How to Deadlift with a Barbell
Master the conventional barbell deadlift using a strict five-step setup that locks in spinal alignment, engages lats, and maximizes pulling power safely.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Olympic barbell (20kg / 45lb)
- ✓ Standard diameter bumper plates
- ✓ Barbell spring or lock-jaw collars
- ✓ Flat-soled shoes or socks
- ✓ Lifting chalk
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Deadlift shin socks or pants
- ✓ Weightlifting belt
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Maintain a neutral spine from lumbar to cervical throughout the entire setup and pull.
- • Always secure collars onto the barbell ends to prevent uneven weight shifts.
- • Never violently yank or jerk the bar off the floor from a relaxed position.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Set Stance Over Midfoot
Step up to the loaded barbell so your feet are hip-width apart and toes point slightly outward at roughly 10 to 15 degrees. Position your feet so the barbell cuts directly across the exact middle of your whole foot, roughly one inch away from your shins. Look straight down over your laces to confirm the bar bisects your foot evenly on both sides.
- • Barbell rests parallel to the body directly over the middle of both shoelaces.
- • One-inch visible gap exists between the barbell shaft and both shins.
- • Feet are spaced hip-width apart with heels aligned under the pelvis.
- • Standing with toes too far forward so the bar touches shins immediately while standing tall.
- • Adopting a wide squat stance rather than a hip-width pulling stance.
Grip the Barbell Without Moving It
Hinge at the hips and bend forward at the waist with soft knees to reach down and grasp the bar. Take a double-overhand grip just outside your legs so your thumbs clear your shins. Keep the barbell completely stationary on the floor without rolling it forward or backward during this reach.
- • Hands are gripping the knurling directly outside of both knees.
- • Barbell has not rolled forward or backward from its midfoot mark.
- • Hips remain high with the spine in a natural, relaxed hinge.
- • Squatting down low too early and bumping the barbell forward with the shins.
- • Gripping the bar unevenly or with too wide of a grip.
Bring Shins Forward to Touch the Bar
Without dropping your hips too low, bend your knees forward until your shins make light contact with the barbell. Stop moving your knees forward the exact moment your shins touch the metal. Ensure the barbell stays perfectly over the midfoot and does not roll forward.
- • Both shins are in direct contact with the barbell.
- • Barbell remains centered over the midfoot without rolling.
- • Hips remain above knee height and below shoulder height.
- • Dropping the hips down into a squat, which shoves the barbell forward.
- • Failing to touch the shins to the bar, leaving a gap.
Set the Back and Pull the Slack
Point your chest up toward the opposite wall to extend your upper back into a flat, rigid posture. Squeeze your armpits down toward your hips to engage your latissimus dorsi muscles and take the 'slack' out of the barbell until you hear a metallic click. Pull upward with about 20% effort to build full-body tension before the plates leave the floor.
- • Spine forms a straight, rigid diagonal line from pelvis to neck.
- • Shoulder blades are positioned directly over or slightly in front of the bar.
- • Audible click of the barbell collar taking tension against the weight plate inner ring.
- • Rounding the lower or upper back while trying to lift.
- • Jerking the bar abruptly off the ground without pulling the mechanical slack out first.
Drive Through Floor to Lockout
Drive the floor away by pushing hard through the middle of your feet, keeping the bar scraping lightly against your shins and thighs. As the bar passes your knees, squeeze your glutes hard and push your hips forward into the bar until you are standing fully erect. Lower the bar in reverse by hinging your hips back first, letting the bar travel in a straight vertical path down.
- • Barbell travels in a strictly vertical bar path close to the body.
- • Lifter finishes tall with knees locked, hips extended, and shoulders stacked over hips.
- • Controlled descent where hips hinge back before knees bend to place weights on floor.
- • Hyperextending the lower back at the top by leaning backward excessively.
- • Allowing the bar to drift away from the legs during the ascent.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Davis Diley — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Standard diameter bumper plates? Iron weight plates elevated on wooden blocks or mats to achieve a 45cm bar height
- No Flat-soled shoes? Bare feet or grip socks
- No Lifting chalk? Liquid chalk or dry athletic towel to maintain grip