Here is a step-by-step setup guide for conventional deadlifts

Here is a step-by-step setup guide for conventional deadlifts:

1. Setup with your feet shoulder width or slightly wider than shoulder width apart
2. Toes can be straight ahead or turned outward
3. Shins should be approximately 4-6″ AWAY from the bar
4. Grab the bar with a double overhand grip (until the weight gets too heavy)
5. Legs will be straight
6. Take a big breath and force your abdominals outward and hold
7. Drop your hips as your knees shift forward toward the bar
8. Create tension in your upper back and lats by squeezing your armpits and pulling your arms downward
9. Drive the floor away, keeping the bar against your body all the way to lockout
10. Once bar gets to your knees finish the lockout with a powerful glute contraction, finish in a straight line
11. Move hips backward, keeping the glutes and hamstrings on tension
12. The bar will move downward and once the bar reaches the knees, drop straight downward back to the floor
13. REPEAT
Another consideration I wanted to add to the Training Center was how a deadlift can be modified.
More Step-by-Step Details
Here are some simple, real world cues for setting up on the deadlift that can help you improve your technique.
1. The feet: Your feet should be placed approximately shoulder width apart, but it will be completely individualized. Even recently, just a small change in my own foot placement allowed me to keep more tension off the floor and get better leverage. Make sure your feet are flat and driving downward. If you drop your hips to pull and your ankles roll to the outside or the inside, something isn’t optimal. Change your shoes, change your foot placement, or maybe even improve your ankle mobility.
2. The shins: Your shins should start approximately 4–6 inches off the bar so that when you load into the bar, you can translate your shins and knees forward. This will allow your hips to drop into place and keep your lower back arched with appropriate tension. If you are too close to the bar, you’ll never be able to get the right line of pull or optimal leverage.
3. The grip: Your hands should be right outside your legs to minimize the hip angle and decrease the distance you have to pull. We always recommend pulling double overhand until your grip gives out. Then switch to a hook grip or even use straps. I usually don’t let my athletes pull with an alternated grip. Other deadlift grip considerations can be found at http://www.elitefts.com/documents/grip_training.htm.
4. The air: You must catch your air before the lift. This, along with a powerful isometric contraction of not only the abdominals but all of the muscles that surround the torso (anterior and posterior), will give you the tension to lift the weight with good form and protect the spine. With conventional deadlifts, I like to catch the air with the hips high before the drop so I can get the maximal amount of air in. Once the hips are dropped, you’re compressed (especially if you have a belt on), and you might be limited in your breathing.
5. The tension: Like previously stated, massive amounts of tension must be created not only across the quads, hamstrings, and glutes but also the grip and back. Remember, the more tension you can create, the stronger you’ll be and the more protected your spine and back will be. This tension allows your body to act as a single unit or one kinetic chain. One important tip for this cue is never forget the tension in the upper back. This is key to pulling it all together. You will immediately feel stronger if you can create tension across your back by squeezing the bar down and “flexing” the armpits, pulling the lats into the lift.
6. The pull: By driving your feet downward into the floor, the weight will begin its upward movement. Don’t allow your hips to rise too fast into a straight legged (stiff legged) position. As the bar hits the knees, a powerful glute contraction will lock you into a straight (line) torso position. This is a common error for most lifters who try and overpull after the bar crosses their knees and they move into hyperextension.
7. The return: Don’t lower the weight straight down. Instead, load the hamstrings and glutes with a Romanian deadlift movement back to the knees. Once it reaches the knees, move the bar straight downward back to the floor where you can stroke another rep immediately or come to a complete stop and reset completely before the next rep. The multiple rep technique where you touch the ground and go again should only be done if you’ve caught your air at lockout on the previous rep.