Have trouble locking out on the deadlift?

Have trouble locking out on the deadlift? from Hybrid Performance Method on Vimeo.

Have trouble locking out on the deadlift? 

The lockout in the deadlift can be problematic for a lot of lifters. In this post, I’ll explain some faults that may lead to issues in the lockout and recommend a few exercises that may help. 

When people struggle with locking out, they often feel the need to isolate the particular portion of the lift by practicing supramaximal rack pulls, for example. While this idea is not bad, it is important to identify some other opportunities for improvement. 

The first thing you should do is improve your knee lock out. If you lock your knees too early, you're going to put the bar way too far away from your center of gravity. In order to counteract the weight of a heavy deadlift you're going to have to keep the bar as close to your center of mass as possible.

Ideally you want to lock out the knees when the bar is at the mid thigh to ensure that your leverage is up optimal.

The second thing you're going to want to do, is avoid rushing the bars when it is at the hip because you're too desperate to lock it up. 

Just think about it for a minute. If the bar made all the way to the top of the thigh, the only thing you need to do is squeeze your glutes, relax and don't think about anything else. 

Finally you want to strengthen your hip extensors. These are your glutes and hamstrings - since they will be responsible for the final degrees of motion of the lift.

So here are my three favorite exercises to build explosive and strong hip extensors that will undoubtedly lead to a strong lock out in the deadlift.

For the hip thrust, all you are going to want to do is place the bar on top of your hips, your feet hip width apart and focus on squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement. 

For the good morning, place the bar in the position of the high bar. Place your feet slightly wider than hip width.  Keep your knees slightly bent and maintain a neutral spine through the entire movement.

For the dumbbell RDL you're going to want to keep the dumbbell slightly away from your body at the level of the toe box. Keep your knees slightly bent, your back at neutral and a slight pause at the bottom of the lift.

As always these are all merely suggestions of exercises that can strengthen your glutes and your hamstrings. There are many other exercises that you can do, but these are just my three favorite exercises and the ones I find the most valuable. 

I hope this helps. Give them a try and tag me on your videos. Check out the video of my bloopers of what I have to go through to film this video for you and my babies.

-Stefi