The deadlift lifts the bar off the floor with your legs and back: glutes, hamstrings, spinal erectors, traps and grip.
1Starting position2End position
Setup
Stand with the bar over mid-foot, feet hip-width. Hinge down and grip just outside your legs. Drop your hips until your shins touch the bar, back flat, shoulders slightly ahead of the bar. Breathe in, brace your abs and lats, pull the slack out of the bar — then pull.
Execution
Stand in front of the bar, bend your knees, hinge forward and take it with a shoulder-width grip, back straight — starting position.
Drive through your legs and straighten your torso at the same time, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.
Lower it back down, bending your knees and hinging forward with a straight back.
Common mistakes
Back rounds as the bar breaks the floor — take the slack out and lock your lats before it leaves the ground.
Bar drifts away from your legs — drag it up your shins and thighs, the bar path is a vertical line over mid-foot.
Hips shoot up first — legs and back straighten together, not one after the other.
Leaning back at lockout — standing tall is enough, no need to hyperextend.
