The Deadlift Bounce: Why It's Wrong

 

The deadlift is a classic weight room exercise that has been practiced in its perfect form for countless decades by serious power lifters. Despite how simply the exercise seems to be (to lift the weight from the ground and then lower it again), many people have difficulty in following proper technique, and will often allow small mistakes to creep in. One of the most common is to start the set from standing, and then ‘bounce' the weights off the ground and back up to a standing position. In today's article we are going to look at this method, and explain why it is wrong.

The advantage of starting your deadlift set from a standing position and then bouncing them at the bottom is that this makes the deadlift easier. You are able to use momentum to lift the weight, and the real challenge becomes lowering the weight and then catching it on the up-bounce and straightening once more. This is not what is called a deadlift. Instead, this should be called a bouncedrop.

A deadlift is so called because the weight must be raised from a dead stop. The trainee must break inertia and lift the weight to a locked out position where they are at a complete vertical line. This means that they have to do extra work, and the same amount of weight will feel much heavier. This goes to prove the point: if something is easier, it will not help you develop as much strength.

Secondly, any other problems with technique will be much harder to correct if you begin the deadlift from a standing position and count on a bounce. If your back begins to round or waver from side to side, your will be much less likely to notice it, and in such manner are bad habits created, resulting in your eventually being limited on how much you can lift without damaging yourself.

Instead, embrace the complete stop at which you must lift the weight from the ground, since this allows you to completely and properly set yourself, allowing you to check in on your start position and ensure that the bar is over the midline of your foot, that it is touching your shins, that your scapula is directly over the bar, that your arms are straight, that your back is straight if not a little arched in the set position.

 

 

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