Stronger in 60 Seconds: Increase Your Deadlift

A video posted by Adam Pine (@adam_pine) on Jul 21, 2015 at 5:32pm PDT

A common mistake made in the deadlift setup is allowing your knees to track too far forward.  An excessive forward shin angle can cause several problems.

It can cause you to shift your weight forward and lose tension through your hamstrings.

When the bar leaves the ground your shins become vertical.

If your shin angle is too forward in your setup, it increases the distance between the bar and your body, creating a less efficient path for the bar. If your shins are still too forward after the bar leaves the ground, it will pull you forward with it.

Here’s a simple way to correct it:

Build tension in your hamstrings by moving at your hips.

Find your heels and push your hips back to the wall behind you. Feel the tension build in your hamstrings until you can’t push your hips back any further.

Lower your hips into a strong starting position while maintaining tension in your hamstrings.

At no point do you need to think about bending your knees. They will bend on their own as you lower your hips.

This will keep your shins (relatively) vertical and allow you to keep your weight back and maintain tension through your backside.

Deadlift setup varies based on the individual and everybody’s shin angle won’t be the exact same. You should aim to have your weight back behind the bar, which will create a fairly vertical shin for most people.

Want a bigger deadlift? Send me an email at adamnpine@gmail.com with “DEADLIFT” in the subject line.