If we started this series of articles to locate (and amend) the common mistakes in the basic exercises with the squat, undisputed queen of the gym, today we continue with one of the best moves you can make, as long as we do it right: the weight dead.

As you know, there are many variants of the dead weight that can be performed, the most practiced traditional deadweight (with knees bent) and Romanian deadlifts (with bended knees). Let’s look at some of the most common mistakes when performing these movements and how we can remedy them.

The most common mistakes in deadlift

  • Rounding out the back before you start and when lifting the weight:perhaps the most typical error often seen in gyms. The back should maintain its natural curvature (upright, respecting the curvature of the vertebrae, not like an angry cat) and in the initial position and during the movement phase in which we lift the weight: we should not stretch the hip first and then pull arms, but the movement should be done at once.
  • Pull up instead of pushing down on the first phase of the movement: as in the squat, feet push the floor down to lift the weight. If we pull upwards from the first moment we run the risk of wanting to raise the bar with our arms alone, something practically impossible if we consider the weights that we handle in this movement.
  • Do not activate the deep muscles of the abdomen in the dead weight has a core musculature involvement in helping to lift the weight from a safe position. Perform a scapular retraction and axial elongation will help us activate the deep abdominal muscles during movement.
  • Place the bar too far from our body to start the movement: the bar must be securely attached to us (we can put your feet underneath) and should rise practically glued to the calves. Putting the bar too far will cause us to have an incorrect starting position and that the execution technique is bad and dangerous.