How do I do a deadlift movement safely at home?

The hip hinge is the pattern used every time anyone picks anything up, and doing it well is more useful outside the gym than in it. Almost all of the difficulty is telling it apart from a squat.

Safety

Step by step

1. Understand what a hinge is.Movement comes from the hips travelling backwards while the spine stays long, with only a slight bend at the knee. A squat drops the hips down between the knees. Confusing the two is the root of most problems here.
2. Learn it against a wall first.Stand about a foot from a wall, feet hip-width, and push the hips back to touch the wall while keeping the chest proud. Step further away as it gets easier. This teaches the hips-back motion directly.
3. Use a broom handle as a spine check.Hold it vertically along your back so it touches the back of your head, your upper back and your tailbone. Hinge while keeping all three in contact. Losing contact anywhere means the spine has moved.
4. Keep the shins near vertical.The knees soften but do not travel forward much. Knees pushing forward means it has become a squat, and the hamstrings and glutes stop doing the work.
5. Set the position before lifting anything.Feet under the hips, weight through the middle of the foot, ribs down, shoulders back. Establish it every repetition rather than only the first.
6. Keep the weight close to your body.The further out anything is, the more leverage it has against your lower back. Bar or object against the shins, dragging up the legs. This matters more than how much you are lifting.
7. Brace before you lift.A breath in, then tighten the abdominals as though about to be pushed. It supports the spine through the movement. Holding your breath throughout is a separate thing and not needed at light loads.
8. Drive through the floor with the legs.Push the floor away rather than pulling with the back. The hips and shoulders should rise together — hips shooting up first leaves the back to finish the lift, which is the classic fault.
9. Finish standing tall, not leaning back.Hips fully through, glutes engaged, standing upright. Leaning backwards at the top loads the lower back and adds nothing.
10. Lower with the same control.Hips back first, then the object down. Most awkward moments happen on the way down, when people stop paying attention.
11. Start with no weight, then something light.Bodyweight until the pattern is automatic, then a light kettlebell, a bag of compost or a filled rucksack. Weight before pattern is how people hurt themselves.
12. Film yourself from the side.It is the fastest way to see what is happening. Almost everyone's perception of their own back position is wrong at first, and one video corrects it.
13. Try the single-leg version.A single-leg hinge with a hand on a chair builds balance and works each side separately. Useful when one side is doing more of the work.
14. Stop for any leg symptoms.Pain, tingling or numbness travelling into a leg is not something to work through. Stop and get it assessed.

Tips

• Broom handle on head, upper back and tailbone. It gives immediate feedback that no amount of trying to feel it will match.
• Hips and shoulders rise together. If the hips shoot up first, the back finishes the lift — that is the fault to watch for.
• Film one set from the side. It is more useful than a month of guessing at your own position.

Common mistakes

• Turning it into a squat — Knees travelling forward takes the work away from the hips and hamstrings, which is the whole point of the movement.
• Adding weight before the pattern is solid — Load magnifies whatever the pattern already is. A rounded back with a broom handle becomes an injury with a loaded bar.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask