The conventional deadlift is anther complex exercise dealing with a lot of various muscles.
First, with the deadlift is the stance. The stance for most trainees will be a bit narrower than their stance for the squat. Usually a stance as if you were going to jump in the air is about right. Something like 12-15 inches between the heels works best for me.
The bar should be resting on the floor about 3 inches in front of your shins.
Grip is a debated topic relative to the deadlift. I prefer to use a double overhand grip except for PR (personal record attempts). Your other choice is to use an alternated grip where one hand is pronated and the other is supinated. What this latter grip provides is more stability since the bar is perpetually rolling one direction out of one hand, and the opposite direction out of the other. You can mess around with both and choose what you are most comfortable with. At this stage in the game when strength gains are most easily realized as a novice, I’d recommend using the double overhand grip.
Grip width is simple. Your thumbs should be just outside your legs.
As Rippetoe so simply, yet perfectly states, “the main idea here is to get the trainee to pull the bar up his legs with straight elbows, with his back in an anatomically safe position.”
As much as I hate to say it, the deadlift is simply an exercise that mimics the action of bending down, picking something heavy up, and setting it back down on the floor. The exercise simply makes sure you do it with safe biomechanical movement.
Back position is the most important part of the lift. There are similarities here relative to the squat. For starters, you want to keep you chest up high throughout the movement which will promote proper extension of the spine. Secondly, you want to stick your butt out in so that the lumbar spine is properly extended. Keep your shoulders back.
So set this position before bending down to pick up the bar.
As you bend down, you are going to lose some of the lumbar extension which is fine. What you want to avoid, always during the deadlift, is rounding of the back!
There are 3 angles to consider during the deadlift. There’s the angle at the knee, the angle at the hip, and the angle of the torso relative to the floor. In the proper deadlift, the knee angle is the first thing to increase. The torso should stay at the same angle from the floor and the hips should open up slightly as shins and femurs become more vertical.
Essentially the quads initiate the movement by extending the knees. As the hips start to open and the torso begins to erect, the glutes and hamstrings take over as the primary movers.
Depending on anthropometrics, the starting position will be different for each person. A few things that will be common for all will be the knees and shoulders should be slightly ahead of the bar at the start of the movement. The bar should be touching the shins. The hips will be low enough so the legs can get some drive against the floor. However, this depth will not be equal to the depths reached during the squat.
Something to remember with the deadlift is this: The last thing that happens on the way up during the movement is going to be the first thing that happens on the way down.
So what is the way down?
You start the downward movement by flexing at the hips and pushing your butt back. The entire time keep the back LOCKED. Also keep the arms STRAIGHT the entire time. As the bar slides down the legs, passing the knee, start flexing the knee to help the bar down the rest of its journey down to the floor.
I could state a lot more minutia on this subject, but I’m starting to run out of time.
Barbell Deadlift http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/.../Deadlifts.mpg YouTube - How to Dead Lift with Proper Form No Matter WHO you are
In the above video, I'm not a fan of the guy's back position, but the words are right.
http://www.performanceworkouts.com/e...lldeadlift.mov