How to Deadlift: The Way I Do It

The big three lifts have always been especially important to me: the squat, bench press and deadlift. There’s something about them that just makes you feel powerful. You can complicate strength training as much as you want, but putting a load of weight on a bar and moving it will always be satisfying to me.

And the deadlift might be the simplest of the lot. You pick a loaded bar up off the floor, then you put it back down. That’s basically it. For the slower hip-hinge variation I use to target my hamstrings, see how I perform Romanian deadlifts.

Simple, right?

Except I’ve seen so many different variations of the deadlift, and so many different ways of teaching one simple movement, that people can make it sound far more complicated than it needs to be. So in this one I’m not going to pretend my way is the only way to deadlift. I’m just going to explain exactly how I do it, as simply as I can.

I’m sure there will be a thousand people saying your back needs to be at this exact angle, your hips need to be here, your feet need to be there, use more legs, use more back, don’t use your back and so on. And plenty of them will probably have a point.

But one thing I do know is that the position I deadlift from might not be right for a seven-foot giant, just as it probably wouldn’t be right for somebody half my height. We aren’t all built the same. Limb lengths matter, proportions matter, and eventually you have to find the position that works for your body.

So imagine you’re stood next to me at the bar. This is how I’d talk you through my setup.

How I Set Up for the Deadlift

First thing: load the bar with something comfortable. If you’re learning the movement, this isn’t the time to see how much weight you can rip off the floor. Get used to the setup and the movement first.

I stand with my feet underneath the bar. The easiest way I can explain where I put it is to imagine the bar running roughly through the middle of your shoelaces. That’s my starting point.

From there I lean over and grab the bar. At this point I’m not even in my final pulling position yet. My legs are still fairly straight, my hips are high and my back isn’t properly set. I’ve basically just got hold of the thing.

Foot position is one of those things people can argue about forever. Some people like wider, some people like narrow. I use the stance that feels natural to me. With my grip, I use the point where the ridges — the knurling — start on the bar as a rough reference for where my hands go.

So if you were stood next to me, I’d basically be saying: get your feet where they feel strong, get the bar over the middle of the foot, grab it, and now we’ll actually get you into the pulling position.

Now Drop Your Hips and Build the Runway

Once I’ve got hold of the bar, I drop my hips into position.

This is probably the easiest way I’ve found to explain what I’m trying to create: imagine your back is a runway.

I’m not trying to make my torso completely vertical like I’m sitting at the bottom of a squat. I’m trying to create an uphill, sloping runway from my hips through my back. That’s genuinely the best way I can describe how it feels to me.

For my body, my hips settle above my knees. Once they’re there, I lift my chest, set my upper body and get my lats tight. My arms stay straight and my shins are basically touching the bar.

At that point I want everything to feel loaded and ready. I don’t want the bar floating out in front of me and I don’t want parts of my body feeling loose. I want the bar close and I want tension through the whole setup before I’ve even started pulling.

If I had to stop you there and quickly check the position, this is what I’d look for:

• Bar close to the shins
• Arms straight
• Hips set above the knees
• Chest up
• Back and lats tight
• Everything feeling loaded rather than loose

That’s the runway position.

Then Brace Properly

Once the setup feels right, I brace.

And when I say brace, I don’t mean just vaguely tense your abs. I mean make your entire midsection feel solid. Abs, sides, lower torso — everything. I’m trying to turn my middle from something soft and movable into something rigid enough to transfer force through.

This is the point where, if you were stood next to me, I’d probably just say: make yourself solid before you pull.

I don’t want the bar moving first and then my body trying to catch up with it. I want tension already there before the plates leave the floor.

How I Start the Deadlift: Drive the Floor Away

Once I’m set and braced, I start the pull.

The first part of my deadlift feels predominantly like legs. I’m not thinking about immediately yanking the bar upwards with my back. I’m thinking about driving through the floor and getting the bar moving while keeping everything else tight.

My arms stay straight and the bar stays close. I drive it up until it reaches roughly knee height.

That’s the first half.

If I was coaching you through it right there, the cues would be pretty simple:

• Stay tight
• Keep your arms straight
• Keep the bar close
• Drive through the floor

I don’t need twenty different technical thoughts going through my head while I’m trying to pull a heavy bar. I want a setup that feels repeatable and a few cues I actually understand.

Then Comes My Most Technical Cue: Shag the Bar

Once the bar gets above the knees, the movement changes.

I’ve heard the lockout explained in about 500 different technical ways. My explanation is considerably less sophisticated.

Shag the bar.

Seriously. That’s probably the easiest way I can explain it.

Once the bar has cleared your knees, keep your arms straight, keep everything tight and push your arse forward towards the bar. You’re bringing the hips through and standing tall.

That hip movement naturally brings your torso upright with it. I’m not trying to violently lean backwards at the top or throw my shoulders behind me. I’m just bringing the hips through until I’m standing upright with the bar.

That’s the lockout.

Then reverse the movement and put the thing back on the floor.

Your Deadlift Might Not Look Like Mine

This is the bit I think gets lost sometimes when people talk about lifting technique. There are mechanical differences between people, and those differences change how a deadlift looks.

I’m about 5'8", and I’ve found the position that works for my body. Somebody else might have much longer femurs. Someone could have a long torso and short arms. Somebody else might have ridiculously long arms and make deadlifting look like they only have to move the bar six inches.

That all changes where the hips naturally sit and what stance feels strongest.

Some lifters feel best with their feet relatively close together. Others prefer a wider conventional stance. Then you’ve got sumo deadlifters taking a very wide stance and gripping the bar inside their legs.

That doesn’t mean technique doesn’t matter. It absolutely does. It just means copying somebody else’s body position down to the centimetre doesn’t make much sense if you don’t have their body.

For me, the fundamentals I keep coming back to are simple: keep the bar close, get tight before you pull, brace, drive through the floor, keep the arms straight, then bring the hips through and stand up.

After that, spend enough time actually deadlifting to work out where your body feels strongest.

The Deadlift Really Is That Simple

Underneath all the arguments about angles, limb lengths, conventional versus sumo and exactly where your hips should sit, we’re still trying to achieve the same basic thing.

There’s a heavy bar sitting on the floor. Pick it up, put it back down, and once you can do that properly, eventually put some more weight on it.

That last bit — gradually adding weight as you get stronger — is basically progressive overload in its simplest form.

That’s deadlifting.

Putting It Into Practice: My 250 kg Deadlift

This is what those principles look like when I apply them under a genuinely heavy load. A maximum-effort pull is not the best place to learn technique, so use the earlier sections of this guide for the setup and cues; this clip is here to show how my deadlift looks when the weight reaches 250 kg.