What is the correct hip position when Deadlifting?

Not everyone knows how to position your hips when Deadlifting. Having your hips positioned incorrectly can affect your ability to pull the weight.

What is the best hip position when Deadlifting?

The best position for your hips in the deadlift will be one that is both “high” and “close” to the barbell. Athletes with long legs will have a higher hip position than athletes with short legs. At the same time, heavier athletes will have a wider hip position than lighter ones.

In this article, we will go over:

• Factors that influence hip placement during your deadlift.
• Rules to follow when finding your hip position when deadlifting.
• Common deadlift mistakes and how to avoid them.

See more: Instructions for practicing Deadlift with technical standards

Why is hip position important when Deadlifting?

Finding hip position is extremely important for anyone wanting to deadlift effectively, especially for powerlifters.

Not positioning your body properly means you’re putting yourself at a mechanical disadvantage.

While you need to lift as much weight as possible, and spend the least amount of effort to lift it.

Proper hip position will help the muscles in your legs, hips, and back work together to create the most force on the bar.

A hip position that is too high or too low can mean that certain muscle groups are disadvantaged or that you will be moving through a longer range of motion to perform the Deadlift.

General aspects of hip placement during the Deadlift

Everyone’s hip position when deadlifting is different, but there are some basic basics of hip position that apply to everyone.

Basically, your hips need to be higher than your knees off the floor but lower than your shoulders. As a basic rule, the hips need to be as high as possible but as close to the bar as possible.

If you can achieve this position, it will minimize the range of motion that both your hips and knees have to move. If you can reduce the range of motion associated with the deadlift, it means you’ll need to generate less overall effort to complete the movement, which means you’ll be less fatigued.

4 rules for choosing hip position when Deadlifting

There are overarching principles that apply to how you find your ideal hip position. There are rules that govern the position of other parts of your body relative to the barbell.

The 4 principles to follow are:

• Armpits are straight above the barbell
• Right lower leg touches the barbell
• The barbell should be in the middle of the feet
• The lower back should be straight

1. Armpit above the barbell

The armpit should be directly above the bar if you look at the deadlift position from the left side to the right. Thus, the front part of the shoulder should be slightly in front of the barbell.

If your hips are too high, the barbell will rotate away from you, and if your hips are too low, the barbell will hit you and cause friction.

2. Right lower leg touches the barbell

You want the barbell to be as close to you as possible, specifically your hips. The reason you need the bar to be as close to your hips is because the closer you are, the less weight there is on your back, butt, and hamstrings. If you move your hips away from the barbell, it increases the demand on those muscle groups.

So, to get the bar as close to your hips as possible, the bar needs to rest against your shins.

However, there is a difference between a barbell touching your shins versus a barbell pressing against your shins. Any pressure of the barbell against the shins will cause friction and make the deadlift more difficult.

3. The barbell should be in the middle of the feet

You need to ensure that your center of gravity is in the middle of your feet throughout the Deadlift movement.

This means the barbell should stay directly above the midfoot the entire time, especially if you’re lifting any weight above your own body weight.

If the bar is off the middle of your feet then you may find that you are at risk of losing your balance and dropping the bar forward, or if you can keep your balance, you are more likely to bend your knees as the barbell touches halfway.

4. The lower back should be flat

One of the most important rules is to make sure that your hip position allows you to keep your lower back flat.

Not being able to keep your back flat can increase your risk of back injuries such as lower back strains. It can be caused by incorrect hip position or it can be caused by something else.

5 factors affecting hip position when Deadlift

What we just discussed above are general guidelines that everyone should follow when figuring out their hip position for deadlifts.

Below, I will discuss how hip positions vary from person to person based on how they are built, including:

• Leg length compared to body length
• Deadlift style (sumo deadlift vs. conventional)
• Waist circumference
• Height
• Foot size

1. Leg length compared to body length

Leg length relative to a person’s torso length is one of the main factors that will affect your hip position in the deadlift. This will be something you cannot change.

If you are a young athlete under the age of 20, the change is that this can still change for you over time until your body stops growing. So you can see that as you mature through your teenage years, your position in deadlifts can really change.

If the length of your legs is longer than your torso, especially if you have long thighs (femurs), then that will give you a relatively higher hip position. Your hips will probably be almost parallel. parallel to the floor.

If the length of your legs is shorter than your torso, then what you will see is that your hip position will be relatively lower. This will make your torso look straighter compared to someone with long legs or long thighs.

For the average person, your back position will be about 30 to 45 degrees relative to the floor.

2. Deadlift Style (Sumo vs Regular)

Depending on whether your stance is sumo or conventional, it will likely affect hip placement during deadlifts.

For a conventional position deadlift, your hips are higher and further away from the bar as your legs are closer together. This will also result in your back angle being closer to horizontal. You will then see more impact on your posterior chain muscles like the hamstrings, glutes and back.

For the sumo position deadlift, your hips are wider, lower, and closer to the bar as your legs are wider. This will result in your back angle being closer to vertical. You will also find that your thigh muscles and hip adductors are more activated.

3. Waist circumference

Waist girth or waist circumference will have an effect on the degree of your hip opening regardless of whether you are using a sumo or regular position.

Having a larger waist means you need to open your hips more to create room for your abdomen as you rotate into the final position of the deadlift.

Opening your hips means widening your legs and stance. If you don’t take this into account, you may find that your hips will tuck in underneath meaning your lower back will arch.

Having a smaller waist means you can keep your hips more closed, which in turn means you can have a narrower posture.

4. Height

Height will have a small contributing factor to the overall position of your hips as you prepare for the Deadlift.

Being taller can mean you’ll have a slightly wider hip position which results in your stance being a bit wider as well.

If you are a shorter athlete, you will be able to close your hips a bit resulting in a narrower stance.

5. Foot size

Leg size refers to the general circumference of your thighs. If you have larger legs you may need to open your hips more. This therefore means your hips will be positioned slightly lower and closer to the barbell. Your posture will become wider.

If you have smaller legs, you may have a more closed hip position and therefore narrow your stance. This means your hips will be higher and further away from the barbell.

See more: 3 exercises with resistance bands to supplement Deadlift training more effectively and safely

5 Common mistakes about hip position when Deadlift

We will now look at common deadlift hip position errors, what can happen in these situations, and how to solve them.

5 common hip position mistakes when deadlifting are:

• Hips are too high
• Hips too low
• Hip position is inconsistent each rep
• Hips lift before the weight leaves the floor
• Squeeze your hips before the bar leaves the floor

1. Hips are too high

Having your hips too high will increase the distance between your hip extensors like your glutes and hamstrings and the bar. This will increase the demands on these muscle groups to perform the deadlift and also eliminate activation on the quadriceps.

This will cause your hip extensors to work less effectively. Tell-tale signs that your hips are too high are that you may notice that your shoulders are too far from the bar, your shins are too vertical, or your shins are not close enough to the bar.

To fix this, you need to lower your hips as close as possible to the barbell, with your armpits above the bar and your back straight.

2. Hips are too low

If your hips are too low, you may find yourself “squatting” the bar as you put too much force on both the knee extensors, i.e. the quads, and the hip extensors. If you deadlift with your hips too low, you may find yourself pushing your hips up as you prepare to do it.

The reason why this might happen is that your body will move into the most mechanically optimal and energetically efficient position to perform the deadlift.

Tell-tale signs that your hips are too low are that your hips are close to your knees, your shoulders are behind the bar, and the bar is pushed forward over your front feet.

To fix this, you want to tilt the bar more and hold the bar back a bit so your hips can lift more.

3. Inconsistent hip position each rep

If you have inconsistent deadlift hip placement from rep to rep, this could be due to different reasons.

The first could be that the weight is too heavy, in which case you need to reduce the weight to a level that you can handle well.

Next it could be due to not having the right footwear because ideally you need to wear flat shoes so you can feel your entire foot being placed evenly on the floor. Sports shoes such as running shoes are not suitable.

See more: List of the best gym shoes for Deadlift

4. Hips move before the weight leaves the floor

There can be many different reasons why your hips move up before the bar leaves the floor.

The first reason could be that you’re keeping the pressure too far away from your heels, where the tension moves out of your legs and up into your hips and back.

Another reason could be that your leg muscles, specifically your quadriceps, can be weak points in the deadlift.

For this reason, you may consider working these muscle groups more during your training sessions.

5. Rotate your hips back before the bar leaves the floor

If your hips are rotated posteriorly (posterior pelvis tilt) your lower back will be curved.

It’s possible that your hip extensors in general are a weak spot and can no longer function well in that position.

It’s also possible that you don’t know how to tighten your muscles well during the deadlift process, so your core isn’t tight and stiff.

Another reason could be that pressure is being placed too far forward on your toes, in which case, to solve this problem is to shift the pressure on your foot towards the back of your heel.

See more: 29 common mistakes in Deadlift you need to avoid immediately

Epilogue

Finding the right hip position during deadlifts for your body shape is something you need to prioritize early on as it’s important to get your technique right as soon as possible.

Practicing with poor technique for a long time will cause it to become deeply engrained in your body and this will take a lot of time to correct.

Performing with poor technique will be ineffective and may even increase your risk of injury, so it’s best to ensure you perform the Deadlift correctly from the start.