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If your deadlift always feels like a grind, the first step is figuring out where it actually fails. Are you slow off the floor, stuck at the knees, or losing position before you ever reach lockout?
Each of those problems needs a different solution, and guessing usually just adds more junk volume on top of a bad pattern.
Before we jump into the advice, check out Black Friday pricing on our powerlifting courses. These are the best prices of the year, and they end soon!
Now, on deadlifts:
If the bar barely leaves the floor, start with this guide on fixing a deadlift that is weak off the floor.
The short version? If you're weak off the floor in the deadlift it means that your knee extensors (quads) are lacking strength. As such, you should implement exercises that increase the loading demand on your quads, including low-pause deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, and front squats.
If you break it from the ground but stall halfway up, your weak point is likely around the knees. This article walks through why that happens and which variations actually help:
If your hips shoot up before the bar moves, your leverage is changing before you even start the pull. That usually shows up as a rounded back and a bar path that drifts away from you. Use this breakdown to fix hips shooting up and line your position up with a stronger pull:
Once you know your weak point, you can clean up your deadlift bar path and plug in the right progressions instead of guessing:
Need more? Check out our powerlifting courses for specific programs. Black Friday pricing is now in effect!
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