9 Tips to Drastically Improve Your Deadlift
How to build raw strength and work towards deadlifting 2x your bodyweight
Often touted as the king of all exercises the deadlift works more muscles than any other compound movement (including the squat) and is a true feat of strength that trains both the upper and lower body in one movement.
It’s widely considered an integral part of most training plans due to its ability to improve posture, build muscle and skyrocket strength.
Better yet when performed with proper technique it's completely safe and can help injury-proof you.
In this article, we’ll cover 10 tips you can use in your next workout to help you take your deadlift from good to great.
#1 — Experiment With Different Grips
When performing the deadlift there are 2 different grips you need to familiarise yourself with:
- The standard grip: here you grasp the bar with both hands in an overhand grip position with your palms towards you
- The mixed grip: here you grasp the bar with one hand in an overhand grip position and the other hand in an underhand grip position
What you will generally find is that the standard deadlift grip is the best place to start as you learn the movement and begin building up strength.
However, once you begin progressing and regularly adding weight to the bar you’ll soon find that it’s your grip strength that is giving out before your muscles.
When this happens you’ll want to switch to the mixed grip as it stops the bar from being able to slip out of your hands so easily as your grip begins to fatigue.
This is because unlike the standard grip position where only your thumbs are under the bar, an underhand position has your whole hand underneath which helps stop it slipping out.
If next time you deadlift you find your grip fails before your muscles then give the mixed grip a try.
#2 — Deadlift More Often
If you want to get better at something, you need to practice it.
This is as true for weightlifting as any other skill, which means if you’re only deadlifting once a week or once every 2 weeks then you should consider moving to a more regular deadlifting schedule.
The best way to do this is to mix up your sessions across the week to help manage fatigue and means only doing heavy deadlifts once a week. In your other sessions try doing lighter deadlifts for more reps and really focus on the technique.
This will not only make you a more proficient at deadlifts but it’ll also do wonders for you grip strength.
After doing this for at least 6–8 weeks you should see a marked improvement in your deadlift and can consider reducing volume again.
#3 — Work On Your Grip Strength
We touched on the importance of doing this back in the first tip. However, aside from changing your hand position, there are other things you can do to directly train your grip strength.
To do this you can incorporate other exercises that train your grip against gravity. This includes things like:
- Bent over rows
- Farmers walk
- Barbell shrugs
- One-arm rows
Essentially any exercise where you’re having to do squeeze the bar and hold the weight against gravity.
Of course, you could also program in some static holds or rack pulls so you can overload the bar and work on grip strength without having to deadlift the weight.
#4 — Improve Starting Strength
The deadlift starts from the floor which means you need to be strong enough to move the weight from a dead start in order to complete the lift.
What you’ll generally find is that the stronger you get and the more weight you add to the bar the harder it is to initiate the lift from a dead start whilst maintaining good form.
To overcome this and keep you progressing steadily you’ll want to dedicate some time to training the first portion of the lift and being able to power the bar up from the floor, through the sticking point and up to the lockout position.
Some good exercises for doing this are:
- Explosive deadlifts (you’ll need to use a lighter weight for this)
- Pause deadlifts (pause at the bottom)
- Squats (you want to use a full range of motion)
- Split stance lunges (lunges with the rear foot elevated)
#5 —Use All Deadlifts Variations
The most well-known deadlift is the conventional deadlift. However, there are several other variations you should consider using.
These other variations place the emphasis on different muscle groups, require varying levels of mobility and you may find due to your limb length you may be better suited to one over the other.
- The Sumo Deadlift: This is performed with a wider stance than the conventional deadlift and can be performed to be either more quad or hip dominant. It sits somewhere in the middle between trap bar and conventional deadlifts in terms of the mobility needed to perform it properly.
- The Trap Bar Deadlift: Also referred to as the hex bar deadlift this lift requires less mobility than the conventional deadlift and has you lifting with your arms by your sides instead of in front of you which allows you to more evenly distribute the weight. Additionally, due to the handle position, you do not need to get as close to the floor in the starting position.
- The Romanian Deadlift: This variation shifts the focus over to your hamstrings and is performed with a lighter load than the other deadlifts. You also do not touch the floor in between reps to keep the tension on the hamstrings.
I recommend you experiment with the different variations and see what works for you. There is no right or wrong answer here, only what works best for you and your goals based on the equipment you have available to you.
#6 — Focus On Your Technique
This seems so obvious but you’d be surprised at the number of people who are using the wrong or just plain bad technique.
This can be for a number of reasons including but not limited to, the weight is too heavy for you, you learnt incorrect technique and mobility or flexibility issues.
For a lot of people a refresher of what you’ve meant to do and few simple coaching cues can do wonders for their technique but other times you’ll need to lighten the weight and relearn the lift again.
One of the best video’s I’ve found to teach the deadlift is one Layne Norton (he’s a scientist, bodybuilder and powerlifter — dude really knows his stuff) did for bodybuilding.com, you can watch it here.
#7 — Build Stronger Assistance Muscles
There’s no doubt that the deadlift is great for build whole-body muscle and strength. However, if there is a weak link in this chain, a part of the body that holds the deadlift back, then your whole lift will suffer.
To avoid this you want to include a variety of other exercises in your training plan that will help build the strength and power you need to deadlift heavier over time.
Some of the best exercises are:
- Chin/pull-ups: do these weighted when possible for serious back strength
- Rows: all row variations are great for grip strength and pulling power
- Farmers walk: this is fantastic for building grip and core strength
- Plank holds: helps you practice squeezing your glutes and abs
- Squats/lunges: builds stronger quads, hamstrings and glutes
- Kettlebell swings: creates a strong posterior chain and trains explosive power
#8 — Take Your Shoes Off
Sure, it sounds a bit weird and possibly even unhygienic but there is a method to the madness.
By deadlifting in your socks, or even barefoot, you help to prevent your weight from shifting forwards which allows you to better recruit your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, erector spinae) putting you in a more advantageous position for deadlifting.
Additionally, if like most people you wear running shoes or trainers to the gym then taking them off brings you closer to the floor making it easier to grab the bar and reducing the distance to lockout.
This is particularly useful for anyone who struggles with mobility.
Now, if you don’t like the idea of taking your shoes off or you gym won’t let you then you want to get some flat-soled shoes like Chuck Taylors to lift in as this will closely replicate being shoeless.
#9 — Perform Deadlifts First
With several studies showing that the sequence you perform your exercise in can negatively impact your strength as your progress through your workout, it makes sense to do deadlift first when you’re at your freshest. (7, 8)
The heavier you lift the more important this is, as training fatigue is accumulative and doing something like squats before deadlifts will severely affect your performance.
If you’re serious about getting a stronger deadlift then do them first.
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