Tips for a Better Deadlift

Pull more weight and strengthen your back with these valuable deadlift coaching cues.

During my barbell deadlifts, I tuck my chin at the lockout. I actually want to keep my head in a more “neutral” position and have it follow the angle of my torso.  As your torso comes up, so should your head. I typically say, “take your head with you". This means when I hit the lockout, I should be looking straight ahead.

At the start, you’ll want to remember to pull your chest through your arms. This will help keep you in a good position at the start, which will give you the best potential for staying in a good position throughout the entire lift.

After the bar passes your knees, the only thing you should be thinking is – drive your hips forward with a powerful glute contraction – to finish the lockout. You don’t have to over pull the finish; just drive the hips forward until your body is in a straight line. Think to yourself, shortest distance between two points.

Taking the slack out of the bar is huge for setting your full body tension and pulling yourself down to the starting position. If there is 225 lbs on the bar, you should be pulling up on the bar with 224 lbs of force before the weight even moves. There has to be that much tension on the bar. 

This cue goes hand-in-hand with taking the slack out of the bar. Both are trying to set your back, get more tension, and get you into the best starting position possible. Pulling up on the bar sets the lats and subsequently creates a tighter core.

Once you are locked into your starting position and have the greatest amount of tension possible, drive the floor away as if you're doing a leg press. This is an amazing coaching cue and will most times eliminate the athlete’s hips from shooting up at the start of their first pull.


This article originally appeared on : muscleandfitness.com