Squat and Deadlift Form: The No-Nonsense Guide

The squat and the deadlift are the two biggest lifts in the gym. They work more muscle in one movement than anything else you can do with a barbell. They’re also the two lifts I see butchered most often. Rounded backs. Knees caving in. Hips shooting up. Bars drifting a foot in front of the body.

I’ve been doing both for over twenty years. I’ve made every mistake on this list. Here’s how to do them right.

One thing before we start: this is general technique advice for healthy adults. If you’ve got a back, hip or knee problem, see a professional first. And if you can afford a session with a qualified coach, book one. A good set of eyes beats any article.

Why these two lifts?

The ACSM’s guidelines on resistance training recommend building programs around multi-joint exercises and doing them before smaller single-joint exercises.¹ The squat and deadlift are the multi-joint lifts. Hips, knees, back, grip, core, all at once. Get strong at these and almost everything else gets easier, from carrying groceries to hauling a deer out of the bush.

The one rule for both: brace

Before every single rep:

1. Take a big breath down into your belly, not up into your chest.
2. Tighten your midsection like you’re about to take a punch. Push your belly out against the tension.
3. Hold that brace through the hard part of the rep. Breathe out at the top.

That pressurized trunk is what protects your spine and lets you move real weight. A loose midsection under a heavy bar is how backs get hurt. If you remember nothing else, remember: breathe, brace, lift.

The back squat

Setup

• Bar position: set the bar on the meaty shelf of your upper back, across the top of your shoulder blades, not on your neck. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to make that shelf.
• Grip: hands just outside your shoulders, wrists straight. Pull the bar down into your back.
• Unrack: stand up with the bar, take two or three small steps back. Don’t go on a hike.
• Stance: feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, roughly 15–30 degrees. Everyone’s hips are different; find what lets you sit deep comfortably.

The rep

1. Brace.
2. Break at the hips and knees at the same time and sit down between your heels.
3. Push your knees out in the direction of your toes the whole way down. Don’t let them cave in.
4. Keep your whole foot planted, with your weight balanced over the middle of your foot. Heels down.
5. Go as deep as you can while keeping your back neutral and your heels down. For most people that’s thighs at least parallel to the floor.
6. Drive up, leading with your chest, knees still pushing out. Hips and shoulders rise together.

Common squat mistakes

• Knees caving in. Cue: “spread the floor” with your feet, or push your knees out over your little toes.
• Heels lifting. Your weight’s too far forward. Sit back more, and work on ankle mobility.
• Butt shooting up first. Your hips rise faster than your chest and the squat turns into a good morning. Lead with your chest out of the hole, and drop the weight until it stops happening.
• “Butt wink.” Your lower back rounds at the very bottom. Usually means you’re going deeper than your current mobility allows. Squat to just above where it happens and work on it over time.
• Half reps. If you’re cutting depth to lift more weight, it’s not more weight. It’s less squat.

Can’t back squat yet?

Start with the goblet squat: hold a dumbbell or kettlebell against your chest and squat. It teaches you to stay upright and sit between your heels, and it’s very hard to do badly. Once you can do sets of 10–12 with a heavy dumbbell and good form, move to the bar.

The deadlift

Setup

The deadlift lives and dies on the setup. Take your time.

1. Feet: stand with your feet about hip-width apart, toes forward or turned out just a little. The bar should be over the middle of your foot, about an inch from your shins when you look down.
2. Grip: bend over and grab the bar just outside your legs. Double overhand to start. Use chalk or straps later when grip becomes the limit.
3. Shins to the bar: bend your knees until your shins touch the bar. Don’t move the bar to your shins.
4. Chest up, back flat: lift your chest and set your back so it’s flat and neutral, from your tailbone to the back of your head. Your hips will end up higher than your knees and lower than your shoulders.
5. Pull the slack out: pull up on the bar just enough to hear it click against the plates and feel your whole body tighten, without the plates leaving the floor. Squeeze your armpits like you’re crushing oranges in them. This locks your lats in and keeps the bar close.
6. Brace.

The rep

1. Push the floor away with your legs. Think “leg press the floor,” not “pull with the back.”
2. Keep the bar dragging up your shins and thighs. It should travel in a straight vertical line over the middle of your foot.
3. Hips and shoulders rise together off the floor.
4. Once the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward and stand tall.
5. Lockout: stand straight, glutes squeezed. Don’t lean back. You’re done when you’re standing up straight, not when you’re bent backwards.
6. Lower it with control, hips back first until the bar passes your knees, then bend your knees. Reset and brace before the next rep.

Common deadlift mistakes

• Rounded back. The big one. If your back rounds, the weight is too heavy for your current setup. Drop it, reset, and build back up.
• Bar drifting forward. Every inch the bar moves away from your body makes it heavier on your back. Keep it touching your legs. Squeeze those armpits.
• Hips shooting up first. Your legs straighten and leave your back to do all the work. Push the floor away with your legs and keep your chest up.
• Jerking the bar off the floor. Pull the slack out first. Squeeze it off the floor, don’t yank it.
• Hyperextending at the top. Stand straight, don’t lean back. There’s no extra credit for a backbend.

Romanian deadlift

In my beginner program I use the Romanian deadlift (RDL) first. Start standing with the bar, push your hips back with soft knees, and slide the bar down your thighs until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, usually just below the knee. Then drive your hips forward to stand up. It teaches the hip hinge, which is the most important part of the regular deadlift, without starting from the floor.

Programming them

The ACSM recommends novices train 2–3 days a week with loads they can handle for 8–12 reps, adding 2–10% to the load once they can do one or two reps more than the target.¹ It also recommends resting at least 2–3 minutes between sets of heavy multi-joint lifts like these.¹ Don’t rush. These lifts deserve your full attention every set.

A few extra rules from my own garage:

• Warm up with the empty bar, then add weight in steps. Two to four warm-up sets before your working weight.
• Film yourself from the side every few weeks. You’ll catch things you can’t feel.
• Stop a set when your form breaks, not when you physically can’t move the bar. That rep you grind out with a rounded back isn’t worth it.
• Ego is the enemy. Nobody cares what you deadlifted. They care that you can still do it at sixty.

The bottom line

Brace hard. Keep the bar close. Sit between your heels on the squat. Push the floor away on the deadlift. Stop when your form breaks. Add weight slowly and patiently for years.

That’s the whole secret. It’s not exciting. It works.