“Get the slack out of the bar.” You hear this a lot when people talk about deadlift technique. I could say something equally vague and still get the idea across. But what does it actually mean?
In short, it’s about getting better leverage and connection before you start the pull. Many lifters yank the bar off the ground, which makes me cringe because I worry about tearing a bicep tendon. It also makes a loud clank as the bar hits the plates.
Getting the slack out of the bar means using the barbell as a counterbalance to gain leverage and to have everything connected—plates fitting with the bar—before you begin the lift.
I tell my athletes to do two things: bend the bar to remove the slack, then pull. Technically, push is the next step (as mentioned in a previous part of this series).
