By: Kay Rivera
The deadlift is the one of the traditional lifts that take place at Tone House.
Head Coach Yusuf Jeffers explains the deadlifts best practices, and one’s to avoid.
The Setup
One of the major keys to doing a great deadlift is the setup.
Do
- Get into a position that creates a stable and organized spine.
- Lower hips, hamstrings and upper chest,
- Create tension between the body and the bar before the lift. Make sure to take the tension or slack out of the bar by pulling.
Don’t
- Lift with bent elbows while trying to yank the bar up off the ground.
- Lift with the lower back rounded or your neck curved.
Movement Pattern
It is important to go through the same movement pattern every time you perform the deadlift.
It is important to think of the deadlift as two movements, a squat into a hip hinge on the way up, and a hip hinge into a squat on the way down.
You don’t ever want to reverse the order of those movements, by doing either a hip hinge before the squat on the way up, or a squat into a hip hinge on the way down.
And finally, it’s always important to know which muscles are working so that you can perform the exercise correctly.
You do want to make sure to keep the bar as close to your body as possible on the way up, squeezing the glutes to extend your hips.
You don’t ever want to pull the bar by shrugging or leaning back.
Looking for more deadlift tips? Our next deadlift workshop will be held on March 12th, 2022 and can be booked through your regular class package.