the breathing situation as “one-and-done” - take one breath, set your back in extension, and then go.

Here’s a very useful mantra to have running in your head between reps: Breath. Chest. Pull. Assuming that the bar is in place over the middle of the foot, your shins are touching the bar, and you’re balanced on the middle of your foot, here’s how it works:

1. Breath: Take one breath. Not two or three. ONE.

2. Chest: Squeeze your chest up to set your back in extension.

3. Pull: Drag the bar up your legs.

Keep it simple. Toward the end of a set, you may have to take two breaths between reps, but keep it limited. Get. The. Set. Done. Then, go sit in that chair.

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

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The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong - Part 2

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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The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong

You’ve read the Blue Book (click here if you haven’t), you’ve watched the videos, you know the 5-step setup (i.e., stance, grip, shins, chest up, and pull/drag), but for some reason, you keep making this mistake . . .

What’s wrong with this fool’s deadlift setup? (BESIDES his back not being set in extension just yet)

Your balance is forward each time you start to pull.

If your balance is forward when you start pulling a deadlift, it makes for a much harder pull as the barbell wants to swing away from you. A heavy bar swinging away from you is not a fun thing to deal with when pulling heavy weights off the floor.

There are two steps wherein lifters make mistakes with balance, so let’s take a quick look at both situations and fix them.

Step 2: Grip
Some lifters get forward of midfoot (i.e., their balance shifts forward of midfoot onto the balls of their feet) during the “Grip” step - instead of simply bending at the hips to grab the bar, they instead bend at the hips and accidentally rock forward a bit as they grab the bar.

If this is you, simply cue yourself “midfoot” as you reach down to grab the bar. Pay attention to where you feel pressure on your feet and make sure it’s not on the balls of your feet.

If necessary, you can overcue yourself “heels,” but be judicious in using that cue as we don’t actually want to be balanced on our heels either.

Step 3: Shins to the Bar
In step 3, we bend our knees slightly to bring our shins to the bar, but some lifters accidentally rock forward instead to bring the shins to the bar.

If this is you, remind yourself to “bend your knees” to allow your shins to touch the bar, or you can cue yourself to “drop your hips until your shins touch the bar.” Be careful with this last one - the hips only drop slightly during this step, and they shouldn’t drop at all after this step.

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

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The Deadlift: Follow the Bar

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

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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Deadlift Tip: Quit Bending Your Arms!

Here’s a quick deadlift tip: Don’t Bend Your Arms.

Ever.

don’t be like this fool when setting up to pull.

This will seem rather obvious to many people - after all, who would voluntarily try to pull a heavy weight off the floor with bent arms? Nonetheless, this problem shows up in the setup for some lifters, and interestingly enough, it will occasionally rear its ugly head on the pull itself.

If you have this issue in your setup, remember that, when you bend your knees slightly to touch your shins to the bar, the knees go out (i.e., sideways) slightly and touch the inside of your elbows. Don’t shove the knees out so hard that you end up causing your elbows to bend. This is what we like to refer to as . . . ridiculous.

This . . . is much better.

Whether you’re setting up or pulling, remember - keep your arms straight. Bent arms are highly inefficient when pulling heavy weights off the floor . . . and they just look so silly. Don’t be silly.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

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Antonio and the Deadlift

(This article is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 12/02/18.)

Do you know about the Italian physician and anatomist Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666 - 1723)? Probably not, and that’s O.K., but every time you lift, you perform a maneuver - the Valsalva maneuver - that is named after him. To Valsalva is to hold your breath against a closed glottis, or perhaps more simply, to take a big breath and “bear down.”

You Valsalva instinctively when you are trying to push a stalled or stuck car, you Valsalva when you’re constipated and trying to poop, and fighter pilots Valsalva as part of their Anti-G Straining Maneuvers (AGSMs), which are performed to avoid passing out when subjected to high G-forces in the cockpit.

Now, let’s chat about the Valsalva maneuver and the deadlift.

You’ve been coached on the setup for the deadlift, so you’ve got the 5 steps down pat:

• Stance - take a relatively narrow stance with your shins about 1” from the bar.

• Grip - take a narrow grip on the bar (DO NOT MOVE THE BAR).

• Shins - bend your knees to bring your shins into contact with the bar (DO NOT MOVE THE BAR).

• Chest - squeeze your chest up to set your back in rigid extension (DO NOT MOVE THE BAR).

• Pull - drag the bar up your legs.

jill correctly holds her valsalva at the top of her deadlift.

Most people will Valsalva right before (or during the process of) squeezing the chest up. Excellent. They will usually hold that Valsalva all the way up to the top of the lift - the lockout. Excellent again.

And right here - right at the top - this is where we tend to see a hiccup in the process. Some lifters (especially newer lifters) have a tendency to release their Valsalva at the top of the deadlift, i.e., they blow out their breath at the top. If you are one of these lifters - if you tend to release your breath at this point of the deadlift - there is only one thing to do.

Stop. That. Now.

james (left) and Loren (right) both know how important breath is when it comes to stability.

The Valsalva, the holding of your breath against a closed glottis and with tightly contracted abs - provides stability to the lift. Put simply, breath is stability, and stability is a wonderful thing to have when pulling heavy weights off the floor and setting them back down again.

So, if you tend to release your breath at the top of your deadlift, work on fixing it. Specifically, start by focusing on keeping your Valsalva while warming up the deadlift. The weight is lighter at this point, so you can spare some extra mental energy for this endeavor. Breath only when the bar is on the floor - not while loaded.

And be sure to thank Antonio the next time you complete a successful set of deadlifts.

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