One of the best exercises for building total body strength, adding more muscles and sculpting a wonderful physique is none other than the deadlift. As long as you do it right, the deadlift can help you strengthen your hip muscles, hamstrings as well as back. Not only does this help in improving overall fitness, but can also improve your posture. However, this will only happen when you do it right. Poor technique will only make the deadlift harder and also increase your chances of injury. As it involves a lot of heavy weights, the margin for error in a deadlift is higher.
Some of the worst deadlifting mistakes that you need to avoid are highlighted below.
Shins are too forward
When you are setting up with the bar, it is necessary to keep your shins as vertical as you can. You should not angle your shins forward, which is similar to a squat. If your shins are too forward, you will not be able to engage the hamstrings and the glutes that you need to do in order to do the deadlift right. Moreover, if the shins are too forward, the barbell will be too. At some point, you will have to pull the bar path backward, which uses more quads, wastes strength and also put your lower back under stress.
Too upright torso
You need to remember that the squat and the deadlift are different exercises and their movement pattern also varies. In a deadlift, the basic movement is the ‘hinge’ that allows you to work the glutes and hamstrings through a hip extension. This means that you have to bend the torso over the bar and your back should stay flat.
Rounded back
Every time you do a deadlift, you should be careful to not round your back because this can lead to lower back strains, pulls and spinal injuries. Take a big breath and push out against the tightened abdominal muscles. It will create a lot of pressure for maintaining a neutral spine and protecting your back during the lift.
Hips rise too fast
When doing a deadlift, sometimes you might raise your hips mistakenly and lockout your knees before you raise your upper body. However, if you lift your hips first, you will need to use your lower back to extend in order to pull up the barbell. You need to lift your hips and shoulders at the same pace to avoid this.
Not setting the bar down
Even though a lot of people miss the ground, or even bounce the weight, every repetition needs to start from the floor. When you bounce the bar off the floor, it will provide you the momentum you need and this will make the deadlift easier. You will not be able to develop the strength from the first pull off the floor. It is suggested that you use bumper plates if possible and drop it from the top every time. It will force you to pull from a dead stop and eliminate problems.
