3 exercises to blast through a weak deadlift lockout
No lockout on a deadlift often means you don’t get to count it on a powerlifting or strongman platform. Don’t do all the work of completing a lift and blow it with a weak lockout!
Today we continue our look at deadlift faults and how to fix them. Last time we took a deep dive into cases where one is weak off the floor with their deadlift. Today we will dive into being weak near lockout. If you find you are having trouble locking out your deadlift, the most likely culprits are some combination of underdevelopment in the spinal erectors and your glute and hip strength.
1. Rack Pulls/Pin Pulls
If your lockout is weak due to a lack of development in the key muscle groups (i.e., spinal erectors and hips/glutes), we need to work on these muscle groups to bring up these weaknesses. Personally, my first port of call when trying to bring up the top portion of the deadlift is to perform block pulls, or rack pulls. These are relatively easy exercises for most lifters to pick up as they are just partial range of motion exercises.
Therefore if you can deadlift already, you ought to be able to rack pull or block pull without too much of an adjustment. In either case, you are performing the partial range of motion where you are weakest. A rack pull is completed within a power rack with the barbell starting on the safety pins, and a block pull is performed with the barbell resting on sturdy boxes. In my experience, most gyms prefer block pulls over pin pulls as it protects the barbells. You can consult your facility to find their preference.
Whether you are doing pin pulls or block pulls, you can begin the movement anywhere from mid-shin to just below the knee. Any higher than the knee and the lift's dynamics and angles become very different from a traditional deadlift, as the lifter tends to just "hitch" the weight up.
Most lifters find they can block pull more weight than they can pull off the floor. So keep this in mind as you are setting up your program.
2. Banded Deadlifts
My next favorite exercise to assist with lockout strength is the banded deadlift. The banded deadlift provides greater resistance at lockout, building strength in the top range of the motion. Because the bands' accommodating resistance ( https://www.beaststrongpowerhouse.com/articles/2021/4/30/accommodating-resistance) increases as you move through the range of motion, it forces the lifter to accelerate faster into the barbell throughout the range of motion. In short banded deadlifts force the lifter to continue driving through the entire range of motion. This corrects one of the major causes of a sticking point, which is the deceleration of the barbell within a specific range of motion. As you're performing these, you'll want to think about generating as much speed on the bar as possible before your individual sticking point to drive momentum into the lockout.
3. Good mornings
Another tremendous exercise for the development of both the spinal erectors and the hips and glutes is the good morning. There are many variations of this exercise that can be performed. My personal favorite is the standing good morning with the safety squat bar. In order to perform this exercise correctly, it is essential to focus on the hip hinge. Good mornings can also be completed utilizing band tension in addition to bar weight. This will have a similar effect to banded deadlifts, causing the lifter to focus on generating speed throughout the range of motion, thereby helping the lifter blast through sticking points. Good mornings can be completed for reps or max efforts sets of 3-5. I prefer max effort sets for assistance with deadlift lockout.
If you are having trouble locking out your deadlift, include the above three exercises in your programming. You can utilize any of the three during accessory work or as main movements. The result will be an increase in a lifter's ability to carry momentum into the top of the deadlift movement, thereby increasing the amount of weight that can be locked out.
See you in the gym,
Rob Campbell