Paused Deadlift

A paused deadlift is a regular deadlift with a deliberate stop during the pull. It trains your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back, with extra work for your lats and quads. The main goal is to build strength and solid body position right as the bar leaves the floor.

Set up like a normal deadlift. Stand with your feet about hip width, toes under the bar. Grip the bar just outside your legs, keep your back flat, chest up, and shoulders over or slightly ahead of the bar. Because this is a spinal-loading exercise, brace your trunk before you pull.

Take the slack out of the bar, then drive the floor away. Pull the bar about one or two inches off the floor, or up to just below your knee, and hold that position for 1–2 seconds. Keep your back flat and your hips and shoulders rising together - do not let your lower back round during the pause. After the pause, finish the pull by standing tall, then lower the bar with control.

Take a big breath in and tighten your core before each rep; keep that pressure through the pause and the lockout. If the pause makes the lift too hard, reduce the weight or pause only an inch off the floor. To make it harder, extend the pause to a full two seconds or pause just below the knee.

Fault: Letting the back round during the pause. Fix: Stop the pull at a height you can hold with a flat back, and think about keeping your chest tall and your ribs down for the whole 1–2 second hold.

Fault: Pausing too high or losing hip position. Fix: Pause just off the floor or below the knee as planned, and keep your hips and shoulders moving at the same rate so your starting posture does not collapse.

Fault: Relaxing the brace at the bottom. Fix: Take your breath and lock in your core before you pull, then maintain that tightness through the pause and all the way to lockout.