Muscle Gain Forum

My hips rise before the bar leaves the floor, turning every deadlift into a stiff-leg/good-morning. I know it's wrong but I can't feel how to fix it in the moment. What cue finally clicked for you?

The cue that fixes it for most people: push the floor away with your legs instead of pulling with your back. Think leg press off the floor, let the bar follow. Pulling early makes the hips fly up.

Two things - your hips are probably starting too low so they have nowhere to go but up. Set up with hips a bit higher, shoulders slightly ahead of the bar. And take the slack out of the bar before you pull (the 'click').

I do start in almost a squat position at the bar, that's probably it.

Yeah you're trying to squat a deadlift. Raise the hips so your shins are roughly vertical-ish and you'll be in a stronger pulling position.

'Chest up, then push' helped me. Brace, get the chest tall to lock the back, THEN drive the legs. If the back rounds or hips shoot, the brace failed first.

Also lighten the load to groove it. You can't fix a motor pattern at a weight that forces you to cheat. Drop 20% and own the position for a few sessions, then build back.

That's hard on the ego but probably necessary.

Ego is what's keeping the bad pattern. Film from the side at the lighter weight so you get instant feedback. 'Slack out, chest up, push the floor away' on repeat. It'll click in a couple weeks.