The Perfect Deadlift to Prevent Back Injuries

By Dr. Zack Rushing

The “perfect” deadlift does not exist, if it did the person executing it would lift a weight so heavy that setting it back down would punch a hole in the earth and cause a major earthquake. This is no different than the perfect swim stroke not existing. Michael Phelps does a pretty damn good job of executing a swim stroke, but it was still never perfect. It doesn’t mean that he never stopped chasing it or never stopped getting coached on how to do it better.

That being said…the deadlift is so amazing for the posterior chain of muscles and for strengthening the back and preventing low back pain when it is DONE PROPERLY. When it is done improperly, people make their way into my office to fix them because of their poor deadlift technique. My goal with righting this article is to give you the latest information on how to do a proper deadlift, as close to perfect as possible, to reduce injury and enhance your performance.

For a while I was down on the deadlift. I may have even told you face to face that I was because it caused so many patients to make appointments to come see me. Luckily for me I have some amazing colleagues that put me on to some great information that allowed me to expand my knowledge that I can share with all of you.

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