How to Know If Your Deadlift Form Is Correct

Your Back Hurts Because You're Thinking About Your Back

The fastest way to know if your deadlift form is correct isn't by worrying about your lower back; it's by filming yourself and checking 3 non-negotiable points: a vertical bar path, your hips and chest rising together, and a neutral spine from start to finish. You're probably searching for this because your lower back feels sketchy after deadlifts, or your numbers have been stuck at 135, 225, or 315 pounds for months. You've watched a dozen videos, heard conflicting cues like "look up" and "look down," and you're more confused than when you started. The fear of a serious injury is real, and it’s holding you back.

Here’s the truth: focusing on your back makes your form worse. When you're terrified of rounding your back, you overcompensate by arching, which is just as dangerous. You try to 'lift with your legs' but have no idea what that actually feels like. The solution isn't to think more; it's to see more. Recording a set from the side with your phone is the most powerful tool you have. It removes the guesswork and replaces it with data. Your feeling can lie to you, especially under heavy weight, but the video doesn't. We're going to give you the exact visual cues to look for, so you can become your own coach and build a deadlift that is both strong and safe.

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The Invisible Mistake: Why Your Hips Shoot Up First

The single biggest deadlift error is when your hips shoot up before the bar even leaves the floor. You feel it as a jerk, where your legs straighten and you're left to finish the lift entirely with your lower back. You want to know how to know if your deadlift form is correct? Fix this one thing. This happens for one reason: your body is trying to find the most efficient way to move the weight, and your setup has made a back-dominant lift the easiest path. Your body is a smart machine, but it's also lazy. It will always choose the path of least resistance. When your hips shoot up, it’s a symptom that your setup was wrong from the start. The bar was likely too far in front of you, forcing your body to shift its center of gravity by raising the hips to get your shoulders over the bar. This effectively turns the lift from a deadlift into a dangerous, heavy stiff-leg deadlift. The goal is to make the leg-dominant path the easiest one. This is achieved by creating tension before you pull. By 'pulling the slack out of the bar,' you engage your lats, lock your core, and load your hamstrings and glutes. This pre-tensions the system so that when you initiate the pull by 'pushing the floor away,' your hips and chest have no choice but to rise together as a single, powerful unit. Without this tension, your hips will always win the race, and your lower back will always pay the price.

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Film Your Next Set: The 3-Point Form Audit You Can Do in 5 Minutes

Stop guessing and start seeing. On your next deadlift day, set up your phone to record a side-on view of your warm-up sets and your first working set. Don't try to make it perfect; just lift how you normally lift. Between sets, review the footage and audit it against these three checkpoints. This 5-minute process will reveal more than 100 reps of just 'feeling it out.'

Step 1: The Setup (Fixing 80% of Errors Before You Lift)

Most form flaws happen before the bar even moves. Get these four setup cues right, and the lift becomes dramatically easier and safer.

1. Bar Position: Stand with your shins about one inch from the bar. The bar should be directly over your mid-foot-not your toes, not your ankle. If you were to look down, the bar should be cutting your foot in half.
2. Grip: Hinge at your hips and grab the bar just outside your shins. Your arms should hang vertically. A grip that's too wide shortens your arms and forces your hips too low.
3. Hip Height: Bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. This is your starting position. Do not drop your hips any lower. Trying to squat the weight is a common mistake that pushes the bar forward and causes the hips to shoot up.
4. Create Tension: This is the most important cue. Without moving the weight, pull 'up' on the bar until you hear a 'click' as it makes contact with the top of the plates' holes. Your arms should be straight, your chest up, and your lats engaged (imagine trying to squeeze oranges in your armpits). You should feel tension through your hamstrings and glutes. You are now spring-loaded.

Step 2: The Video Audit (The 3 Visual Checkpoints)

Now, watch your video. Look for these three things specifically. Use your phone's video editor to draw a line if you need to.

1. Vertical Bar Path: The bar should travel in a perfectly straight vertical line from the floor to lockout. If it moves forward around your knees, your hips were too low in the setup. If it swings back into your shins, it started too far in front of your mid-foot.
2. Hips and Chest Rise Together: Pause the video at the start, when the plate is 1 inch off the floor, and again when the bar is at knee height. Your back angle should be the same in both positions. If your hips are noticeably higher at knee height, you are not using your legs. The fix is to think "push the floor away with your feet" instead of "pull the bar with your back."
3. Neutral Spine: Your back should remain flat, like a tabletop, from start to finish. Pay close attention to your lower back. If it starts to round as the weight leaves the floor, you did not create enough tension in the setup. Go back to Step 1 and focus on pulling the slack out of the bar before you lift.

Step 3: The Feeling (What Correct Form Feels Like)

Once your video looks right, you need to connect it to a feeling so you can replicate it without the camera. A correct deadlift feels like this:

• At the start: You feel immense tension in your hamstrings and glutes, like they are loaded springs. You feel your lats tight, holding the bar close.
• During the lift: It feels like a powerful leg press into the ground. The weight feels heavy, but it feels connected to your whole body, not isolated in your lower back.
• The day after: You should be sore in your glutes, hamstrings, and upper back/traps. If your lower back is the primary source of soreness, your form is still off. Some lower back fatigue is normal, but sharp pain or debilitating soreness is a red flag.

Your Deadlift Will Feel Weaker (And That's a Good Sign)

Here’s the part no one tells you: when you finally fix your form, your deadlift will feel awkward and you will have to lift less weight. This is not a sign of failure; it's a sign of success. You might have been deadlifting 315 pounds with a rounded back and a hip-jerk motion. When you correct your form to use your legs and maintain a neutral spine, you might struggle with 225 pounds. This is normal and necessary. You were strong at a bad movement. Now, you are a beginner at a good movement.

• Week 1-2: Expect your working weight to drop by 25-40%. A 250 lb deadlift might become a 175 lb deadlift. This is okay. Your only goal during these two weeks is to make every single rep look like the textbook form you audited on video. Focus on the cues, not the weight on the bar.
• Month 1: The movement will start to feel more natural. The awkwardness will fade, and your strength will begin to return quickly. You'll likely be back to 80-90% of your old, bad-form working weight, but now it will feel solid and powerful, not sketchy.
• Month 2-3: This is where the magic happens. You will surpass your old plateau. That 315 lb lift that felt like a back-breaker will become a smooth, powerful pull. Because you are now using the powerful muscles of your posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) instead of just your lower back, your potential for strength is exponentially higher. You're building a foundation for a 405 lb deadlift and beyond, not just nursing a 315 lb ego lift.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Right Stance and Grip Width

Your feet should be positioned about hip-width apart, with your toes pointing straight ahead or slightly out. For your grip, your hands should be just outside your legs. If you grip too wide (snatch grip), you increase the range of motion, making the lift harder.

Where to Look During the Lift

Keep your head in line with your spine. This means at the start of the lift, you should be looking at a spot on the floor about 6-10 feet in front of you. As you stand up, your gaze will naturally rise with your chest. Do not look up at the ceiling or tuck your chin to your chest.

Fixing a Rounded Lower Back

Rounding almost always comes from a lack of tension in the setup. Before you pull, engage your lats by thinking "protect your armpits" or "bend the bar around your shins." This creates a rigid torso that resists rounding when the load is applied. If it still rounds, the weight is too heavy.

What Soreness Is Normal (And What Isn't)

It is normal to feel muscle soreness (DOMS) in your hamstrings, glutes, and your entire back (upper, mid, and lower erectors). It is NOT normal to feel sharp, shooting, or radiating pain in your lower back. Muscle soreness feels like a dull ache; injury feels sharp and specific.

Using Straps, Belts, and Different Shoes

Use straps when your grip is the only thing holding you back from lifting more weight on your heaviest sets. Use a belt to help you brace your core on sets above 85% of your 1-rep max. Lift in flat-soled shoes (like Converse) or just socks to reduce the range of motion and provide a stable base.