EXERCISE · BARBELL
Deficit Deadlift
Back
Standing on a small platform before you pull stretches your starting range, so you're fighting for tension from lower than a regular deadlift allows. It's not automatically better — if your hips or hamstrings can't already get your back flat at the bottom of a normal pull, adding depth just exposes that gap wider. Set up exactly as you would for a standard deadlift otherwise: bar over mid-foot, shins close, chest up, hips down until your back is flat. Expect the first few centimeters off the floor to be the hardest, slowest part of the lift — that's the deficit doing its job.