Movement
- Stabilize the abdominal muscles by bracing them. With feet flat at the bar, squat down, bending at the knees, and grasp the bar with overhand or mixed grip. Note that the form for descending to the bar is similar (but not identical) to the squat, with back straight or arched in slightly and not rounded at the shoulders or spine.
- Grasp the bar just outside the line of the knees. (With the Sumo deadlift variant the feet are wide apart but the arms still fall vertically, only now inside the knees.)
- Lift the bar by pushing upward with the legs from the knees. Be careful not to raise the hips first so that the trunk moves forward and the back becomes rounded. Breathe out on exertion.
- Don’t try to haul the bar up with the arms. The arms stay extended under tension while gripping the bar as the legs push up. Think of the legs and shoulders moving upward in unison with the hips the balancing point.
- The bar should almost graze the shins and come to rest around thigh level as you reach full height. Pull the shoulders back as much as possible without bending backward.
- Lower the bar to the floor with a reverse motion ensuring a straight back again. With a light weight you can do repetitions in which you lower the bar to shin or even floor and then straighten again without releasing your grip on the bar. This is not really deadlift repetitions. Better to practice a full lift and lower to the floor and then start again from standing position.
