Deadlift Technique for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Setup

A good deadlift is decided before the bar leaves the floor. The setup puts you in a position where your legs and hips do the work and your back simply stays rigid. Rush the setup and your lower back ends up doing a job it was never meant to do alone.

The Five-Step Setup

Feet: stand with the bar over the middle of your foot, feet about hip-width apart, toes slightly out.
Grip: hinge down and grab the bar just outside your legs, arms straight.
Shins: bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. Do not move the bar toward you.
Chest: lift your chest and squeeze your shoulder blades slightly down, as if protecting your armpits. Your back should be flat, not rounded and not hyper-arched.
Pull the slack out: pull up on the bar just enough to hear it click against the plates, take your breath, brace, then push the floor away.

Push, Do Not Pull

Think of the lift as a leg press with the bar in your hands. Push the floor away until the bar passes your knees, then drive your hips forward to stand tall. Keep the bar in contact with your legs the whole way. A bar that drifts forward becomes a lever against your spine.

Lock Out, Do Not Lean Back

At the top, stand straight with your glutes squeezed. Leaning back past vertical adds nothing and loads the lower back for no benefit. To lower, push your hips back first, let the bar slide down your thighs, then bend your knees once it passes them.

Which Variation to Start With

The conventional deadlift from the floor is not the only option. A trap-bar deadlift puts the load in line with your body and is easier to learn. A Romanian deadlift starts from the top and teaches the hip hinge with lighter weights. Many coaches start beginners with Romanian deadlifts and trap-bar pulls, then add conventional deadlifts once the hinge is automatic.

A rounded back under a heavy bar is the fault to stop immediately. Lower the weight until the position holds on every rep.

How Often and How Heavy

Deadlifts are tiring because so much muscle works at once. Once or twice a week is plenty for most people, usually for three to five sets of three to six reps. Leave one or two good reps in reserve on most sets — grinding out ugly reps on a deadlift teaches the wrong pattern. If you are unsure how hard is hard enough, read about RPE and reps in reserve.