Starting Strength, 3rd Edition - Mark Rippetoe [83]
Another cause of the confusion might be the idea that the deadlift is somehow just a squat with the barbell in the hands, and that driving with the legs is best accomplished with a more squat-like starting position. But the deadlift is not a squat with the bar in the hands – it is a pull, a completely different piece of mechanics. And if it were a squat, you’d want your hips to be as high as you could get them because you can half-squat more weight than you can squat from a deep position since you don’t have to travel as far.
Confusion about the correct starting position might also be due to the idea that the weight on the bar should not be allowed to pull you forward, and back is therefore the direction the bar should be pulled. But it should be obvious that the bar cannot be pulled back through the legs. Or the problem might be that an observation of the sumo-style deadlift as performed by competitive powerlifters has created an incorrect impression of the proper back angle in the conventional deadlift. Sumo technique employs a much wider stance, which produces the correct pulling position with a more vertical back angle. When a lifter tries to assume this position and back angle with a close stance, he lowers his hips to a point where he achieves the angle, but only at the expense of placing his shoulders behind the bar. Since the bar cannot leave the floor in this position, when the pull starts, the lifter’s hips will rise and the back angle will adjust itself to the point where the shoulders are in front the bar, and only then will the plates break off the floor.
Figure 4-37. The correct starting position (A), and the position that often gets used instead (B). The correct position reflects proper pulling mechanics; from this position, the bar can leave the ground and travel in a straight path up to lockout. From the incorrect position, the bar cannot leave the ground with a heavy weight, yet many people think it is the correct position from which to pull. What actually happens is that the lifter “sets up” in position B, thinking that the bar leaves the ground from there, but he then raises his hips into position A before the bar leaves the ground. Even a cursory video analysis of any heavy deadlift clearly shows that this is always the case. This shift from setup to pull leaves the bar out in front of the shins as the knees pull back, producing a bar path that curves back toward the legs before it becomes vertical. The most efficient pull is a straight vertical line over the mid-foot, with the shoulders just in front of the bar. The closer to this model your setup position allows you to be, the better.
It is an error in understanding the mechanics of the start position to try to assume a back position more vertical than the relationship between the back, the arms, and the bar allows. The lifter’s shoulders will be in front of the bar when it leaves the ground, and an artificially vertical back angle will decay as the pull is started, leaving the bar out in front of the shins, off-balance, with a horizontal displacement to cover before it leaves the ground. The best position that can be assumed at the start is the one already described: with the bar over the mid-foot, and the scapulas directly over the bar. When this alignment exists, the bar is easier to pull.
Make sure the bar is touching your skin or your socks before it leaves the floor. It is not necessary to bump your shins with the bar or to scrape the meat off of them on the way up. You do need to maintain good control of the weight, because if you scrape your shins, you can get sores that will be a problem for a long time; then every time you deadlift, you will break the sore open and make a big