There’s a good chance you’ve heard how great the deadlift is for building muscle more times than you care to recall.
But, despite the many benefits, not many individuals are actually doing the deadlift. And of those that are, there aren’t many doing it correctly.
With that in mind, listed below are the 3 most commonly encountered deadlift form faults that I see at the gym and what to do to correct them.
Blunder 1: Rounding the lower back.
Rounding the lower back leaves your back in an incredibly vulnerable position. It can result in an injury, but not always right away.
It’s possible you’ll have a friend whose back “just went” when they during a straightforward everyday activity – picking up a pencil from the floor or putting a bag into the car.
Quite a few injuries to your lower back are caused by damage that’s accrued over time. And the apparently innocent event that appeared to result in the injury was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.
You will see some debate concerning the benefits and drawbacks of rounding your back while deadlifting.
If, by way of example, you’re training for a thing that will involve lifting with a rounded back (for example lifting the Atlas stones in a strongman competitition) then some of your workout time should be spent using a rounded back in order get you ready for the contest. But it’s not really a technique I would recommend for most of us.
Stand alongside a mirror sideways on without your top on. You’ll see that your spine features a number of curves. It’s vital that you maintain this natural curve whenever you deadlift.
To paraphrase, your back needs to be arched. It might not be a perfect arch, but it really definitely shouldn’t be rounded either.
The right way to do this is usually to keep your chest high, pull your shoulders back and look ahead rather than up or down.
Blunder 2: Raising the barbell by bringing up the hips ahead of the chest.
If your knees start to straighten up before the bar rises higher than them, the exercise turns into a stiff-legged deadlift as opposed to a standard deadlift.
Make sure the bar stays in close proximity to the shins, focus on trying to keep the weight back on the heels (rather than your toes) and think about dragging the weight towards you on the way up.
Don’t allow the bar to come out in front of you. It should remain near to your body, touching your thighs as you reach the top of the movement.
Taking off your footwear and deadlifting in your socks or some weightlifting shoes may also be beneficial.
Why does this help?
The fact that there’s no padding in the sole means that the feet are a little nearer the ground. This lessens the distance the bar needs to be pulled, together with making it easier to maintain the appropriate back position.
Given that the heel isn’t compressible, you’ll find it offers you a stable position from which to stand up. This is usually a lot better than squatting in trainers with mushy heels.
Blunder 3: Bouncing the bar off the floor in between each repetition.
The barbell should come to a complete pause between each rep.
Using a bit of a bounce could work if you’re sufficiently strong to maintain the correct posture. However, most individuals I notice utilizing the “touch and go” technique find themselves rounding their back.
Let the bar come to a complete pause in between each and every repetition. When the bar is on the ground, take a second to correct your body posture and run through a short mental check-list – chest up, upper back taut and eyes focused ahead – prior to lifting it up again.