Hips Shooting Up Before the Bar Moves on Deadlifts

Your hips rise but the bar stays on the floor, so the lift turns into a stiff-legged pull from a bad position.

Why it happens

How to fix it

Set up in the position your body finds at the moment the bar breaks

Film yourself, find that frame, and start there instead.

Take the slack out and feel tension in your hamstrings before pulling

If there is no tension, you have not set up yet.

Add deficit deadlifts and paused deadlifts just below the knee

Both build strength in exactly the position that is failing.

Cue "chest up, push the floor away"

Leg drive first, hips and shoulders rising together.

Worth knowing: On maximal singles some hip rise is normal. On submaximal work it is a setup problem worth fixing.

Not sure if you are actually doing this?

The hardest part of fixing a form fault is that you cannot see yourself lift. Upload a video of your deadlift and CleanerReps returns specific written corrections against a checklist built for that exact lift, usually in a couple of minutes.

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