DEADLIFT 101

The deadlift is one of the most important movements you’ll learn in the gym. It builds real-world strength, teaches proper hip mechanics, and trains the entire backside of your body. When done well, it’s simple, powerful, and incredibly rewarding.

WHAT IT DOES

The deadlift trains the muscles that carry you through life — your posterior chain:

• Glutes

• Hamstrings

• Lower back

• Upper back

• Core

• Grip strength

This is the engine room of your body, and the deadlift turns every part of it on.

WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN IT

• Builds strength that transfers to everyday tasks

• Helps posture and back health

• Improves athletic power

• Strengthens your hips — the base of nearly all movement

• Forms part of the Big 5 foundational lifts

This is a movement worth mastering early.

HOW TO SET UP

1. Foot Position
Feet under your hips, bar over your shoelaces.

2. Grip
Hands just outside the legs, double-overhand to start.

3. Hips & Hinge
Push your hips back.
You’re not squatting — you’re hinging.

4. Back Position
Neutral spine.
Chest up.
Bar close to your shins.

5. Brace
Take a breath and lock your core in before you pull.

HOW TO LIFT

• Drive your feet into the ground

• Stand tall with the bar, keeping it close

• Squeeze your glutes at the top

• Lower the bar by pushing your hips back again

Smooth. Controlled. No rushing.

BEGINNER MISTAKES TO AVOID

• Letting the back round

• Squatting the weight up

• Yanking the bar instead of bracing first

• Letting the bar drift away from the body

• Hips shooting up before the bar moves

Clean technique >>> heavy weight.

WHERE TO START

Most beginners should start with:

• An empty bar, or

• A bar with light plates so it sits at the proper height

Focus on form for the first few sessions — strength will come quickly.

HOW IT SHOULD FEEL

• Glutes firing

• Hamstrings working

• Back stable

• Bar close

• The lift powerful but not painful

That’s a good deadlift