I love the deadlift.
While I have transitioned from powerlifting to focusing more on hypertrophy, I still deadlift heavily. Why; Because I like it.
The deadlift is such a rewarding lift.
Even though I’ve been serious about deadlifting for nearly ten years, there are still some cues that go through my mind as I perform this exercise.
Below, I share my five favorite slogans that I still use today. Some use evocative metaphors that make them easy to remember, and all are very helpful in ensuring you deadlift correctly.
If you’re looking for an in-depth guide to the deadlift, check out this comprehensive article.
To put your back on the right: Place your loot hole on the wall behind you. Squeeze oranges into your armpits
To keep your back strong and safe during a heavy deadlift, you want to maintain back extension during your setup and execution. When you deadlift with a rounded back, you increase your chances of injury.
Setting up and keeping your back in extension can be difficult when bending over to grab a barbell. It’s not something that comes naturally. I got two clues from Barbell Logic owner Matt Reynolds for helping me get my back into expansion over the years: point Your loot hole in the wall behind you. squeeze oranges into your armpits.
“Turn your booty hole to the wall” reminds me of keeping my hips high. When you turn your booty hole to the wall while you’re bent over and gripping the bar, it will naturally put your lower back into extension.
When Matt coached my then 10-year-old son Gus on how to deadlift, he played with the 10-year-old boy’s mindset and told him, “Imagine you’re going to have diarrhea. Turn your butt so the diarrhea sprays all over the wall behind you.”
gross; Yes.
But it worked. Thanks to this cue, Gus knows how to stretch his lower back.
“Stack oranges in your armpits” is a motto that reminds me to keep my chest up during the set up and lift. I just imagine that I have an orange in each armpit and have to keep it there during the lift. For some strange reason, this cue helps me lift my chest, which helps maintain back extension during the deadlift. “Chest up” never worked for me, but “press oranges into your armpits”.
If you feel uncomfortable, you’ll know your back is properly positioned on the extension. You should feel tight in your lower back.
To prevent knee cavitation: Push your knees up to your elbows
If your knees tend to give out during the deadlift, then as you prepare, tell yourself, “Bring your knees up to your elbows.”
In addition to preventing knees, pushing your knees out to touch your elbows will put your legs in external rotation, allowing you to bring your adductors into the deadlift. The deadlift simply feels better when you push your knees out.
To prevent jerking: Pull Slack out of the bar
One of the problems I’ve had over the years with the deadlift is that I’ll work really hard to get into a good set-up, only to let that set-up relax right before I start pulling the bar off the ground.
To combat this deadlift accident, I tell myself, “Tighten the slack from the bar.”
Pressing slack from the bar means pulling the bar by extending your back and straightening your arms and wrists. When you squeeze the slack from the bar, the plates don’t leave the ground, but the bar should feel heavy in your hands. You may even see the rod bend a little as you press the slack out of it.
Taking the slack out of the rod helps me maintain the correct setup instead of letting things slack right before the lift.
To keep your arms straight: Use your hands as tow straps
A common mistake I see people make when deadlifting is that they will try to actively pull the bar with their arms. You’re not pulling the bar with your arms, in the sense of bending your elbows and pulling like you’re on a rowing machine or doing a pull-up. Any bend in your arms will be pulled straight as soon as you try to lift the bar. In the process, some of the work of lifting the bar will be lost to that straightener that could have contributed better to the lift. The bent arms will also cause you to change position slightly as you start the pull.
To keep your arms straight throughout the lift, imagine that they are pulling straps. As it sets up, take most of the weight of the bar in your hands with your arms straight, creating tension on the bar. With the bar attached to the static arm ‘straps’, raise the bar by lifting your upper body.
To start Deadlift Right: Push the Earth away with your feet
While the deadlift is considered a “pull” exercise, a helpful clue to doing the deadlift correctly is to think of it as a push as well. When I’m about to pull the bar off the ground, I think, “Push the earth away with your feet.” A similar slogan is “Foot press the earth with your feet.”
Starting the deadlift with a leg push will extend the knees, giving you some help from your quads. Starting your deadlift with a push motion will also ensure that your bar maintains a straight up and down path, making for a more efficient lift.
I always feel stronger when I think of my lifting as a push instead of a pull. Try it. Maybe you do too.
