It is okay to deadlift with a round back when:
- It is a maximal attempt, and the rounding is within a generally accepted range.
- It is the upper back, not the lower back.
- A lifter's leverages suggest that slight rounding may be more likely to occur.
However, deadlifting with a neutral back position is ideal, and below I'll share how to determine whether your rounded back is a problem.
Read on for the dangers, reasons a rounded back happens, and how to fix it. Plus, I'll go more into the situations a rounded back isn't a problem with quotes from top lifters.
If your back rounds in the deadlift, it may round in the squat, too. Check out my article on How To Fix A Rounded Back During Squats.
Table of Contents
Dangers of Rounding the Low Back During Deadlifts
Rounding your lower back can increase your risk of injury. Here are the specific dangers to look out for.
- Increased Risk of Disc Herniation: Rounding the lower back places excessive stress on the intervertebral discs, increasing the risk of herniation, according to Dr. Stuart McGill. When the spine is rounded, the discs are compressed unevenly, potentially leading to bulging or rupturing of the disc material.
- Strain on Spinal Ligaments and Muscles: Rounding the low back places excessive strain on the spinal ligaments and muscles, including the erector spinae. Over time, this can lead to muscle strains, sprains, and ligamentous injuries.
- Spinal Instability: Rounding the low back compromises spinal stability, increasing the risk of losing balance and falling forward or backward during the lift. This instability can also lead to compensatory movements, placing additional stress on other joints and muscles.
- Reduced Power Output: Rounding the low back alters the biomechanics of the lift, reducing the efficiency of force transfer from the lower body to the barbell. This can lead to decreased power output and compromised performance.
- Chronic Pain and Dysfunction: Consistently rounding the low back during deadlifts can lead to chronic back pain and dysfunction, impacting daily activities and quality of life. It may also contribute to long-term spinal issues and postural abnormalities.
I’ve personally herniated 3 discs in my lumbar spine due to deadlifting with poor form. I eventually had surgery and still have lingering nerve damage. That experience has made me much more of a stickler for keeping a neutral spine with my clients.
Want to improve your deadlift technique?
Why You Can’t Keep Your Back Neutral When Deadlifting?
Keeping your spine neutral is difficult. Here are the common causes:
- Fatigue and Overload: Maintaining proper form becomes increasingly challenging as fatigue sets in during a deadlift session or when attempting maximal lifts. Fatigue can compromise muscle activation patterns and reduce proprioceptive feedback, increasing the likelihood of spinal rounding under load. Additionally, lifting weights beyond one's current strength capabilities can overload the spine and lead to compensatory movement patterns, including spinal flexion.
- Flexibility Limitations: Individuals with limited flexibility in the hamstrings, hip flexors, or thoracic spine may struggle to maintain a neutral position throughout the deadlift movement. Tightness in these areas can restrict the range of motion required for proper hip hinge mechanics, leading to rounding of the lower back.
- Weak Core Muscles: A strong and stable core is essential for maintaining a neutral spine during deadlifts. Weakness in the core muscles, including the abdominals, obliques, and spinal erectors, can compromise spinal stability, making it challenging to resist spinal flexion under load.
- Lack of Motor Control: Proper deadlift technique requires precise motor control to engage the correct muscle groups and maintain spinal alignment throughout the lift. Individuals who lack sufficient motor control may struggle to coordinate the movement patterns necessary to keep their back flat or neutral, especially when lifting heavier loads.
- Poor Body Mechanics: Incorrect body mechanics, such as excessive lumbar lordosis (swayback) or kyphosis (rounding of the upper back), can predispose individuals to spinal flexion during deadlifts. Addressing postural imbalances and movement dysfunctions through targeted corrective exercises and proper coaching can help improve body mechanics and reduce the risk of spinal rounding.
Pro Tip: Remember that no one cares how much you deadlift. Check your ego and make sure you’re deadlifting the right way.
To learn more about specific cueing strategies, check out How To Keep Your Back Straight While Deadlifting. If your back is rounding, it could be a sign that you're deadlifting too much.
How To Stop Rounding Your Lower Back While Deadlifting
To prevent rounding of the lower back while deadlifting, it's essential to focus on proper form, strengthen key muscle groups, and address any mobility or flexibility limitations. Here are some strategies to help you maintain a flat or neutral back position during deadlifts:
- Master Proper Form: Ensure you understand and consistently practice proper deadlift technique, including maintaining a neutral spine throughout the lift. Engage your core muscles to stabilize the spine and focus on hip hinge mechanics to initiate the movement. Although deadlifts seem like a relatively simple exercise, there’s a lot of nuance to keeping your body tight and executing a perfect deadlift.
- Improve Hip Mobility: Address any limitations in hip mobility by incorporating dynamic warm-up exercises and static stretching techniques targeting the hip flexors, hamstrings, and glutes. Improved hip mobility allows for better hip hinge mechanics and reduces the likelihood of compensatory movements, such as rounding of the lower back.
- Strengthen Core Muscles: Focus on strengthening the muscles of the core, including the abdominals, obliques, and spinal erectors, to enhance spinal stability and resist spinal flexion during deadlifts. Incorporate exercises such as planks, Russian twists, and back extensions into your training routine to target these muscle groups.
- Activate the Lats: Engage the latissimus dorsi muscles by actively pulling the barbell toward your body during the deadlift setup. This helps create tension in the upper back and reinforces a stable, neutral spine position throughout the lift.
- Gradually Increase Load: Progressively increase the weight lifted in a controlled manner, ensuring that you can maintain proper form with each increment. Avoid lifting weights that exceed your current strength capabilities, as this can increase the risk of spinal rounding and injury.
- Focus on Breathing: Practice diaphragmatic breathing techniques to maintain intra-abdominal pressure and support the spine during heavy lifts. Inhale deeply into your abdomen before initiating the lift and exhale forcefully as you lift the weight, bracing your core throughout the movement.
- Utilize Proper Equipment: Choose appropriate footwear and use lifting belts if necessary to provide additional support and stability during deadlifts. Avoid using shoes with excessive cushioning (try deadlifting barefoot or deadlift slippers), as this can affect your balance and proprioception. Try.
Pro Tip: I usually start my clients with a trap bar deadlift. It’s usually the most intuitive exercise, and the injury risk is much lower because the weights are distributed to the side rather than in front of the body.
Related Article: Deadlifting With Anterior Pelvic Tilt: Risks & How To Fix
Reasons To Maintain A Neutral Back Position
Having a neutral lower back is an efficient position to perform the deadlift, allowing you to get your primary muscles involved helping you lift more.
You’ve probably seen numerous lifters who miss their deadlift at lockout. This is not because of a “weak” lockout but rather inefficient lumbar and pelvic positioning (a common deadlift mistake).
If we maintain neutrality in the lumbar spine and pelvis, we can create a more even strength curve so that throughout the lift, our glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors can all work cohesively to lock out the hips.
Pro Tip: If I want to correct an athlete's rounded back, I often program snatch grip deadlifts to build upper back strength.
A deadlift variation where it's okay rounding the back is the Zercher Deadlift (click to learn more).
Rounding Your Back On Max Deadlift Attempts Will Happen
Even with the most perfectly positioned lifters, some deviation will occur when you close in on your true 1 rep max, such as rounding your back.
As powerlifters, we aim to limit this deviation and maintain optimal positions as best we can. Still, we must also understand that some deviation will occur even in the best lifters.
Defining what constitutes a “neutral” position can be challenging, so it's more practical to consider it a range. Dr. Stefi Cohen, a physiotherapist and world powerlifting record holder, illustrated this concept with a helpful graphic.
While a completely hunched-over back isn't ideal for efficiency and force production, there's a natural range where some rounding may occur within acceptable limits.
To illustrate, consider how a barbell bends under increasing load: at lighter weights, minimal bend is observed, but as the load increases, so does the bend.
Here we can see Krzysztof Wierzbicki deadlifting an unprecedented 880lbs on one of the stiffest barbells ever made:
Similarly, as the demands on our lower back increase during heavy lifts, our range of acceptable neutrality expands. It's crucial to actively stabilize the spine rather than relying on passive stabilization, ensuring that the core musculature supports its position.
If you want to get a more neutral back, you need to understand where to place your belt around your torso. Read my article on The Best Deadlift Belt Position. If you don't wear a belt, then check out my article on The Beltless Deadlift for more tips.
Rounding The Upper Back Vs Lower Back When Deadlifting
Rounding low back vs rounding upper back
Many people get confused about rounding the back, as rounding the upper back versus the lower back is very different. Many high-level lifters actively promote thoracic flexion (mid-back rounding) to create advantageous leverage while maintaining lower back neutrality.
Eli Burks, the current 105kg IPF World Powerlifting Champion, is a good example (PR of 810 lbs in competition).
But notice that even at lighter weights, his back appears rounded. As you look closer though, you’ll see that flexion comes from his mid to upper back, while his lower back and pelvis stay neutral.
This is a fairly advanced conventional deadlift technique, and unless you are an experienced powerlifter, I would not recommend it immediately. Instead, aim for neutrality throughout the back.
If you have ever heard of the deadlift cue “long arms,” this is exactly what is happening.
However, your size and build will impact the best deadlift back angle for you. Check out the full post for more.
Some Body Types Will Naturally Round Their Back More For Deadlifts
Lifters with longer torsos and average to short arms are likelier to round their back during the deadlift, even with lighter weights.
Do you have a long torso and short arms? Read my full post about how to measure your body segments.
Now the important thing is: Does your back round more as you lift heavier weights? Or does it stay within a fairly similar range as the original rounding?
If there is no further back rounding as the weight gets heavier, and there is no pain or greater form breakdown, then I see no issue. A good example of this is one of my lifter’s Dan:
I have coached Dan for over 5 years now, and we have added 158lbs to his deadlift in that time. He has never once experienced back pain nor ever had a single issue from this.
In the beginning, I tried countless times to work on creating a neutral spine. We even tried sumo deadlift, but Dan’s hips were not built for that anatomically, so conventional it is for him.
The more I coached him, the more I learned that because of his longer torso, average arm length, and fairly shallow pelvis, he needed slight back-rounding to get into an optimal deadlift start position.
Rounding your back in the start position may cause a deadlift hitch in the lockout. Read my article on the Deadlift Hitch for more details.
Related Articles:
- Mixed Grip Deadlifts: Pros, Cons & Should You Do It?
- Is Your Deadlift Weak Off The Floor?
- Is Your Deadlift Weak At The Knees?
- Do Deadlifts Work The Lats?
References
- McGill SM. The biomechanics of low back injury: Implications on current practice in industry and the clinic. Journal of Biomechanics. 1997 May;30(5):465–75.
About The Author
Steve Denovi has 10+ years of experience working with clientele from all walks of life and currently specializes in working with powerlifters and their pursuit of strength. He has his MBA in Marketing but found himself after college following his passion within the fitness industry. Steve now coaches athletes all across the USA and takes a special interest in helping to mentor new coaches and providing content to help educate the strength community.
