Deadlift Safety

With a large number of people attempting to PR on the Deadlift of late I just wanted to pass on some guidelines on how to safely work towards a PR.

• Work up slowly to your new PR.  This might mean making small, incremental increases of weight over a couple weeks - but in the long run it will be worth it.
• Check your foot position. This may not be obvious to you at light weights but it will become more important when you start adding more and more to the bar.  Make sure that on each attempt that you are starting with your feet in the same place, i.e. with the bar over the insteps, not in front of the toes or against your shins.
• Check your grip. As you progress towards your PR you're going to want to eventually switch over to a palms-opposing grip.  This will reinforce your hold on the bar and keep the bar from "rolling" out of your grip.  Many people find that they are able to move up quickly after switching grips from palms-inwards to palms-opposing.
• Check your hand position. Pulling from a wide or miss-matched grip is going to slow you down and potentially open you up to injury. Make sure that you are pulling from a hand position that allows you to grab the bar with your arms just outside your knees and no farther.  NOTE: if you are Deadlifting to help with the initial pull from the Snatch then you will need to increase the width of your grip.
• Check your head angle. After you verify your foot and hand position you should bring your head back up to a neutral angle before you attempt the lift.  Having your head angled down will lead to you arching your upper-back and making it hard to pull straight up. Focus on a spot in the distance and keep your eyes on it throughout your attempt.
• Press down - don't pull up. Instead of concentrating on pulling the bar from the ground think about driving your heels through the ground.  With the upper-body and back locked into position prior to the lift you will be able to "unwind" the deadlift from the ground up i.e. feet, ankles, knees and hips with the hands and arms being used as hooks.  This will also initiate the lift through the posteral chain and the lower body as opposed to to the anterior chain and your arms.
• Lock everything.  Finish the attempt by locking the whole skeletal system to support the load. Make sure that the glutes are fully engaged and that your chest is forward and the lats and armpits are "tight".
• Drop it like that crazy girlfriend/boyfriend.  Once you've locked it out and held the position for a few moments drop the bar. Don't worry about it hitting you on the way down - if you've got everything locked into place the bar will slide right past your legs and knees.
• PR then stand still for a moment. After pulling and holding the Deadlift you're going to need a second for your body to stabilize. Take a moment to catchh your breath, check your vision, and sit down (fast) if you feel dizzy or if you are going to pass out.  You don't want to end up like the guy in the following video.