The Official Deadlift Checklist (AVOID MISTAKES!)

[00:05] What's up, guys?

[00:06] Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.com.

[00:08] We're talking deadlift today.

[00:10] One of the best exercises you can do if you

[00:13] So we're breaking out the checklist so we

[00:17] sure that you do.

[00:18] Okay, any good deadlift starts with how you

[00:23] do the exercise.

[00:24] So a couple things that I do: there's two

[00:27] Number one: you've got to have the feeling

[00:31] do this exercise properly.

[00:32] So what I do is a quick, little routine to

[00:35] I put my feet up, against the insides of the

[00:40] in my groin because we know if you're going

[00:44] be, as you'll see when you press this bar

[00:48] – I say 'press'.

[00:49] That's the key difference, too.

[00:51] You're going to want to make sure that you

[00:54] adductors.

[00:55] The next thing I do is, I feel as if I want

[01:00] want to have my pelvis in the right position.

[01:02] So I lean forward where to grab the bar, and

[01:08] tilt.

[01:09] So I'm trying to rotate my pelvis all the

[01:14] All the way down.

[01:15] Point your junk down to the ground, keep your

[01:19] up.

[01:20] Look straight ahead and just feel the stretch

[01:24] in all those attachments to your pelvis that

[01:28] Once I do that – just for a couple minutes

[01:32] thing I'll do is this pre-deadlift movement

[01:37] That is, I stand here, I keep my hands on

[01:40] is very important in a second – and I let

[01:44] by doing nothing but hip hinging.

[01:46] If you just did what I showed you that hip

[01:50] So right down to here, no bending the knees.

[01:53] From here, once I get to the level of the

[01:58] let my hands drop straight down by bending

[02:01] Then I work on going back up and feeling the

[02:06] let press as I get to the level of the knees,

[02:11] the hips.

[02:12] So it's hip hinge to the level of the knees,

[02:17] hip hinge, and finish it all the way here,

[02:21] Just use that movement pattern until you feel

[02:25] ready to start lifting the bar.

[02:27] Now we're ready to actually approach the bar.

[02:29] There is something you want to focus on here.

[02:30] There are actually two things you want to

[02:32] First of all, how far under the bar are your

[02:36] And how far apart should your feet be?

[02:38] First of all, let's deal with the easy one.

[02:40] The width of your feet should be the width

[02:43] Now, for someone that doesn’t have a really

[02:47] narrow.

[02:48] You see mine.

[02:49] I'm actually inside the non-knurled areas

[02:52] For you, that could be a little bit wider,

[02:54] You just want to be hip width.

[02:56] As far as 'how far under the bar the feet

[03:00] I like to use here.

[03:02] I want to just see my laces on the other side

[03:05] So you can see right now I can't.

[03:06] My laces are actually being covered by the

[03:09] If I sneak them out, just to the other side

[03:14] for this bar.

[03:16] Which should be about 1" away from my shin

[03:22] will go forward to meet that bar, and that

[03:26] Now, a lot of people will try to roll the

[03:30] That's sort of a pre-lift ritual, but ultimately

[03:34] bar back to that position, and they're using

[03:39] with moving the bar to get it there, ultimately,

[03:42] If you're new and you're just learning this

[03:46] Get set to the bar and don’t change anything

[03:48] Get yourself about 1" away, get ready to perform

[03:54] Okay now, with the feet in the proper place,

[03:57] placement.

[03:58] There are two elements I want to cover here.

[03:59] It is the type of grip that we're going to

[04:02] of different grips being used on this exercise

[04:07] the bar when you perform the lift.

[04:09] So first of all, let's talk about the type.

[04:11] You have three different options here when

[04:15] Most commonly, you probably see this 'double

[04:19] There's a great advantage to this that we're

[04:22] performing the lift, but at the surface level

[04:27] distribution of your upper body, and how you're

[04:32] imbalances by gripping the bar.

[04:34] The second option that you'll see is often

[04:39] weak of a grip, because the bar starts to

[04:42] So what do we do?

[04:43] We see people do a mixed grip.

[04:45] The mixed grip is one under, one over.

[04:47] The one under and one over allows the bar

[04:52] fall out of this hand, it's actually turning

[04:55] So you're creating more stability.

[04:56] It's the same way you would grab a baseball

[04:59] Your dominant hand would be on the top here,

[05:03] bat, and turn it.

[05:04] That's what you're doing here, on the bar.

[05:06] However, in order to eliminate some of the

[05:11] from doing this – especially up in your

[05:14] the grips here.

[05:15] So you have a third option.

[05:17] This is the option chosen by more of the advanced

[05:21] That would be a hook grip where you take your

[05:25] your fingers over your thumb.

[05:27] So if you look at it here, they wrap their

[05:31] Now I'm going to tell you, if you're going

[05:34] uncomfortable.

[05:35] It's going to feel like you're snapping your

[05:36] But in order to alleviate that you want to

[05:40] That first knuckle right here.

[05:42] If you go on top here you're really going

[05:46] Okay, from here I still would advise – if

[05:49] to build up to this by starting with lighter

[05:54] that you might feel on this the first time

[05:57] your body is going to become resilient to

[05:59] It will be, overall, your most effective grip,

[06:04] lead to those imbalances that the mixed grip

[06:07] Now as far as the width, and how wide I want

[06:10] up a point from the last topic.

[06:12] That is, a lot of people think that the mixed

[06:16] bicep tears during the deadlift.

[06:18] A lot of people are scared about tearing a

[06:21] More so, it actually comes from what you're

[06:24] I'll show you why.

[06:25] First of all, people sometimes want to grab

[06:28] But what you're doing when you grab wide is,

[06:32] your arms.

[06:33] If we know that – if I let my arms hang

[06:37] hips, or just down at the side – they're

[06:41] To this point in my thigh.

[06:42] But if I widen them you can see that they

[06:46] 2", or 3".

[06:47] So the shorter my arms become – because

[06:52] and deeper I'm going to have to become on

[06:56] And I'm not necessarily concerned about that

[06:59] be a good thing.

[07:00] I'm more concerned about the fact that most

[07:03] extra 2", or 3" down.

[07:05] So you're causing yourself and increased likelihood

[07:09] going wider.

[07:10] So the ideal position here is to have your

[07:16] So just to the outside by about 1".

[07:18] Now you want to have enough room here for

[07:21] Number one: you don’t want to have your

[07:26] here.

[07:27] You want the bar dragging up your thighs,

[07:30] because the extra friction can make the exercise:

[07:34] B)

[07:35] just become a little more awkward.

[07:36] But more importantly, the tendency, as I said,

[07:41] want to have your legs pushing out.

[07:42] If your arms are too close, what happens is,

[07:48] here, as they perform the lift.

[07:50] No matter if you're doing it this way, or

[07:55] you might get some flexion here of the elbow

[08:01] degree of unnecessary tension on the bicep.

[08:04] That is what, more often, leads to the ruptures

[08:10] The same thing would apply if I were to go

[08:13] I could hold there for a very long period

[08:16] hang that time would be cut drastically.

[08:19] So we can actually become more efficient by

[08:24] keep the tension all the way through here.

[08:26] Even though it's more elongated it's less

[08:29] a more stable position.

[08:31] Okay, we've got the feet in place, we've got

[08:34] our body in place.

[08:35] If you've followed what I've said to this

[08:39] if your feet are the proper distance away

[08:43] with that bar.

[08:44] Now your grip, as you said – we've talked

[08:49] should have is to get your low back in the

[08:52] when people talk about the dangers of this

[08:56] wrong positioning of the low back, which can

[09:01] it right.

[09:02] So from here you only have two cues.

[09:03] You've got to drive your chest forward, up,

[09:08] So from here the chest goes out, hips go down.

[09:12] What you'll also find is that your arms will

[09:18] into that position.

[09:19] Think about doing a straight-arm push down.

[09:22] You're literally doing that straight-arm pushdown,

[09:26] with your shins, chest goes out, hips go down,

[09:31] Now the key, as I've said, the position of

[09:35] You don’t want that rounded low back.

[09:37] Don’t worry about how angled your torso

[09:41] As long as the low back is in the right position.

[09:44] You may see people that are really far bent

[09:49] upright.

[09:50] That's a factor of their leg length and torso

[09:54] As long as your low back is there, then you

[09:57] So now, when we get ready to actually pull,

[10:01] And it had better be a leg exercise first

[10:06] your low back that you could potentially run

[10:10] It has to start with a push of your legs off

[10:14] of the knee.

[10:15] So if you go back to that warmup that I was

[10:19] exactly what you're trying to do.

[10:20] I'm going to show you why, here.

[10:21] I'm going to break this down into, literally,

[10:24] From the ground to the knee, and then from

[10:27] So now when we get in this position here,

[10:31] out, and those arms are engaged, and the low

[10:35] here is do a standing leg press.

[10:37] I'll show you exactly why this is exactly

[10:40] You're going 'standing leg press' from here,

[10:43] Here, to here.

[10:45] Right from your hands, from there, from the

[10:48] Once they get to the knee, that's when the

[10:50] Then this will become a tremendous back exercise.

[10:52] But from here, to here you're doing all the

[10:57] the ground, as hard as you possibly can.

[10:58] I talk about, all the time, why this is a

[11:02] the exact same.

[11:03] If my hands were down here on the handles,

[11:08] away; all that is happening right there, from

[11:13] I do not bring my body closer to my thighs

[11:20] I take my feet and I push them away.

[11:22] So the same thing would apply here.

[11:23] You're not going to bring your body closer

[11:30] is, it lifts with the hips.

[11:32] The first move is hip.

[11:34] The first move is hip.

[11:36] Lifting with the hips throws your low back

[11:39] Which, again, is asking, and begging for a

[11:42] This is an incredibly safe exercise.

[11:44] One of the best exercises you can do, but

[11:48] So again, when we're in here the position

[11:53] going to do a leg press, straight to here.

[11:58] Down.

[11:59] Leg press, straight to here.

[12:01] I'm going to show you what happens to the

[12:05] So now, if we can get that bar to the knees

[12:10] those shins every inch of the way, staying

[12:14] If you start to see space between the bar

[12:19] what I said before, which is keeping that

[12:21] Keeping that straight-arm pushdown going to

[12:24] It's going to keep your whole upper torso

[12:28] So now when it gets to the level of the knees

[12:33] it up, now we let the whole rest of the back

[12:36] Now it becomes an incredible back exercise,

[12:41] through, using the strong muscles of the hips,

[12:47] to stabilize the bar.

[12:48] So we're going from here, and driving through.

[12:51] You'll notice if you do this right the timing

[12:55] as the visual cue of when to kick this in.

[12:58] As soon as your hands are at the level of

[13:01] The hips kick in and the bar will continue

[13:05] path.

[13:06] So right against your shins, and right against

[13:10] That should be the goal on every, single rep.

[13:12] So it looks like this.

[13:13] From here, down, set up, to here, drive through

[13:22] Here, engaged, drive through with the hips.

[13:27] Now, on the way down you want to reverse the

[13:32] Hip hinge, hip hinge, hip hinge.

[13:33] Right to the level of the knee, straight knee

[13:37] Very simple.

[13:38] So we're up here, down, and then on the way

[13:46] level of the knee, then let the knees bend,

[13:50] You'll see that the back stays right in the

[13:54] Guys, this lift has a lot of components to

[13:59] actually very, very simple.

[14:01] It should become a staple of your training

[14:05] Most of which, it's one of the best total

[14:08] Yes, you're training the legs.

[14:10] Most importantly, if you're training legs

[14:13] rest of the lift.

[14:15] And of course, a posterior chain.

[14:16] Overall, awesome exercise.

[14:19] There's none better than this.

[14:20] Guys, it's not the exercise.

[14:22] You can tell people "I'm deadlifting."

[14:24] And you think you're doing things right.

[14:26] It's doing the exercise right that matters

[14:29] Actually, in this case doing the exercise

[14:33] will keep you way from the gym for a long,

[14:35] I don’t want to see that happen to you.

[14:37] I want to make sure you get these all right.

[14:38] I hope you've found this checklist exhaustive,

[14:42] If you want me to cover more of them I'm happy

[14:47] Just leave your comments down below and let

[14:48] In the meantime, if you're looking for a program

[14:52] do, but more importantly how we do them – head

[14:56] Use our program selector, using the link below

[15:00] is best suited to your current goals.

[15:01] All right, guys.

[15:02] I'll be back here again for a future video.

[15:04] See you.