Conventional Deadlifts

Stance, setup and the pull

The conventional deadlift is technical in a way that other compound lifts are not. Stance width, foot angle, hip height and bar position all change the lift. Walk through each phase deliberately before testing heavier loads.

1. Stance and foot angle

Stand with feet hip width apart, roughly the same width as your vertical jump stance. Toes pointed slightly out, around 10 to 15 degrees. The bar sits over mid foot roughly an inch from the shins. If the bar is over your toes you will pull forward. If the bar is touching your shins on setup the knees are too forward.

2. Grip and shoulder position

Hinge down and grip the bar just outside the legs. The arms hang straight down from the shoulders. The shoulders sit slightly in front of the bar when the start position is locked in. Double overhand grip for warm ups. Mixed or hook grip for top sets above 80 percent.

3. The wedge

Pull the slack out of the bar by hinging the hips down until the legs press tight against the plates. Chest up, lats engaged as if crushing oranges in the armpits. Neutral spine from sacrum to skull. Take a breath into the belly and brace hard against a tight belt position if wearing one.

4. The pull

Push the floor away with the legs. The bar travels in a straight vertical line up the shins, over the knees, up the thighs. Hips and shoulders rise at the same rate from the floor. The bar drags up the legs. Lockout occurs by driving the hips through, not by leaning back.

5. The descent

Reverse the hinge. Push the hips back first. Once the bar passes the knees, bend the knees to lower to the floor. Reset every rep. Touch and go is acceptable for hypertrophy but reset reps preserve position better.

What the conventional deadlift trains

The conventional deadlift is the most complete posterior chain lift in any programme. The narrow stance lengthens the moment arm for the hips and emphasises the back compared to sumo style pulling.

Hip extensors

Gluteus maximus and the hamstrings drive the hips from flexion to extension. Conventional deadlifts produce slightly more hamstring loading than sumo because the trunk is more horizontal at the start. The glutes do most of the lockout work in both styles.

Spinal erectors

The erector spinae works isometrically against a long moment arm in the conventional stance. This produces significant erector hypertrophy stimulus. Visible thickness through the spinal column is largely conventional deadlift built.

Lats and upper back

The lats keep the bar close to the body throughout the pull. The upper traps, rhomboids and rear delts hold a flat upper back position. At heavy loads these muscles do real work even with no visible movement. Conventional deadlifts train the upper back more heavily than sumo at matched loads.

Quadriceps and grip

The quads handle the initial knee extension from the floor. They are less involved than in sumo because the conventional starting position has less knee flexion. Grip is the most commonly limiting factor on heavy sets. The forearm flexors work hard to hold the load.

Five errors that limit the conventional pull

The conventional deadlift has the highest technique error rate of any major barbell lift because the stance is narrower and the leverage less forgiving than sumo. These are the errors that limit progress or cause injury.

Hips shooting up first

If the hips rise faster than the shoulders the lift turns into a stiff legged pull with the bar far from the body. The fix is glute pre-tension and pushing the floor away with the legs before pulling with the back. Film a set from the side. Hips and shoulders should rise at the same rate.

Rounded lower back

Lumbar flexion under load is the classic deadlift injury mechanism (McGill 2007). Film every set from the side. If the lower back rounds at any point during the pull drop load and rebuild the brace. Flexed spine loading is the highest risk position in strength training.

Bar drift away from the body

A bar that travels even an inch forward of mid foot multiplies the moment arm on the spine. Keep the bar dragging up the legs. Cued correctly the bar should leave a chalk line up the shins and thighs.

Hyperextending at lockout

Leaning back at the top to feel the lift loads the lumbar spine in extension instead of finishing hip extension. Lock out tall with glutes squeezed and ribs stacked over hips. The lift is done when you are standing straight.

Pulling with a wide stance

Drifting toward a wider stance because it feels easier means you are doing a hybrid sumo style pull, not a conventional. If you want to pull with a wider stance commit to sumo. If you want to train conventional, keep the feet at hip width.

Sets, reps and recovery for conventional pulls

The conventional deadlift produces high central nervous system fatigue per session. Frequency and total volume should be lower than for other lifts. Build the lift on rep quality, not session count.

Strength: 1 to 5 reps

The primary use case for heavy conventional deadlifts. 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 5 reps at 80 to 92 percent of one rep max. Three to five minutes rest between sets. Stay 1 to 2 reps in reserve on top sets. Singles should be planned not freelanced.

Hypertrophy: 6 to 8 reps

Higher rep deadlifts produce significant posterior chain hypertrophy but technique degrades within sets. 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps at 65 to 75 percent. Reset every rep from the floor. If reps 6, 7 and 8 round the back the set is over regardless of the prescription.

Endurance and conditioning

High rep deadlifts (above 10 reps) are aggressive on the lower back when grip is also limiting. Use sparingly. A 10 to 15 rep top set once every few weeks can be productive. Daily high rep deadlifts produce overuse strain in most lifters.

Frequency

One heavy conventional deadlift session per week is enough for most lifters. Two sessions per week is possible if one focuses on rack pulls or deficit work at lighter load. ACSM recommends at least 48 hours between sessions for the same muscle group at intensity.

Progression

Linear progression on deadlifts ends earlier than on most lifts. Move to wave loading or undulating periodisation once 5 by 5 stalls. Add reps before load. When you make all reps at a given load with one rep in reserve, add 2.5 to 5 kg the following week.

More on back training

For the wider stance alternative, our Sumo deadlifts guide covers wider stance leverage and cueing. Deficit deadlifts are the standard accessory for lifters who want to train the bottom range of the pull more heavily. And the Rack pulls page covers how to load the top half of the lift beyond what you can pull from the floor.