Powerlifting Basics: The Powerlifting Deadlift

Your heavy squat gets you into the meet, your bench press pads your total. Finishing your powerlifting competition with a strong deadlift may be what it takes guarantee your position on the medal stand. There is no equipment for the deadlift, no racks, and no benches. A loaded barbell simply lies on the platform challenging you. That weight lying in the center of the platform, however, can be more intimidating than the deeply bowed bar biting into your shoulders as you open your meet with a heavy squat. Don’t play around with the deadlift. Set up quickly and pull explosively.

In the gym, your deadlift training is your most effective back exercise. In the meet, the deadlift puts an exclamation point on your powerlifting competition. The deadlift form may seem simple, but for me it has been one of the most difficult exercise techniques to perfect. As with other powerlifting lifts, the goal is different than with other forms of strength training or body building. The focus is not on working the muscle as hard as you can during every repetition of every set. Your goal is to lift the most weight you can with as little effort possible. The key is to complete your lift as efficiently as possible. You are likely to see significant gains in the amount of weight you can lift simply by improving your lifting technique, even if your strength remains constant. I’d like to summarize the deadlift technique into three key points:

• Set up quickly, getting stable hand and foot placement
• Get “under the bar”, contracting your glutes and hamstrings as you do
• Pull the barbell from the floor with your legs, locking it out with your hips and back

For a video demonstration of the powerlifting deadlift, I’ve included links at the end of this article illustrating both conventional and sumo styles.

The Lift

You should train just as you will compete from your first warm-up set to your last working set. Treat each repetition of every set as if it were a competition lift. Keep your deadlift form correct and pause briefly between each rep. This will train your mind and your body to complete lifts that will get three white lights from the judges in competition. There is only one competition command in the deadlift, the “down” command after you lock out indicating you can lower the weight to the platform. I have interjected this command into the lifting sequence described below.

There are two common styles of deadlifts: Conventional and Sumo

• Conventional Deadlift: When performing the conventional deadlift, start with your feet placed inside shoulder width and your grip is just outside your legs. With the conventional style since the bar has to come around your knees, you typically will not get as much initial leg drive as with the sumo style, and will use your lower back more extensively.
• Sumo Deadlift: When performing the sumo deadlift, place your feet wide with your grip inside your legs. With a very wide stance, the range of motion of the deadlift is shorter, and since you are not pulling the bar around your knees you are able get deeper into the setup. This allows you to use much more leg drive to break the bar free of the floor. Sumo deadlifts will also tax your hips more than the conventional deadlift. I have found that with the sumo deadlift, I leave much less skin from my shins on the barbell!

With the exception of foot and hand placement, lifting technique for sumo and conventional deadlift styles are very similar. You should choose a technique that is comfortable for your, and complements your body style.

Setup

Since you’re not underneath the weight to start the deadlift, you may assume that the setup is not as important as with the squat or bench press. Although you are not supporting the weight feeling it drain your strength during the setup phase, getting an effective setup contributes to your ability to pull explosively from the floor. Every lifter has his or her unique style, but I’d like to address the key points to an effective setup.

• Never use wrist straps when powerlifting. You cannot use them in competition, and using them in the gym will reduce your grip strength. Chalk will aid your grip on the bar, and is allowed in competition. If your gym does not allow you to use chalk, you’re probably in the wrong gym for powerlifting training. However you can get “liquid chalk” which aids your grip and does not create the mess that chalk does. For the best grip, use a standard diameter bar with good knurling.
• Although I wouldn’t recommend using it in the gym (if you plan on training there very long), in competition you can coat your legs with baby powder to reduce the friction between the barbell and your legs. Pay attention to avoid stepping in the baby powder on the floor around the platform, as it has a tendency reduce the friction between your feet and the platform!
• I always make sure there is a damp towel just behind the platform. Wipe any baby powder or chalk from your feet before stepping onto the platform. If there is excessive chalk and baby powder on the platform under the bar, ask to have it cleaned up prior to stepping onto the platform (be aware, your one minute to begin your lift may be running as they clean the platform). If your foot slips, even if you complete the lift you will be red-lighted by the judges.
• For the conventional deadlift, place your feet just inside shoulder width, with your toes pointing forward. For the sumo deadlift, place your feet wide, with our toes pointed outward. As a sumo deadlifter, I place my feet wide, with my shins right at the ring in the knurling. Test your footing to make sure you will not slip once you begin the lift.
• Whether you lift conventional or sumo, your grip should be at shoulder width, with both hands completely on the bar’s knurling. Your arms should hang straight down to the bar. Although some of the best deadlifters use a double overhand grip, by alternating an over-under grip the bar will not be able to roll away from you, and you will have greater success holding it.
• Take a deep breath and hold it before beginning the eccentric movement. Once you’re under the bar, you will have difficulty filling your lungs with air.
• Don’t play around with your deadlift setup. Your goal is to setup as quickly as you can and pull.

Eccentric

The deadlift does not have an eccentric component. During my training sessions for the last two USA Powerlifting national championships, I realized that this was a problem for me. I have found that in the gym my second deadlift repetition is typically stronger than my first. I’ve attributed this to the eccentric motion of returning the bar to the floor after the first rep. I have, therefore, created an eccentric component to my deadlifts.

• Once you have completed your set up, pull the slack out between you and the bar. Pull up slightly on the bar so there is no more give between the barbell and the weights. There should be no bend in your elbows, and you should be tight from your grip on the bar up through your arms into your shoulders.
• Tighten your lats and pull your shoulders back slightly. Keep your back flat.
• Rock back, sinking your hips down until your legs are near parallel with the floor and bringing your head and chest up. As you rock back, concentrate on contracting your glutes, and hamstrings. At this point your body should feel like a spring ready to explode, pulling the barbell from the floor.
• There is no command to start the lift. The head judge will have his hand raised, waiting for you to complete your deadlift.

Concentric

Your entire body should be tight as you finish your eccentric and ready yourself to pull. Pull the weight from the floor to lockout in one smooth motion.

• When you’re ready to begin pulling the weight, your entire body should be tight, your glutes and hamstrings contracted ready to spring. You should have some upward tension on the bar.
• Explode with your legs, driving your heals through the floor. If you have set up good and tight, the pull should be explosive but smooth. You should not have to jerk the bar.
• Keep your head and chest up as the plates break free from the floor. This will help you keep your hips and buttocks down for the initial pull, helping you engage your hamstrings and glutes more effectively.
• Don’t allow your hips to kick back and up without raising the weight. This leaves you to pull the entire weight with your lower back.
• Once the bar clears your knees, thrust your hips forward while straightening your back
• Hold your breath in your chest until the bar clears your knees, then begin to exhale as you lock the bar out
• Lock out the bar. Your knees must be locked out, your body fully erect with your hips foreword and shoulders back.
• Don’t lean back too far. This has a tendency to force your knees to bend, causing you to fail the lockout.
• Don’t allow the bar to rest on your quads at any time during the pull. This is called “hitching” and is one of the most common reasons for a deadlift to be red lighted by the judges.
• Hold the bar locked out until the head judge gives you the “down” command and lowers his hand
• You must remain in control of the bar until it’s placed on the floor. This simply means you need to keep your hands on it until it hits the floor. Dropping the weight after your lift will get red lights from the judges.

Basic Deadlift Training

• Always train as you’ll lift in a competition. Pause briefly between each repetition and go back through your eccentric steps before starting your pull.
• Your back and leg workouts should complement each other
• Because your leg and deadlift workouts work the same muscle groups heavily, it is common practice to alternate weeks deadlifting from the floor, and from the rack. I do this in the squat rack, setting the safety bars just below knee height for weeks I’m deadlifting from the rack.
• Focus on peaking in strength at your competition. Although there are a lot of articles you can find describing complex training routines, mine has been effective yet relatively simple. I’ve stuck with roughly the same program since I began powerlifting.

I begin my training cycle with a conditioning phase. With weight roughly 60% of my last one rep max (1RM) I perform sets of at six to eight repetitions. After the conditioning phase, my core strength building phase consists of sets of four to six repetitions at 70-80% of my max. During the final phase as the competition nears, I’m performing sets at near or just above my 1RM for one or two reps. As the weight on the bar increases, I reduce the number of exercises I perform as well as the number of repetitions.

Each phase lasts at least two, but no longer than four weeks so that my body doesn’t adjust to the training and I continue to make strength gains. As I enter the final phase of training, I drop most supporting exercises, performing only the deadlift the last one or two training sessions before a meet.

• Rest and recuperate before your competition. It’s important that you don’t perform any heavy lifting the week prior to your meet-let your body recover from the abuse of the heavy weights so you go into the meet rested and strong. I typically do not perform any weight lifting activities but do include some very light cardio the week prior to a meet, such as walking (not running) on a treadmill. The light cardio prevents me from feeling sluggish on the day of the competition.

Putting it All Together

The deadlift is a grueling exercise. Powerlifting, however, is as much about technique as brute force. You want to master your technique to allow you to lift the most weight possible using as least effort needed. Incorporating concepts presented here could give you the edge you need to take your deadlift to the next level.

Video demonstration of the conventional and sumo powerlifting deadlift:

• Powerlifting Deadlift – Conventional
• Powerlifting Deadlift – 500lb Sumo

You can find the introduction to this article series, providing an overview to powerlifting at the following link:

• Powerlifting Basics: An Introduction to Powerlifting

About the Author:

For more information about my strength training background and an index of other related articles I’ve written, you can visit the following link.

• Author’s Profile

“Life’s too short to be small!” (original author unknown)