Two Cues to Avoid Back Pain in the Deadlift

By Alex Beasley, Coach & Creator of Atlanta Women’s Barbell Club

Deadlifts are the center of a lot of controversy in the fitness world. They are often blamed for causing back pain, though the etiology of this pain is likely more complicated than being caused by a single “incorrect” movement. Back pain in the deadlift is usually related to poor load management more closely than specific technique deviations. That being said, technique in the deadlift is still important even though it is not the primary indicator for pain or injury. 

One of the most common beginner training “ouchies” (this is our affectionate term for feelings of mild discomfort or distress) is non-specific low back pain resulting from the deadlift. This discomfort is usually caused by a misinterpretation of what the deadlift is in practice and what it should feel like, not necessarily an obvious form error. With a couple conceptual changes for the lifter, these issues are usually resolved in the same session where they occur.

The Deadlift is a Push, Not a Pull

When one visually looks at a conventional deadlift being performed, it looks like that the lifter is using their back to “lever” the weight up. Deadlifts are also traditionally referred to as “pull” exercises so this further reinforces the idea that the back is “pulling” the weight up. When performed correctly however, the deadlift feels like & is more like a push with the legs than a pull with the back.

Once the lower back is set into spinal extension at the start of the pull, the spinal erectors do not concentrically contract to move the weight. This means that the lower back muscles don’t really do anything to move the barbell other than to hold their position throughout the movement. What is contracting to move the weight are your hamstrings, quads, and glutes (among other things). To be clear: the lower back is still working; it’s not relaxed. But it’s not a primary mover of the deadlift & shouldn’t feel like it is. 

This change in intention with the deadlift can make a big difference in how it feels and is very good at mitigating the possibility for lower back over-involvement in the lift. To use this cue, think about pressing the ground away from you instead of thinking about lifting the bar. You should feel the muscles of your legs - especially your quads - perform a leg pressing movement (just like the machine). 

Forming the Lifter-Barbell System

Once it has been cleared up that the deadlift should feel more like a push than a pull, the next concept to pay attention to is the formation of the lifter-barbell system at the bottom of the lift. This is often referred to as “pulling the slack out of the bar,” but we prefer this nomenclature because it tells you a little more about what is happening prior to the pull. It’s useful to think about this concept as if you were going to tow your car the old fashioned way: with another car and a chain.

When attaching the two cars with the chain, you will need some slack to be able to deform the chain and attach it to both cars. Let’s say you have a lot of slack and there is excess chain laying on the ground. If you were to get in the front car and gas it as hard as possible, all of the slack would come out of the chain very quickly and the whole system would be vulnerable to breakage, either in the chain or one of the two cars (or both, yikes). Alternatively, you could get in the front car and gently step on the gas until all of the slack is out of the chain and the rear car starts moving. From there you could go 100 miles an hour if you wanted to because it’s not about the overall speed of the system, it’s about the acceleration of that system. 

In the deadlift, your arms are like the chain in the car towing scenario. A lot of people set up with slack in their arms such that if it were a chain, all the links would not be tight against one another. Then when the lifter pulls there is a violent reaction where all the slack comes out of the arms and the segment likely to deform as a result is the torso segment (including the low back). If you feel comfortable in the bottom of your deadlifts, you are very likely not forming the lifter-barbell system which makes for both the possibility of pain, but also an inefficient pull.

Note the bend in the elbows & wrists and how the lifter looks to be “shrinking towards” the bar.

What we’d like to see instead is for the lifter to “pull all the links out of their chain” by taking on some of the weight of the bar before they really intend to pull it. This means if the bar weighs 200 pounds, the lifter may have 185 pounds already floating in their hands and only needs an additional 15 pounds of pressure to get the bar moving. This is as opposed to going from having 0 pounds in the system to 200 all at once. It’s lifting the bar “one pound at a time.” This doesn’t have to be as slow as the previous cue may sound, but a gradual ramping up of pressure tends to be the best approach for most people. 

This is the correct start position. Note the tension in the arms as well as the proximity of the chest to the bar.

A Quick Third Tip (Surprise!)

One of the most important factors in keeping deadlifts fun for beginners (aka, not painful) is to make sure you are choosing an appropriate load. An appropriate load is one the lifter can control, so while keeping the above cues in mind make sure you are choosing a weight where you can maintain your set-up positioning as the bar makes its initial ascent. If any of your segments (particularly your torso segment) deform, it generally means the lifter does not have good control of that weight or that range of motion. Regressing the lift by reducing the weight or elevating the barbell off the ground may be the way to go for beginners. As a lifter becomes more advanced, these slight variations in technique are not only acceptable, but are generally unavoidable as the weight approaches a true one-repetition maximum. The difference between the beginner lifter and the more advanced one in this respect is the more advanced lifter has developed a higher tissue capacity in general that makes them more resilient to the normal small changes in the lift and their technique is generally very “dialed in.” Until beginner lifters “earn” this resilience from their training, the initial lifting period is better spent using the above cues and gaining the tissue capacity that will allow for normal variation at heavy weights later.