The deadlift is the most useful lift in the building and the one most often turned into something else entirely.
Almost every deadlift that goes wrong went wrong before the bar left the floor. Fix the setup and most of the coaching cues you have collected over the years stop being necessary.
The Setup Is the Lift
Set the bar over mid-foot. Take the slack out of the bar before you pull — you should hear it settle. Then finish the lift with your hips rather than your lower back. Everything else is detail.
"If your setup takes under three seconds, it is costing you the rep."
Rushing the setup is the single most common fault we see on the gym floor, and it is the easiest one to fix. Three unhurried seconds is the whole intervention.
Don't Do These
- Don't yank the bar off the floor before the slack is out.
- Don't chase a max on a day the warm-up sets already felt heavy.
- Don't let the hips shoot up first — that turns a pull into a bad good-morning.
Book a fifteen-minute technique check with any coach at reception. We would rather look at your setup for free than fix your back later.
