Whether you are a Division I college athlete or an Average Joe or Jane, you should be performing some form of deadlifting within your ADLs (activities of daily living).

It doesn’t matter if you have access to a barbell and bumper plates or a laundry basket full of your teenage son/daughter’s dirty clothes, there is always a way to mimic the movements necessary to complete a deadlift.

Deadlift Setup

When it comes to deadlifting, or pulling a weight/load from the ground, it is very important to ensure that you have a solid foundation. Much like building a house, you wouldn’t start with measurements and assembly of the roof right of the bat. Instead, you would establish a level surface and build from the ground up. The same applies in the deadlift.

Everyone may be slightly different in their set up due differences in anthropometrics, but there are a few constants:

Feet are roughly shoulder width apart
Toes pointed forward or slightly out
Stable base from toes up through the knees is priority number #1

Understanding the Hinge

After you have established the foundation you can begin to build the rest of your deadlift house, so to speak. The next important piece is to make sure we have a good understanding of the hinge pattern. When training athletes or general population clients, this is the most important movement pattern to increase speed, power and low back health. The primary muscles involved are the glutes, hamstrings and quadratus lumborum. Practice and warm up this movement by doing exercises such as the Romanian Deadlift (RDL)or the banded Good Morning. Exercises such as these help “grove” or “pattern” the movement.

Mitigating Low Back Pain

Protecting the spine is an absolute must when it comes to deadlifting. The positioning of the spine is very important for a successful lift, but also in ensuring your own safety. I will touch on a few lifting queues later that will help you with this. Your upper back should avoid any “rounding”, during the set up. This can be avoided by building up the strength in our upper back, but also simply by keeping a big chest and rolling your shoulders back ever so slightly.

The spine has a concave vs convex relationship. With your low back, this is actually the opposite curve from your upper back, so you want to avoid any extra arching in this area. If this is occurring for you in your set up think about tucking your “tail” under your buttocks.

Bracing for Spinal Stability

The last tip for protecting the spine deals with breathing. Before you attempt to lift the weight from the floor you should imagine breathing in, but doing so like you are attempting to blow up a small balloon behind your belly button. When you have inhaled the air into your belly, picture the reaction you would have if someone tried to punch you in that balloon. Did you brace for this punch? If so, that is the tension you need to attempt to maintain throughout the lift.

Josh’s Coaching Tips

Visualize trying to block someone from tickling your armpit from behind you, this will help you keep a big chest and tighten your lats.
Keep your big toe, pinky toe, and heel driving into the ground at all times.
Think about pulling yourself into the ground. Drive your knees out away from your midline when lifting the weight.
Wrap your thumb around the bar throughout the entire lift.
Maintain the tension you created before you pulled throughout the entire movement.

Why Deadlifting is for Everyone

Deadlifting is an important exercise for people of all ages, sizes, ability and physical activity levels. It can provide the power and strength development needed for athletic performance. It can assist in improving balance and fall prevention in elderly individuals. It is a great, whole body exercise that can help get you back into your pre-quarantine shape!

Another great thing about deadlifting is there is always something lying around the house, office, garage, or gym that can be substituted for a weight. And the deadlift has many ways to adapt for all levels of fitness.

Happy Lifting!

Building the Deadlift for Sport & Life