Deadlifting: The bleeding shins controversy

Round the shoulders; keep the lowerback tight.

Kyle, I compete and feel that the dead lift is my strong event. A number of powerlifter sights may be of help for your technique issues. If you allow the weight to pull them forward toward your toes or flat footed, you will have the tendency to scratch your shins. There are several techniques for deads, I lift and make sure that I am lifting off my heals and leaning back as if I wanted to fall backwards. The weight will stablize your lift and in my case, the bar sails rapidly past the shins. For me the battle begins above the knees, keeping from hitching the weight prior to a lock out. On a perfect heavy lift, I don’t feel the weight. I recently lifted 500lbs and am going for 525 on Tuesday. Great thread. Peace

I solved the shin problem, improved my overall form and may have prevented “bad form injuries” by doing deads with a trap bar.

I am keeping an open mind abot this because I am sure some of you are much better deadlifters than I. However I just dont see how starting the deadlift with the bar farther away will make it any easier or safer. I used to start with the bar about 1 inch past my toes shoulders behind the bar. My pull went up considerably when I started with it right over the center of my feet. Maybe it varies from body type to body type which method is better. It’s probably just like how everyones body responds differently to different diets.

If you read my post, I did not say to start in a low squat postition. I said “almost at the bottom of a squat”. I am just trying to emphasize not starting the pull with the lower back like I see a lot of beginners do.

Kyle, I prefer to Deadlift the way that Dave Tate trains. As a National competitor, I have worked with several of the guys from Westside, and I believe in their ideas. However, YOU must find what works for YOU. Period. I think having the bar next to the shins is a very bad idea, but I am also not one to have the bar a foot away. Again try to keep it at mid foot, or if you wear Chuck Taylors to deadlift in, line the bar up with the second eye hole…You will save your shins, and in the long run you will pull more…Remember the Deadlift is a HIP and LOW BACK lift…NOT a varied version of a squat like some people have said on this thread…GOOD LUCK…

Let me aks ya this… I am putting together your lift technique in my head. I get the whole pulling back thing… I think Tate referred to it like a “lever”. Anyway, when you put it back down, do you back up again for the next rep, or is it easy to put it down a little bit in front of you?

Kyle, do yourself a favor and go see a powerlifting coach if you really want to get your deadlifts right. A good coach will save you lots of time, and with only one or two sessions should be able to do wonders for your form.


While I can say with relative certainty that no one needs to have bleeding shins to get a good deadlift, starting points and all the other fine nuances of technique are going to vary from person to person according to how that individual is built. If you’re tall with long legs, you’re going to have more trouble clearing your knees that someone who’s short but got a long torso, and so on. Get someone to look at YOUR technique and go from there.

How do you deadlift with your shoulders behind the bar without the bar physically sliding on your shins? I find that there is at least mild contact under that condition. (Notice is said slide, not rip your shins up) :slight_smile:

The bar should naturally return very close to the original position; it shouldn’t be a problem. I never switch my positions once I start reps; and I don’t have any problems.

I have a friend who has deadlifted 715 in competition before. This was enough to get his name in Powerlifter USA and to ranked (at one time) in the top 50 in the country for his weight class(under 200). He does not rake the bar against his shin so I take his example. If anything that would cause EXTRA friction, resulting in EXTRA stress that is not equal during the whole movement. This could result in injuries that would normally not occur if better form was applied

To who ever asked me that question ealier…The way you keep it off the shins is fairly simple…The bar is being pulled back and up at the same time, however by the time it gets to touch your body, it is at low/mid thigh…If you start with your shoulders behind the bar, and you pull back and up, and the bar still hits your shins, your butt is too low, you not pulling back enough, and your starting the lift in too much of a squat position…