How to do the perfect deadlift
So you want to learn how to do the perfect deadlift? Weightlifting is, in its purest form, nothing short of picking up an object and putting it back down. It seems so simple that it should be easy to do without thought or knowledge, right? WRONG! One of the most common mistakes in weightlifting is assuming you can just walk up to any set of weights and just haul them up, put them down, and not hurt yourself in the process. Improper posture, grip, and method of lifting have led to more injuries than you might imagine. It’s reported that nearly 460,000 people are injured each year in gym related incidents. So how do we avoid the pain and work on the gain when deadlifting? By making sure you have all the knowledge you need to lift to your heart’s content in the proper manner! So lets get into the guts of how to do the perfect deadlift!
How It’s Done
So you’re ready to try your first, or next, deadlift and want to make sure you’re doing it properly. There are a few easy steps that you can follow in order to make sure you are getting the most bang for your lifting buck and won’t throw out your back in the process. Here’s how to do the perfect deadlift:
- Place your feet shoulder width apart before the bar.
- Place your thumbs against the outer part of your thigh and run them down until they touch the bar, this is your ideal position to grip the bar.
- Choose your grip: Double overhand or mixed. Mixed is one hand grasping over, one under, which allows you to lift more weight. Make sure you mix up which hand is under and over so you don’t imbalance your muscle gains!
- Grasp the bar as firm as you can before you start to lift and make sure your head stays in a neutral position during the entire lift. This is done by focusing on a spot two to three meters away on the floor and keeping your chin up.
- Begin lifting the bar by driving your hips forward and keeping a flat back. Keep your chest up to ensure a strong back during the lift.
- Keep your shoulders angled in front of your hands until you get to waist height with the bar before they move back.
- Once you have lifted the bar fully, lower it in the same manner as lifted. Make sure you do not drop the bar, you won’t get your full workout this way and risk dropping it on your feet! With heavier weights where you are pushing yourself just to see how much you can lift, dropping the weights is often warranted instead of hurting yourself trying to lower them.
Now you’ve Done the Perfect Lift!
You’ve got the stance, braced yourself, lifted and dropped those weights and you are feeling ALIVE! Repeating this exercise and practicing that perfect posture and lifting will ensure you can keep building up to more weight and max out with enough weights on your bar to make you the envy of the gym. But learning how to do the perfect deadlift is just the beginning. If you truly want to push yourself to the next level and ensure you are getting the gains you deserve then you’ll want to head to SWOLE AF and check out our pre-workout and muscle building supplements to ensure you are prepared to not only get fit during your next gym visit, but that you get SWOLE!
