Glutes exercise
Conventional DeadliftHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower back
- Also works
- Quads, Traps, Forearms
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Conventional Deadlift?
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, the bar over the middle of your feet.
- Hinge and bend your knees to grip the bar just outside your legs.
- Flatten your back, lift your chest and brace your stomach.
- Push the floor away and stand up tall, keeping the bar against your legs.
- Push your hips back and lower the bar to the floor the same way.
Cues
- Bar stays against your legs.
- Hips and shoulders rise together.
- Stand tall at the top, don't lean back.
Common mistakes
- Rounding your back: brace before you pull and lower the weight if your back bends.
- Bar drifting away from you: start with it over mid-foot and drag it up your legs.
- Hips rising first: push through the floor with your legs so your chest comes up at the same rate.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Loaded bar on the floor (plate radius 22.5 cm, so the bar sits 22.5 cm up). Feet hip-width apart (ankle centres about 26 cm apart), toes out about 8°. Bar over the middle of the foot, shins touching or almost touching it. Overhand grip (mixed grip also allowed), hands just outside the legs: about 54 cm apart, roughly 1.3–1.4 × shoulder width. Arms straight.
The movement
The bar travels straight up over the middle of the foot, in contact with or within 2 cm of the shins and thighs. The knees straighten first so the bar clears them; hips and shoulders rise together with the back angle nearly constant until the bar passes the knees (knee flexion about 30–40°, hip flexion about 70° at that moment), then the hips drive forward to lockout. Lowering reverses it: hips push back first, the knees bend once the bar is below them, and the bar settles on the floor without a bounce.
End position
Standing tall, hips and knees fully straight (0°), shoulders back, bar resting against the top of the thighs at arm's length. Trunk vertical, no lean back past it. Hold 0.4 s.
Tempo
Bar on the floor 0.5 s / lift 1.7 s / lockout 0.4 s / lower 1.9 s / bar on the floor 0.5 s.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar over the foot | mid-foot | bar x-range under 3 cm over the rep | |
| Bar to legs gap | 0–1 cm | 0–2 cm | |
| Shin angle at lift-off | 11° | 5–15° | |
| Knee flexion at lift-off | 75° | 55–90° | |
| Hip flexion at lift-off | 105° | 90–125° | |
| Knee / hip flexion as the bar passes the knee | 35° / 70° | 30–40° / 60–80° | |
| Hip and knee extension at lockout | 0° | −5 to 0° (no lean back) | |
| Grip width | 54 cm | 1.2–1.5 × shoulder width |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Conventional Deadlift is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
