Conventional Deadlift
The conventional deadlift is a barbell lift in which you pull the bar from the floor to a standing lockout, with your feet about hip-width apart and your hands just outside your legs. It works the glutes, hamstrings and back muscles together, with the thighs, upper back and grip assisting, and it is the heaviest loadable lift in most programmes and one of the three powerlifting competition lifts.
Also called: Deadlift, DL, Conventional DL, Competition Deadlift · Equipment: barbell · Pattern: hinge
Step by step
- Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and the bar over the middle of your feet, a couple of centimetres from your shins.
- Hinge at your hips and bend your knees to reach the bar. Grip it just outside your legs, with both palms facing you, or with a hook or mixed grip for heavier sets.
- Bring your shins forward until they touch the bar. Lift your chest and set your back flat from head to hips, with your hips above your knees and below your shoulders.
- Pull your shoulder blades down and tighten your lats, as if bending the bar around your legs. Take a big breath into your belly and brace your trunk.
- Pull the slack out of the bar until it tightens against the plates, then push the floor away so your hips and shoulders rise together.
- Keep the bar in contact with your legs as it travels up. Once it passes your knees, drive your hips forward to stand tall.
- Finish standing straight with your hips and knees locked and your glutes squeezed, without leaning back.
- Return the bar by pushing your hips back first, then bending your knees once the bar passes them. Set it down on the floor and reset your position before the next rep.
- Push the floor away
- Bend the bar around your legs
- Pull the slack out first
- Hips and shoulders rise together
- Bar stays against your legs
- Stand tall and squeeze your glutes at the top
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | B |
| Erector spinae | Prime mover | B |
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head) | Prime mover | B |
| Quadriceps: vastus lateralis | Secondary | B |
| Adductors | Secondary | C |
| Trapezius: middle | Stabiliser | C |
| Latissimus dorsi | Stabiliser | C |
| Forearm flexors | Stabiliser | C |
| Gluteus medius/minimus | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Back rounding as the bar leaves the floor
Fix: Brace hard before each rep and keep your lats tight and back flat throughout.
Hips shooting up first
Fix: Push the floor away so your hips and shoulders rise at the same rate.
Bar drifting away from the legs
Fix: Tighten your lats and keep the bar touching your legs all the way up.
Jerking the bar off the floor
Fix: Pull the slack out until the bar tightens, then push the floor away.
Leaning back at lockout
Fix: Finish by squeezing your glutes and standing tall with your ribs down.
Hips set too low at the start
Fix: Set your hips above your knees and below your shoulders, shins on the bar.
Grip giving out first
Fix: Use a hook grip, a mixed grip or lifting straps for your heaviest sets.
What the research says
Strength · first choiceSport performance · first choicePowerMuscle growthGeneral fitnessEnduranceFat loss & conditioning
- Load by goal — Research comparing loads finds maximal strength favours heavier loads (about 8 reps or fewer per set), while muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure.
- Effort — Strength gains appear largely insensitive to how close to failure you train, and failure training has shown no strength advantage over sets that finish short of failure. Many lifters leave a rep or two in reserve on heavy deadlifts.
- Volume and frequency — Research finds strength rises with weekly sets, along a flatter curve than muscle growth. Deadlifts carry a high whole-body fatigue cost, so many programmes train them heavy once or twice a week and add hinge volume with lighter variations.
- Rest — In trained lifters, rests of about 3 minutes between sets have produced greater strength gains than 1-minute rests, largely because they let each set carry more load.
- Bar and stance — Research comparing stances finds the conventional pull produces more hamstring and back muscle activity than the sumo pull, which uses the thighs more. A trap bar allowed higher peak force, speed and power than a straight bar.
- Reset or touch-and-go — Powerlifting competition starts each lift from the floor. Many lifters reset each rep for strength work. There is no direct research comparing reset and touch-and-go deadlifts.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the conventional deadlift in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.