Deadlifts

Primary Muscles Worked:	Description:
Erector Spinae	The muscles that move and support the spine.
Quadriceps	Frontal thighs muscles that extend the knee.
Gluteus Maximus	The largest muscle of the rear end.
Secondary Muscles Worked:	Description:
Hamstrings	The muscles on the back of the thighs.
Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius	Muscles of the back and neck.
Calves	The lower leg muscles.

How To Do It

Tricks

Common Errors

Variations

The Deadlift is a powerful but rarely utilized exercise that should be a part of every serious trainers routine. It uses more active muscle mass than any other exercise, including squats. The focus of the Deadlift, however, is the back. The Deadlift is extremely useful for building muscle mass and total body strength because of the great amount of muscle mass it uses.

Step up to a loaded barbell. Place your feet slightly less than shoulder-width apart and crouch down with the bar touching your shins.
Grasp the bar with either a palms-down grip or a mixed grip (one hand palm-up, the other palm down) just outside your legs.
At this point, your legs should be bent at 90 degrees or less, your back should be straight (do not hunch over), your head should be vertical and your eyes should be looking straight or slightly up.

Begin the movement by straightening your legs (standing up).
As the bar clears your knees, straighten your back until you are standing vertical with the weight.
You should essentially be dragging the bar up your shins and legs in order to keep the weight as close to your body as possible.
This minimizes torque on your lower back.
Lower the weight slowly and repeat.

Here are a few tips to remember as you are deadlifting.

Squeeze the bar off the floor - don't snatch at it.
Keep looking straight forward as you lift. It is not necessary to look way up nor is it a good idea to look down.
Consciously lead with your head and shoulders to maintain a flat back.
Keep off your toes.

1. Falling backwards

Just before you start to lift the barbell, let your center of gravity fall backwards as though you were going to fall over backwards.

As you fall backwards, start to lift.
The momentum of your mass moving backwards will help get the weight started.
Sit your butt down as far as you can as you are doing this.

2. Parital lockouts

Using a power rack, set the pins so that they are just above knee level. Do partial deadlift lockouts to improve lockout power or just to use more weight, which can also help work on your grip.

3. The mixed grip

The mixed grip (one hand facing forward, one hand facing back) is better for a stronger grip as it prevents the bar from rolling.

Alternate which hand grips which way to prevent strength and muscle imbalances.
Be sure you grip evenly if you do use a mixed grip.
If you find the weight swinging to one side excessively, adjust your grip spacing accordingly.
The side it is rotating to is usually closer to the center of the bar though this could also depend on which way you are gripping.
The bar usually has a tendency to rotate towards the hand that has a pronated grip (palms back).

4. Continuous style

Try doing deadlifts continuous style.

Do not allow the weight to touch the floor in between reps.
This is difficult but is a very effective technique.
It is also useful in gyms that will throw you out for dropping weights heavily on the floor.
The most stressful part of the lift is when you reverse the direction of the barbell and lift it back up again. This is also the most vulnerable position for your lower back. Use perfect form for this technique.

5. Increasing the range of motion

In order to improve power off the start, deadlift off a block. Another way is to train with smaller plates, e.g. instead of always using 45's, use 35's or even 25's.

6. Starting slowly

If you are just starting out with the deadlift and need to use smaller plates, try setting the bar in the rack or on the bench so you don't have to lean over excessively.

7. Keeping the bar close to your shins

If you have trouble keeping the bar close to your shins, stretch out your calves thoroughly as poor calf flexibility may cause this.

8. Using cable handles

If you find your grip slipping if you use a pronated grip and you don't wish to use an over-under grip because of the torque on the body, try using two single cable handles.

Slide them onto the bar before you put the weight on.
This will allow you to use a neutral grip.
Put padding under the handles so they don't slide on the bar and make very sure they are even.

9. Wear pants or long socks

Wear pants or pull your socks up so you don't scrape up your shins while lifting. It is also a good idea to wear solid-soled shoes or boots while you are deadlifting. This prevents your force off the ground from being dissipated in soft shoe soles.

1. Allowing the back to round over

Always try to keep an arch in your lower back. It is natural for a little rounding to occur after the bar has cleared your knees but if you do the entire exercise with a rounded back, you are going to get hurt.

2. Lifting unevenly

If one side of the bar comes up higher or if the bar starts rotating as you are lifting, then you are lifting unevenly. To remedy this, make sure your grip is even on the bar. Using a mixed grip can cause rotation as you lift so be sure to pull up evenly.

3. Leaning back at the top

Do not lean back at the top of the movement. This could relax the erector spinae and make the spine take the whole load, leading to injury. Leaning back at the top does not constitute a full range of motion.

4. Holding your breath

Don't hold your breath during the movement as that can increase blood pressure to dangerous levels.

5. Dropping the weight

Don't forget the negative portion of this movement. Don't just drop the weight. Lower it slowly. The negative is an extremely valuable part of the deadlift.

1. Sumo Style

The feet are placed wide (just inside the plates on either side) with the toes pointing somewhat out.

The grip is inside shoulder-width (about 1 foot or less between hands).
The execution is the same as in conventional deadlifts.
This style reduces the amount of leaning over and is a good alternative if you just can't seem to do conventional style properly due to biomechanical difficulties.
Most people can use more weight with this version due to the more upright posture.