How to Conventional Deadlift without Snapping Your Spine
One of the three powerlifts and considered by many to be one of the best exercises for the entire back side of the body, the deadlift hits nearly everything between the heels and neck. It’s not just for powerlifters, though. Canadian Olympic sprint coach Charlie Francis used it to train his athletes. Even Bruce Lee did deadlifts. If you think lifting heavy will make you slow, ask yourself this: was Bruce Lee slow?
Some people say that deadlifts are dangerous. Any exercise is dangerous if done with poor form. Here, you’ll learn how to do it safely, starting with the set-up. Walk up to the center of the bar and stand with your feet about hip-width apart. To find your ideal stance, do the jump test. Jump up and down in place three times. However wide your feet are after the third jump is your deadlift stance. How close to the bar should you stand? If you look down, the bar should be just in front of the knot in your shoelaces.
Now comes the part where you actually start to do the lift. Hinge at the hips (don’t round your lower back) and grab the bar. You can use a double overhand grip (both hands palm down) or a mixed grip (one palm up, one palm down). Next, push your butt back like you’re going to sit on the toilet. Brace your abs like you’re in muay thai and about to take a big punch. You will keep them braced throughout the lift. The heavier the weight, the harder you brace. Make sure your spine is neutral. This means that it keeps the natural arch it has when you’re standing. Don’t overextend your back like you’re trying to look at the backs of your heels.
Once you’re there, take the slack out of the bar by squeezing your lats (the muscles of your back that look like wings.) To do this, imagine you’re trying to squeeze the juice out of oranges in your armpits. You’ll know you did it because you’ll hear a click caused by the top of the barbell touching the plates. From here, think of stomping the ground away from you. One common mistake is to try to jerk the bar off the ground violently. This is a waste of energy. Imagine you’ve got a tow truck and you’re pulling a car out of a ditch. You wouldn’t just slam the gas to pull it out. You’d slowly push the gas so all the slack goes out of the line and then increase the force. Same with the deadlift. Don’t rush it. It’s more of a muay thai teep than a taekwondo snap kick.
Make sure that your hips and shoulders rise at the same time. Never round your lower back; it must stay neutral. Throughout the lift, your shins should also be perpendicular to the ground. If they go forward, so will the weight and so will you. At best you’ll miss the lift. At worst you’ll end up in the hospital with a herniated disc in your low back. Not fun.
When the bar passes your knees, it’s time to really pull it towards you. Squeeze the oranges even harder. Again, your spine should stay neutral. I’ve said this four times now because it really is that important. Do not round your lower back!* As you’re finishing the lift, squeeze the glutes and stand tall. Congratulations, you’ve reached the top. Now, guide the bar back to the ground. Don’t try and stop it, but don’t let go of it. This is not the time to do a slow lowering.
So now that you know how to do it, you’re probably wondering how many reps, sets, and how much weight should you do? Keep the reps low (1-5), the sets medium (3-5), and the weight heavy enough to be a challenge, but not so heavy you can’t finish with crisp form. You should never miss a lift in training. Don’t throw good form out the window in pursuit of high numbers. It’s important to remember that if you’re a fighter, you’re a fighter. Deadlifting is supposed to help your fighting, not distract you from it. Dan John, who has a talent for keeping things simple but getting great results, says that “the goal is to keep the goal the goal.” Don’t get too worried about your deadlift if your goal is to win in the ring. That said, being strong will help hit harder. So start putting up bigger weights and get ready to get more knock-outs.
*I know that some of you will have seen videos of people like Konstantin Konstantinovs who round their backs in the deadlift. Remember that they have years of experience and they are going for national or world records. Can you lift more with a rounded back? Yes. But these men and women are professional athletes who understand the risks and feel that it’s worth it. Until you reach their level, don’t even think about rounding your back in the deadlift.
