How to do the deadlift

The deadlift is the simplest strength test there is: a loaded bar on the floor, and you stand up with it. Few free-weight lifts let you move as much weight, which is why it builds so much strength through your hips, hamstrings and back, and why it punishes a sloppy setup. The good news is that the setup is a fixed sequence you can learn in a session. Run through the same steps in the same order every rep and the lift gets a lot less mysterious.

How to deadlift

1. Stand with the bar over the middle of your foot. Feet about hip width, toes turned out slightly. Looking down, the bar should cut across your laces, roughly 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) from your shins.
2. Hinge down and grip the bar just outside your legs. Push your hips back and reach down with straight arms. Your hands go close enough that your thumbs almost brush your thighs on the way up, with arms hanging straight down from your shoulders.
3. Bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. Don't move the bar to do this; move your shins. Your hips will end up higher than your knees and lower than your shoulders.
4. Lift your chest and pull the slack out of the bar. Flatten your back, pull your shoulders down away from your ears and pull up on the bar just hard enough that it clicks against the plates without leaving the floor. You should feel your hamstrings load up and your armpits tighten.
5. Take a big breath, brace, and push the floor away. Keep your weight over your heels and midfoot. The bar slides up your shins, and your hips and shoulders rise at the same rate, so your back angle stays about the same until the bar passes your knees.
6. Drive your hips forward to stand tall. Once the bar is above your knees, bring your hips through to the bar. Knees and hips lock out together, and you finish standing straight with your glutes squeezed, shoulders stacked over your hips.
7. Lower it the way it came up. Push your hips back first and let the bar slide down your thighs, then bend your knees once it's past them. The bar should land back over your midfoot, ready for the next rep.

It's fine if the lowering isn't slow. The deadlift is about the lift up, and you don't need to fight the bar on the way down, just keep it close and your back flat.

Cues that help

"Push the floor away." Thinking about pulling the bar tends to make people yank with their back. Thinking about pressing the floor down with your legs gets your quads involved off the floor and keeps your hips from shooting up.

"Protect your armpits." Imagine someone is trying to tickle your armpits and you're clamping down to stop them. That switches on your lats, which keeps the bar pinned to your legs. If that doesn't click, try "squeeze oranges in your armpits" or "bend the bar around your shins".

"Drag it up your legs." The bar should touch or almost touch you the whole way. Chalk marks or light scratches on your shins are normal (long socks help).

"Hips to the bar." At the top, think about bringing your hips forward to meet the bar rather than pulling your shoulders back. It gets you a full lockout without the lean-back.

Common mistakes

Rounding your lower back. This one causes the most arguments. Some rounding in the upper back is common among strong, experienced lifters, and the research on whether a rounded back under load actually causes injury is less clear-cut than gym folklore suggests. Even so, our default is simple: keep your lower back flat, especially while you're learning. If it rounds as the bar leaves the floor, the weight is too heavy or you skipped the slack pull. Take 10 to 20% off and rebuild.

Starting with your hips too high or too low. Hips too high turns the lift into a stiff-legged pull where your back does the work your legs should. Hips too low (squatting the bar up) pushes your knees forward, so the bar has to swing around them. The fix for both is the same: shins to the bar, then chest up, and let your hips settle where they land. Most people end up with hips a little above their knees.

Letting the bar drift away from your body. A few inches forward makes a big difference. Hold a full shopping bag against your leg and it's easy; hold it at arm's length and your back starts complaining. If the bar is swinging forward, start with it closer to your shins and use the armpit cue.

Leaning back at the top. Standing tall is the finish. Leaning back past vertical and squeezing your lower back into an arch adds nothing and pinches the discs you've just been protecting. Squeeze your glutes and stop when you're straight.

Jerking the bar off the floor. Ripping the bar up from a loose position is how your back rounds at the start. Pull the slack out first, build tension, then push. It should feel like the bar peels off the floor, not like you've hit it with a hammer.

Breathing and bracing

Breathe into your belly, not your chest, then tighten your abs as if you're about to be punched. You're aiming for pressure all the way around your waist, sides and back included. Hold that breath through the whole rep and breathe out once you're locked out at the top. Reset your breath and brace again for every rep, with the bar on the floor.

A belt gives you something to brace against, but it's not a substitute for bracing. We'd learn to brace without one first, then use a belt for your heaviest sets if you like how it feels.

Sets, reps and how much weight to use

For strength, do 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps. For muscle growth, 3 sets of 5 to 8 works well. We'd avoid sets much above 10: your grip and lower back tire before your legs do, and the last few reps turn into practice at bad form. One or two deadlift sessions a week is enough for most people, since heavy pulling is tiring. Put it first in the session, pick a weight you could do 2 or 3 more reps with, and rest 3 minutes or more between heavy sets.

Ramp up to your working weight. If your working sets are 275 lb (125 kg):

• 135 lb (60 kg) for 5
• 185 lb (85 kg) for 3
• 225 lb (100 kg) for 2
• 255 lb (115 kg) for 1

Standard plates put the bar at the right height for the start. If you're starting lighter than 135 lb with small plates, set the plates on blocks or step platforms so the bar sits at the same height, about mid-shin.

New lifters can often add 10 lb (5 kg) a session for a while. When that stalls, drop to 5 lb jumps, then move to adding reps before weight. Logging each set in Helthy means you can see exactly what you pulled last week before you load the bar.

Here's roughly what people lift for their normal working sets:

Deadlift working weights by bodyweight and experience

Bodyweight	beginner	intermediate	advanced
130 lb (59 kg)	65 lb (29 kg)	130 lb (59 kg)	210 lb (95 kg)
160 lb (73 kg)	80 lb (36 kg)	160 lb (73 kg)	255 lb (116 kg)
190 lb (86 kg)	95 lb (43 kg)	190 lb (86 kg)	305 lb (138 kg)
220 lb (100 kg)	110 lb (50 kg)	220 lb (100 kg)	350 lb (159 kg)
250 lb (113 kg)	125 lb (57 kg)	250 lb (113 kg)	400 lb (181 kg)

Your build matters here more than on most lifts. Long arms and a short torso make the deadlift easier; the reverse makes it harder. Compare yourself with your own numbers from last month.

Variations and alternatives

• Romanian deadlift: starts from the top and stays in the hinge, so it's a hamstring builder more than a strength test. A great second hinge in the week.
• Sumo deadlift: a wide stance puts more work on your quads and inner thighs and less on your lower back. Worth trying if conventional pulls never feel right.
• Rack pull: pulls from pins at about knee height to work the lockout and let you handle heavier weight.
• Trap bar deadlift: you stand inside the bar, so it sits in line with your body. If your gym has one, it's the easiest way for a beginner to learn to pull heavy from the floor.
• Hip thrust: if your back needs a break, this trains the hip drive with almost no load on your spine.

Deadlift questions

Is deadlifting bad for your back?

Not when the load suits your level. A deadlift strengthens the muscles that hold your back in position, and a lot of people with old back niggles find they feel better once they build up to it gradually. Muscle fatigue in your lower back and hamstrings the next day is normal. Sharp pain, or pain that runs down a leg, isn't: stop, and if it's still there after a week of lighter training, get it looked at.

Which grip should I use?

Double overhand (both palms facing you) until your grip gives out, then either a mixed grip (one palm facing away) or a hook grip. If you go mixed, keep the underhand arm straight, as bending it at a heavy weight puts your biceps at risk. Straps are fine for high-rep or back-focused sets, but train your grip too.

Should I reset between reps or touch and go?

Resetting every rep on the floor is the better default because it makes you practice the setup each time. Touch and go is fine once your form is consistent, as long as the plates touch and you don't bounce them.

Why do I feel it mostly in my lower back?

Usually your hips are starting too high, or the bar is drifting forward. Check the setup order and film a set from the side. It should feel like hard work spread across your hamstrings, glutes and back, not like your back is lifting the bar alone.