How to Deadlift with Proper Form

Three types of deadlift

The deadlift is one of the classic barbell lifts, and it comes in a few distinct variations that train slightly different things. Below we'll walk through the three most common versions: the conventional deadlift, the Romanian deadlift, and the sumo deadlift.

Conventional deadlift

The conventional deadlift is a phenomenal exercise. It's hard to find another single movement that loads as much muscle at once — done consistently, it will turn your body into a genuinely strong, resilient machine capable of lifting weights that would put an untrained person in the hospital. The catch is that the deadlift punishes bad technique. Get the form wrong often enough and a trip to the doctor, followed by weeks off training, is only a matter of time.

If you've never deadlifted before, start light and focus entirely on precise technique. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and grip the bar. A mixed grip — one palm facing you, one facing away — helps stop the bar rolling out of your hands as the weight increases. Drive through your legs to break the bar off the floor, then extend your hips as your torso comes upright, finishing by pulling your shoulders back and your chest up. Lower the bar back down under control — dropping it or letting it crash down is asking for an injury (and probably a telling-off from whoever runs the gym).

Key points:

• Never let your lower back round — it needs to stay flat throughout the entire lift.
• Use a lifting belt once the weights get heavier.
• Keep your whole foot in contact with the floor the entire time.

Romanian deadlift

The name gives away the main difference from the conventional deadlift: this variation is performed with almost no bend in the knees. That single change shifts the muscles doing the work — the quads are largely taken out of the movement, while the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back (spinal erectors) take over almost entirely. Because of that shift, the Romanian deadlift is done with noticeably lighter weight than the conventional version, and with even more attention to form.

The starting stance is the same — feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly. Instead of bending your knees to reach the bar, hinge forward at the hips (a very slight knee bend is fine) and lower the bar using your hamstrings and glutes to control the descent, then drive back up the same way. Keeping your back flat is, once again, essential here. If tight hamstrings make that difficult, stop the movement wherever your back starts to round, and only go deeper once your flexibility improves.

Sumo deadlift

The sumo deadlift is the most common style used in competitive powerlifting today, for a simple reason: it typically allows you to lift more weight than the conventional deadlift. The key difference is foot placement — you stand in a much wider stance with your toes pointed further out, and your hands grip the bar from inside your knees rather than outside them.

Unless you're specifically training for a powerlifting meet, treat the sumo deadlift as a way to add variety to your training rather than your main deadlift variation — it generally builds less overall muscle mass than the conventional deadlift.