The Eight Most Common Deadlift Mistakes

There are common exercises found in many training programs, either because of their characteristics or simply because of their benefits. However, we must be cautious and perform them properly.

There are certain exercises that most athletes include in their routines for various purposes. However, we often don’t pay attention to the correct way to perform them, which leads us to a series of technical failures that can take a toll on our health. Deadlift mistakes are a clear example of this.

The proper deadlift technique

Before delving into the common mistakes we make when performing deadlifts, it’s important to know the correct way to carry out this movement. As we’ve seen in previous articles, the bar should start completely on the ground.

Meanwhile, the person doing the deadlift must maintain a straight position and lock their knees, both at the beginning and at the end of the movement. Their eyes should be on the bar, and from there, they should flex their legs and bend down.

It’s important to grasp the bar with arms open wider than shoulder-width. Next, while looking straight ahead, they should push their hips forward.

Then, pulling with their legs, they’ll have to reach a fully upright position with their legs locked. They should bring their shoulders back and push in with the glutes.

The 8 most common deadlift mistakes

Now that we’ve broadly covered the correct deadlift technique, we’re going to take a look at the most common mistakes when performing this popular exercise.

We must bear in mind that avoiding the mistakes we’ll see below will allow us to substantially reduce the risk of suffering any type of injury.

1. Having a poor foot placement

Having a poor foot placement is one of the most frequent mistakes when performing deadlifts. We must pay attention to both the orientation (pointing slightly outwards) and the separation (they’ll be practically shoulder-width apart, with little opening).

2. Wanting to lift too much weight: the most common deadlift mistakes

Improperly performing a deadlift can often cause back pain. The main culprit for this ailment is wanting to lift more weight than we’re able to. In any case, we have to carry out a progressive weight increase, depending on the adaptations that we achieve with the training.

3. Having the bar too far out

This is especially common in people who are just starting out with deadlifts. They place the bar too far away from their body in order to avoid hitting their shins. This causes them to arch their lower back more than needed, which can cause a lot of damage.

4. Not activating the core

The muscles in the abdomen or core area are key elements in any type of weight lifting, and deadlifts are not an exception to this. It’s fundamental to maintain a good activation of the abdominal muscles. Performing a good scapular retraction will help activate this important area in strength training.

5. Placing the hips too low

Another frequent mistake is to flex your knees excessively as if you were doing a squat. This will cause more tension in the joints, and you’ll also fail to activate the muscles that we actually want to activate when doing deadlifts.

6. Holding the bar incorrectly

It’s very important to pay attention to the grip of the bar, even if it takes a longer time. We must ensure that the hands are in an identical position on both sides of the bar. An uneven grip could overload one side of our body since we’ll be lifting more weight on that side.

7. Pulling the bar with the arms

This is another typical deadlift mistake for people who’re starting out with this movement. Instead of pulling with their legs, many beginners tend to do it with the arms. To avoid back pain, we must contract the abs properly and lift the bar by pushing up with our legs.

8. Not having enough back mobility: one of the main deadlift mistakes

When preparing to perform their first lifts, many people find that their back rounds up excessively, and they’re unable to maintain a straight position.

To avoid this, it’s essential to get some mobility work in both the dorsal and rhomboid area, as explained by research from Physical Therapy. That way we’ll be able to avoid having problems in the lumbar area, which is where all the weight will fall if we do a bad movement.

Focus to avoid deadlift mistakes

As we’ve seen, with an exercise as common as the deadlift there comes a series of very common mistakes, especially for beginners. To avoid them, it’s necessary to do a good job on the technical and execution level of the exercise.

At the same time, if we strengthen the abdominal area and work on the mobility of the thoracic spine -from the dorsal to the lumbar area-, we’ll be able to avoid the appearance of any type of injury due to a poor technical movement.