How to Perform the Main Lifts Part II

Continuing on from the previous post, I will cover how to do the deadlift and overhead press.

Deadlift

• Make sure you are wearing shoes with a thin sole. This way all the force you exert gets transferred to the bar, if you wear running shoes they will absorb some of the force, and also reduce your stability.
  
• First you need to find your foot stance. Jump then land and see where your feet end up. That's your foot stance.
  
• Load plates on the bar. Its pointless to deadlift the empty bar. Make sure you're using the 20kg barbell, don't use those set weight barbells that you see people curling with. The reason for using the 20kg barbell is obvious, so that you can add weight to the bar.
  
• You will need to make sure that the bar is at the correct height off the ground. Usually the 20kg plates in your gym will be the correct height off the ground. If you're not strong enough to start with the 20kg plates, put 5kg or 10kg plates on the bar, then stack some plates on the ground and place the loaded barbell on the stacks. This will make the bar the correct height. You can also do this if the 20kg plates at your gym are smaller than normal. Watch this video to see how I deal with this problem. The bar should be near the middle of your shins or a bit lower.
• The bar needs to be at the correct height because if it is too low, it'll be harder to not round your back.
  

This bar is not high enough off the ground

• Approach the bar and take the jumping foot stance, jump again near the bar if you need to.
• Looking down at the bar, make sure the bar cuts your foot in half. This ensures the bar will be over the middle of your foot, which is where it needs to be. If the bar was over your toes when you lift the bar off the ground it'll eventually end up over the mid-foot so you might as well start with the bar in that position so that you don't waste effort that could've gone to lifting the bar.
• Bend down and grab the bar, with a hand width that allows your hands to clear the knees (not too close and not too wide, but as close as you can manage if that makes sense).
• Make sure you are gripping the bar with a full grip; the thumbs must not be on the same side as your fingers or else you risk the bar falling out of your hands.
  
• Make sure your chest is up, this will prevent you from rounding your back.
• Make sure your hips are neither too high nor too low. You will know if they're too low if they suddenly rise up when you initiate the pull like in this video. Your hips will be too high if your legs are not involved in the lift because they straighten out too early, and you mainly feel it in your lower back and hamstrings when you pull like in this video. After enough practise you will find the position that feels good for you.
  
• Keep your neck in a neutral position at all times, no need to look up at the ceiling.
• Take a big breath into your diaphragm. Your chest shouldn't rise if you do this correctly.
• 'Pull' the bar off the ground by thinking about pushing your feet into the ground. A lot of people make the mistake of pulling the bar with their back which can result in pronounced rounding which can be dangerous. Watch this video for an extreme case of someone pulling with their back. Use your legs people, don't think about the deadlift as a pull (even though technically it is)!
• As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward by squeezing your glutes (think about holding a card between your butt cheeks) to bring the bar to lockout position.
• To set the bar back down, reverse what you did to lift the bar up. Shoot your hips back then as the bar passes your knees, bend the knees to set the bar back on the ground.
• Breathe into your diaphragm between each rep when the bar is on the ground. Never let go of the bar until the set is over. This will build grip strength.
  
• Once you get the hang of the technique, the deadlift is the easiest of the lifts to learn.
  

Overhead Press

• Make sure the bar is set at the same height that you use for squatting.
• Grip the bar at a width where your forearms will be perpendicular to the ground. If this is hard to do because you have long forearms, try to grip as close as you can manage so that the bar can still rest on your chest when you unrack the bar. Don't grip the bar too wide because it places your triceps at an unfavourable angle. Your triceps should be touching your lats if you are using the correct grip width. From the side view, your elbows should be in front of the bar.
  
• Make sure the bar is sitting in the palms of your hands close to your wrists (and not close to your fingers) so that your wrists won't be bent when you press (a common mistake you see people do).
  
• Unrack the bar and take two steps back. Take a comfortable foot stance, it'll be a bit narrower than your squat stance. Too wide a foot stance and you won't feel as stable.
• Try to point your chest to the ceiling, this will contract your upper back.
• Flex your lats as hard as possible, this will give you a stable base to press from.
• Squeeze your glutes at all times during the set. This will give additional stability.
• Take a big breath into your diaphragm then press the bar up. Don't let the bar travel forwards otherwise you will waste energy bringing the bar back to the correct path. Don't lean back excessively either, try to maintain an upright posture. Think about aiming for your face (but don't actually hit your face), this will keep the bar path as vertical as possible.
  
• As the bar passes your forehead, lean your torso forwards and let your hips move back slightly. This is known as 'getting under the bar'. Doing this will make locking out the bar easy.
• Once you are at the lockout position, lower the bar back down to your shoulders. Don't forget to move your head back out of the way. Make sure your chest is up once the bar is at the bottom position again. A lot of people forget to keep the chest up after the first rep.
• Pause for a second, take a big breath then press again.
• Rack the bar by walking to the stands then lowering the bar onto the pins.
• As you get more proficient at maintaining the chest up position when the bar returns to the chest everytime as well as pressing the bar up in a vertical path, you may wish to press as soon as the bar touches the chest (similar to the bench press). This allows you to use the stretch reflex so you will be able to handle more weight. If you choose to press this way, how you breathe will be slightly different. For the first rep you will breathe when the bar is on your chest, then once you have locked out the bar at the top, take a quick breath then lower the bar and as it touches your chest press again. Then once again breathe at the top. Do this until the set is over.
• If your ceiling is too low, you may wish to do the press seated. You might need a spotter to hand you the bar however. If the ceiling is high enough I would recommend doing the movement standing though.
• The press trains the shoulders more effectively than the bench press (which only hits the front of the shoulders), so in some ways it is a better exercise than the bench press even though you cannot use as much weight. Don't neglect this exercise, getting strong at the overhead press will help your bench press also.
  

Final Notes:

Gripping the bar correctly. When you are pressing (overhead press and bench press), the bar needs to be sitting in your palm closer to your wrists. If the bar is too close to your fingers your wrists will be bent and you will lose some efficiency in pressing.

When you are pulling (deadlift, barbell rows), the bar needs to be closer to the fingers. Gravity will pull the bar into this position anyway. If you grip the bar too close to your wrists, the bar will squash the skin in your hands and you will get unpleasant calluses. Watch this informative video about gripping the bar.

Also you may notice in some of my videos I'm wearing a belt. This is just to allow me to engage my abs more since they are pushing into the belt, as a beginner you don't need to worry about wearing a belt. You need to first practise bracing your abs properly without a belt. If you can't do this properly then wearing a belt won't benefit you.