The deadlift: proper technique, common mistakes, and who it suits

The deadlift is one of the few lifts that loads your back, hips, legs and grip in a single movement, which is why the numbers climb faster on it than on almost anything else. It is also the fastest lift to ruin: a small setup error shows up immediately in your lower back. What follows is the technique step by step, the mistakes you see most often in any gym, and how to pick the variation that fits your build.

What actually happens in the lift

The bar goes up because your hips and knees extend, not because your back straightens. The hamstrings and glutes do most of the work, the spinal erectors hold position isometrically (they do not shorten, they resist bending), and the lats keep the bar against your body. The bar path is close to a straight line over mid-foot. If video shows a 5 to 10 cm arc forward, you are losing both weight on the bar and back health.

Setup step by step

1. Feet about hip width, roughly 20 to 25 cm between heels, toes turned out 10 to 15 degrees.
2. Bar over mid-foot, about 2 to 3 cm from your shins. If it is not there, move your feet, not the bar.
3. Hinge at the hips and grip just outside your knees, hands about 55 to 60 cm apart. Double overhand as long as grip holds; save the mixed grip for sets above 85 percent of max.
4. Bring your shins forward until they nearly touch the bar. Shoulders end up slightly ahead of the bar, not directly over it.
5. Engage the lats, as if trying to bend the bar toward your body, and pull the slack out of your arms and the bar until the plates click quietly.
6. Breathe in to about 70 to 80 percent of capacity into your belly, brace your abs as if bracing for a punch, then push the floor away.
7. Once the bar clears the knees, drive the hips forward to a full lockout. Exhale at the top or on the way down.

The descent takes 1 to 2 seconds: hips travel back first, knees bend only after the bar passes below them.

The most common mistakes

A rounded lower back

Slight upper back rounding is not a disaster; bending through the lumbar spine is. The usual cause is not a weak core but too much weight and a skipped setup. Fix it by taking 10 to 20 percent off the bar and doing 3 to 4 sets of 5 until video shows the same back angle from floor to lockout.

The bar drifting away

If the bar travels around your knees instead of along them, the lever arm gets longer and your back pays the difference. Lat tension before the pull helps, along with the deliberate feel of dragging the bar up your shins. Long socks are practical, not vanity.

Hips too low

A deadlift is not a squat with a bar in your hands. Start with the hips too low and your knees push the bar forward, so the first 10 cm are wasted. Hips should be higher than your knees and lower than your shoulders.

Jerking off the floor

Yanking the bar with loose arms creates a spike of several hundred newtons and is the usual reason biceps tear with a mixed grip. Tension first, always.

Hyperextending at the top

Throwing the shoulders back and pushing the pelvis forward adds nothing but lumbar compression. Standing up is standing up: hips and knees locked, ribs down.

Bouncing off the floor

Reps that rebound off the plates give a false sense of strength. For technique work, pause half a second on the floor between every rep.

A set ends when form breaks, not when motivation runs out. One bad rep costs more than five good ones give.

Variations and who they suit

• Conventional from the floor — a good default for average proportions and normal hip mobility.
• Romanian deadlift — starts at the top, lowers to mid-shin, knees bent about 15 degrees. The best choice if conventional bothers your back or if hamstrings are the target. Use 60 to 70 percent of your conventional weight.
• Sumo — wider stance, more upright torso, shorter bar path. Suits longer torsos with shorter arms, and anyone who tolerates lumbar flexion poorly.
• Block pulls (5 to 10 cm) — for tall lifters, long legs, and limited ankle or hip mobility.
• Trap bar — load stays in line with the body and lumbar demand is lowest. A sensible entry version for the first 2 to 3 months.

Sets, reps and frequency

• Once or twice per week, with at least 72 hours between heavy sessions.
• Strength: 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps at 80 to 87 percent of max.
• Size and technique: 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps at 65 to 75 percent, leaving 2 to 3 reps in reserve.
• Warm-up: 5 to 8 minutes of easy work, then empty 20 kg bar x 8, 50 percent x 5, 70 percent x 3, 85 percent x 1.
• Beginner progression: add 2.5 to 5 kg per week for the first 8 to 12 weeks while form holds, then 2.5 kg every second or third week.

When to see a doctor

Muscle soreness that clears in 2 to 3 days is normal. See a doctor if any of the following shows up:

• Pain radiating down the leg below the knee, with tingling or foot weakness.
• Back pain that does not ease after 7 to 10 days of relative rest and light activity.
• Sharp, stabbing pain during a lift, followed by swelling or bruising.
• A bulge or hardening in the groin that gets worse when you strain, which may be a hernia.
• Dizziness, nausea or fainting under load, especially with high blood pressure.
• Urgent: loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness around the groin.

If you have a diagnosed disc herniation, uncontrolled blood pressure, recent abdominal surgery, or you are pregnant, clear the loading with a doctor or physiotherapist before you step up to the bar at all.

The short version

• Bar over mid-foot, 2 to 3 cm from the shins, shoulders slightly ahead of the bar.
• Take the slack out and set the lats before you pull; skip that and every other mistake becomes likely.
• Lumbar rounding, a forward bar arc and hips set too low explain most deadlift-related pain.
• 1 to 2 sessions per week, 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 10 reps, adding 2.5 kg while technique holds.
• Leg pain, tingling or foot weakness are not things to train through — that is a doctor visit.