Conventional Deadlift
Lower BackBarbellAdvanced
A test of full body strength. Pick heavy things up, put them down, repeat.
Muscle worked
Lower Back, Glutes, Hamstrings
Equipment
Barbell
Difficulty
Advanced
Time per set
30-45s
How to perform
Step by step, every rep
01
Set up over the bar
Walk up so the bar is over your mid foot, about an inch from your shins. Feet hip width apart. Don't move the bar to you. You move to the bar.
02
Grip and brace
Bend at the hips, push your knees forward until your shins touch the bar. Grip just outside your knees. Fill your belly with air and pull your chest tall.
03
Pull the slack
Before you lift, pull up on the bar just enough to hear a click. This takes the slack out of the bar and your body. Now you're tight.
04
Push the floor away
Drive your legs through the floor. Keep the bar dragging up your shins. Do not let your hips shoot up before your chest does.
05
Lock it out
Stand tall, squeeze your glutes at the top. Don't lean back, don't shrug. Just stand.
06
Return with control
Push your hips back first, then bend the knees once the bar clears them. Reset your setup every single rep. No bouncing.
Common mistakes
Avoid these
✕
Rounding your lower back
Loads the spine instead of the legs and back working together. The single biggest cause of deadlift injuries. Fix: Drop the weight until you can keep a flat back start to finish. Ego comes last here.
✕
Hips shooting up first
Turns the deadlift into an awkward stiff leg pull and your back takes all the load. Fix: Think chest and hips rise together. Push the floor with your legs, don't just lift with your back.
✕
Bar drifting away from the body
Puts enormous strain on your lower back and kills leverage. Fix: Keep the bar in contact with your legs the whole way. Yes, it will scrape your shins a bit. Wear long socks.
✕
Jerking the bar off the floor
Skipping the slack pull means your body isn't tight before the load moves, which risks the back. Fix: Pull the slack first. Feel the tension. Then drive.
✕
Hyperextending at the top
Leaning back adds zero to the lift and stresses the lumbar discs. Fix: Stand tall, squeeze glutes, stop. Not leaned, just stood.
Progressions
Scale it up or down
Make it easier
- Trap bar deadlift: more forgiving on the lower back
- Romanian deadlift from the hip for a shorter range
- Dumbbell deadlift to learn the pattern
Make it harder
- Deficit deadlift: stand on a 2 inch plate for extra range
- Pause deadlift: hold the bar 2 inches off the floor for 2 seconds
- Heavy singles at 85 to 90 percent for raw strength
How to program it
Sets, reps, rest
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build Strength | 3-5 | 1-5 | 2-4 min | Heavy. This is a strength lift first. |
| Build Muscle | 3-4 | 5-8 | 2-3 min | Hard but clean. No grinders with rounded backs. |
| Build Endurance | 2-3 | 8-12 | 90s | Moderate. Reset every rep, no touch and go. |
Want this exercise programmed into a full plan?
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