How to fix Common deadlift Mistakes

When rehabbing a patient or working with an athlete I tend to see the same mistakes when they are trying to perform a deadlift. Luckily, most of these mistakes can be fixed with cuing, education, or some simple drills to teach the correct movement pattern. Below are a couple of the most common mistakes I see with my patients and clients.

Losing a Neutral Spine

Possible Causes:

If we are lifting sub-maximal loads this is not always an issue, however if you are lifting near max weight rounding your back can lead to injury. Honestly, this is a cause of a lot of lower back injuries I see in the clinic. Patients might not be lifting a barbell but getting a heavy item from the ground can result in the same issues. Most people are either not aware that they are rounding their back or they have trouble with the posterior chain mobility.

Drills to try:

Getting these people in front of a mirror or cuing to “pinch your shoulder blades together” can sometimes fix this fault. I also like to use a dowel along the back to teach my athletes what it should feel like to hip hinge with a neutral spine. If I do not believe it is a set up issue, I will assess hamstring mobility. To improve mobility, I love to use eccentric/isometric RDL’s to gain stability at the end range.

Quad instead of Hamstring Dominant Movement

Possible Causes:

The difference between a squat and a deadlift is where most of the motion is coming from. A squat is primarily a knee bend while a deadlift is more of a hip hinge. I will see a lot of clients want to squat the bar down to the ground or pick it up using to much knee bending opposed to bending at the hips. From what I see, this is usually due to a few reasons: muscle imbalance, posterior chain tightness, or poor set up. If we are thinking strength, it can happen when people have stronger quads, opposed to their glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles. When you finish your deadlifts you should feel like you worked the backside of your hips, opposed to the front.

Drills to try:

If it is mobility, I would again work on improving posterior chain (muscles on the backside of the body) mobility, like the example above. A lot of the time, it might just be a poor set up. This is another area that can be fixed with by simply being aware of the mistake and cuing it correctly. I usually find that people do not feel as comfortable or they have difficulty shooting their hips back. This leads to them starting with their shoulders too far back. Your shoulders should start past the bar with your hips back. If you having trouble getting your hips to move back, one of my favorite corrective exercises for this is the “kiss the wall” drill. This is a hip hinge where you set up 6 to 8 inches from the wall and you use the wall as a target during the movement. This is a good way to teach what that posterior shift should feel like.

Below is a short video summarizing the drills discussed above.

There are more faults that can cause a poor deadlift, but these are the most common mistakes I see the most when working with patients and clients. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment below.