Better Form, Bigger Muscles, Stronger Lifts

Some Thoughts and Musings on Proper Technique for Lifting Big, Along with Some Training Wisdom from Bill Starr

     In my recent article The Deadlift Ultimate—which has proven, so far, to be quite popular—I outlined a veritable smorgasbord of training methods and workout routines for building up the deadlift.  The one thing that I didn’t cover in that article, however, was the form that one should use while deadlifting.  Because there isn’t just one form that fits everyone.  On all of your lifts, you need to find the form that works for you.  And that is the form that you should use.

     In this essay, I’m going to discuss the importance of proper form but also how you need to find your form for the big lifts.  There are some “musts” as far as form goes, such as the fact that you need to use a full range of motion on your lifts.  Your squat should be a full squat, ass-to-the-grass.  When you bench press, your butt should stay on the bench at all times, your feet should stay on the ground, the bar should press up so that both of your arms lockout simultaneously—stuff like that.  But none of that means that there is just one way to squat, to bench press, to deadlift, etc.

     When I was a competitive powerlifter, I eventually reached the point where I could total over 1,500 pounds on the 3 powerlifts.  I squatted and deadlifted over 600 pounds and I bench pressed in the mid 300s.  But my form on each of the lifts was different from many of my fellow competitors or even many of the average lifters you see in most gyms.  I had to find the form that worked for me.  I had to find the form that was meant for my physique.  You need to find the form that is meant for your physique.  I trained a lot of other powerlifters.  I had a powerlifting team that I trained with, as well—it always helps to have a handful of guys that train with you, loading and unloading plates, motivating each other throughout the workout.  But I didn’t have each one of the powerlifters I worked with use my form.  Instead, we found what worked for each one of them.

     The deadlift is a good case in point.  I bet if you get on YouTube right now and look up a video on “how” to deadlift—I haven’t done this myself, so I’m just guessing here; someone can tell me in the comments if I’m right or wrong—you will basically see this advice: stand right next to the deadlift bar, keep your arms straight, squat down into your “starting” position, and then pull, keeping your back arched while looking straight ahead or up until you lockout the lift.  Many lifters, especially if they’re good squatters, will turn the deadlift into a kind of a partial squat, as well.  Now, this is good advice for the vast majority of lifters.  But not for everyone.  When I deadlifted, I stood away from the bar by several inches—3 to 4 to be more precise.  I gripped the bar, squatted down, and then raised my hips until I felt my hamstrings tighten; at that point, I started my pull.  Oh, and I also deadlifted with a slightly rounded back.  Most folks who watched me deadlift in competition would have called it a semi-rounded back, semi-stiff-legged deadlift.  They would have been correct.  Because for my build, that worked best.  Why?  Well, for one, it allowed me to have a relatively short range-of-motion.  I have long arms; I can touch the top of my knees with the tips of fingers while standing upright.  By setting my hips high and then rounding my back slightly as I started my pull, the bar didn’t have to travel that far.  I have strong, thick spinal erectors, which you can clearly see in this picture of me dragging a sled:

     For my physique, this form added probably 50 pounds or more to my deadlift compared to if I would have used the more conventional advice.  As I got stronger, I experimented with different styles of deadlifting.  When I finally deadlifted over 600 pounds, I used a “hybrid” stance, in between "conventional" and “sumo.”  The rest of my technique, however, was the same as before.  For most lifters, my method of deadlifting won’t work.  They shouldn’t use it.  For me, however, it was the only form that allowed me to deadlift as much as I did.

     My long arms allowed me to deadlift quite a lot.  It wasn’t even necessarily that I was stronger than other lifters.  I just had a much shorter range of motion.  But those long arms that allowed me to deadlift so much also made it very hard for me to acquire a strong bench press.  Again, it wasn’t that I was weaker than other bench pressers.  I just had a much longer range of motion on the bench press.  Because of that, I used the widest grip legally allowed in competition—index finger touching the outer ring of the Olympic barbell—and a large arch while still keeping my butt and upper back/head pressed into the bench.

     Early in this century, while I was competing, I had a training partner for a couple of those years named Richard, AKA the “Big Ox” or just “Ox.”  Richard and I became training partners because he was the only training partner I could find who was as strong as me, or stronger, on all of the 3 powerlifts, which meant that we didn’t have to constantly change weights during a training session.  We were roughly the same height—me a little over 5’6” and he a little over 5’7”—but he was about double my bodyweight; he was called Big Ox for a reason, after all.  Ox was, in other words, huge.  His weight generally fluctuated between 320 and 350 pounds.  Sure, he had a big gut, but his massive chest extended way over it, so he never looked sloppy fat or anything like that.  He also had very short arms—the one lift where he was much stronger than me was the bench press; he could bench between 400 and 450 pounds, depending on the technique used.

     Although almost equal in strength, Ox and I were a study in contrast when it came to technique.  His deadlift was his weakest lift, comparatively, and so he used the opposite deadlift form as I.  He would use a wide stance sumo technique, squatting down as deep as possible to begin the lift; essentially, he turned it into a wide-stance squat.  He bench pressed with a rather close grip.  We tried taking his grip out wider to shorten the range of motion, but it never helped his bench.  Unlike me—I relied on chest and back strength for my bench—Ox had powerful shoulders and triceps more than chest and back.  Interestingly enough, he was strongest when using a reverse grip bench press.  He could bench almost 500 with a reverse grip because of the short range-of-motion, while still allowing him to use primarily front shoulder and triceps strength.  We never competed in an organization that would allow the reverse grip, so he just settled on a close grip during meets.

     We also squatted differently.  How you squat should depend on how you are built.  No matter what style of squatting you utilize, as mentioned earlier, the numero uno component is to do a full, deep squat.  My son Garrett is seen here demonstrating proper squat depth while doing multiple sets of low reps with 315 pounds:

     When it comes to deep squatting, most lifters won’t be capable of going as deep as my son while also using his form.  Garrett is an upright squatter.  I was, too.  I think it was Louie Simmons, the founder of Westside Barbell, who once wrote that only 20% or so of squatters are naturally capable of squatting upright and down as opposed to sitting back.  Ox was a case in point.  If you watched him and I go through a squat workout together, using the same weights during the session along with the same sets and reps, you would have seen two lifters squatting completely different.  He used a very wide stance, toes pointing out instead of forward, and sat back as if he was sitting on a box, with his chest beginning to point down toward the ground.  Whereas I maintained an almost completely upright torso and sat directly down into a deep squat, where I would essentially sit with my butt resting on my calves, shins more vertical or forward, before coming back up.

     Another component of squatting is how you grip the barbell and position your elbows.  When I squatted, I would take a fairly close grip and then “ratchet” my elbows down toward the ground.  This allowed me to support such heavy weights with stability on my upper back/trapezius.  Richard, however, took a wide grip on the barbell with his hands almost touching the collar and his elbows pointed almost back, similar to the elbow position for the bench press.  You should experiment with both of them to discover what works best for you.  The only issue I had with the narrow grip was elbow pain.  After an 8-12 week pre-contest training cycle, I would have to use a wider grip to give my elbows a break, though that pain was also due to the amount of weight I was squatting on a weekly basis.

     INTERLUDE: How Ox Got the name Ox…

     In 2003, Ox and I were getting ready for the Mississippi state powerlifting championships in one of the (too) many powerlifting organizations.  It was a “single-ply” meet, meaning that the most equipment that you could lift in was a polyester single-ply squat suit or bench press shirt.  For his squat, Ox put down his opener as 550 pounds, a weight that he had squatted with ease in preparation for the meet 4 to 6 weeks before, wearing his single-ply Inzer squat suit.  However, once he tried to get into his squat suit at the meet, he couldn’t!  Turns out, he had gained about 20 pounds since he last put it on—he was now tipping the scales at a solid 355.  But it was too late to change the number for his opening lift, so he had to squat it with just his singlet and a pair of knee wraps.  I told him something like, “look, you have to make that opener of 550 to continue in the competition.  So, make sure you squat deep enough.  You can get it even without your suit.”

     Not only did Richard go below parallel, he sat down with that 550 pounds at the bottom of the lift for several seconds, just as deep as my son's form in the picture above.  At that point, I thought to myself, “Uh, oh.  I hope he can stand up with that.”  With grinding power, Richard blasted out of the hole and stood up with it no problem.  I was impressed.  Others were, too.

      The guy who was running the competition, and owned the organization, I think, asked me, “What do you call that guy?”

     “His name’s Richard, though I sometimes call him Puddin’.”

     “Hell, you ought to call him 'Ox’, ‘cause that boy is a beast.”

     It’s been Ox ever since.

     Okay, with the Interlude over with, back to our essay…

     For competitive strength sports, such as powerlifting, you need to use the form that allows the shortest range of motion.  Remember: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  And for me, that meant an ultra-wide grip bench press with a big arch, an upright but deep squat, and a deadlift that used a slightly rounded back and almost straight legs.  But the form that allows you to move the heaviest weight for a competition might not be the form you need to utilize for getting as big as possible.  In fact, for building muscle, or just general size and strength, you should, more often than not, use the longest range of motion for more “time under tension,” for a deeper stretch, a harder contraction, and just more all-around muscle growth.

     Since I can’t think of a better coach for lifting form than Bill Starr, my original strength mentor, we’ll turn to Starr next for some of his timeless lifting wisdom when it comes to not just squatting but the other lifts, such as the quick lifts.  (All italicized quotes below come from Starr’s pen and his article You are an Individual.  The non-italicized parts are my commentary on his words.)

     “I’ve always been a staunch advocate of teaching correct form on all exercises, for I believe it’s critical to making progress and avoiding injuries. Since I deal almost exclusively with athletes, I have everyone start with the basic routine—that is, unless someone is physically unable to do a certain lift. The big three exercises form the foundation for future strength work, so everyone learns how to do full squats, power cleans and bench presses. I teach everyone the same technique, regardless of background, body type or strength level.

     “I also recognize, however, the importance of taking individual differences into consideration. In my opinion that’s a major shortcoming of a great many coaches and trainers. They have only one way of doing a certain lift, period. If lifters can’t learn to do it exactly as prescribed, they’re forced to stay with light weights until they can satisfy the coach. That’s a commendable goal, as good form is essential, but only to a certain point. I’ve watched inflexible coaches ruin an athlete’s confidence by insisting that he perform some exercise he just couldn’t do. It wasn’t from lack of trying—his levers and structure just didn’t permit him to do the movements as required.”

     We have an influx of “inflexible coaches” these days, especially if you’re getting your training knowledge from some online lifting guru or just a big dude at the gym who thinks he knows everything.  As with the point about deadlifting at the start of the essay, you can learn a lot about lifting form and technique from videos online, or articles such as this one, but use that information as a starting point and not the “last word” in correct form.

     “Take the full squat. I have everyone start with the basic shoulder-width foot position, which fits most people nicely. At the first session, however, I can spot inflexibility.

     “I also teach lifters to keep their upper bodies as upright as possible. Bending too far forward is quite stressful to the lower back, especially in the early going, for the lumbars are always weaker than the hips and legs. Invariably, though, I have a few athletes who find it virtually impossible to go low enough without bending forward. Generally, it’s due to a lack of flexibility in the back of their calves and typically rectifies itself after a few weeks of squatting. That doesn’t always happen, though.

     “In some cases athletes continue to lean forward even after their ankle flexibility improves. When that occurs, do you have them limit the weight on the bar until they master the proper technique? Sometimes that’s the correct course of action, for if faulty form is likely to cause an injury, the athletes need to limit the weight and spend more time honing techniques. At other times, however, if lifters have improved their lumbar strength and continue to have difficulty maintaining an upright torso, I allow them to proceed.

     “The reason is simple. Leaning works best for certain people. Hugh Cassidy was a leaner, and he did it on purpose. He believed it allowed him to handle more weight, and he became a world champion in the process. The upright form didn’t fit him, and he understood that fact. He also coached a large number of other lifters who used his leaning forward style to great success.

     “Some of my strongest squatters have been leaners, and it would have been a mistake to change them. When athletes need to lean forward I make certain that they spend lots of effort overdeveloping their lumbars. That safety measure makes them much stronger in all of their pulling exercises as well—sort of an added bonus. If I were dogmatic and insisted that they limit the weight on the bar until they could do a perfect upright squat, I’d be doing them a disservice. They’d never build a high level of hip and leg strength.”

     Keep in mind that Starr was a world-class Olympic weightlifter before he was a strength coach.  His view on squatting comes from his weightlifting background.  Guys like Hugh Cassidy were ahead of their time.  Cassidy recommended the kind of squatting that Westside utilized before there was a Westside Barbell.  The upright form won’t fit a lot of lifters, especially if you are tall or really big like Ox.  Again, use whatever form works best for your particular body type, and don’t feel as if you must be beholden to the upright form that Starr liked best.  Heck, Starr wasn’t beholden to it, either, and didn’t try to change his leaners into upright squatters any more than you should change an upright squatter into a leaner.

     “The same idea holds true for the power clean. It involves the most muscle groups of all the basic lifts, so form is critical. One of the fundamental rules for performing power cleans is to keep your arms straight until the bar passes your belly button or just below that point. If you bend your arms too soon, it adversely affects the action of your powerful traps. It also means that your arms won’t be available for the final upward explosion that’s so critical to the finish of the lift. Your arms shouldn’t bend until after your traps have contracted.

     “Nevertheless, it’s very difficult for many beginners to learn the correct sequence. No matter how many times I tell some people that they’re doing it incorrectly, they often just can’t make the necessary adjustments. There was a time when I, too, would be dogmatic about allowing lifters to add weight until they could do the sequence precisely, but I’ve learned to soften my approach. Being dogmatic isn’t always in the lifter’s best interest.”

     Sometimes, oddly enough it might seem at first, the best way to fix “bad” form is to add more weight.  The heavier weight forces the lifter to discover the form that works for him.  Otherwise, he won’t even manage to get it off the ground or squat up with it.  Now, you obviously don’t want to have someone with god-awful form attempt to do a heavy, max single squat.  But you could have that lifter attempt a max, or near max, rack squat, whether it’s out of the bottom-position or just a partial squat in the rack.  He will find the proper form, or he won’t even get the weight to budge.  So, yeah, heavy weights fix a lot of bad technique.  Starr demonstrates this with the following story:

     “One basketball player was giving me fits. He was athletically gifted and intelligent enough to understand what I was telling him to do, but he couldn’t stop himself from bending his arms too soon. It was frustrating for both of us, for he really was trying his best. I realized that if I persisted, I was going to end up losing him, meaning that he’d start skipping workouts or coming to the weight room when I wasn’t around. I didn’t want that to happen, as he was to be one of our key players for the next season.

     “So, one day I told him to forget the form mistake and see how much he could handle. ‘Work up to a max single,’ I told him, figuring the change would do him some good. He continued to bend his arms much too soon, but as the weight got heavier, he didn’t bend them quite as much. I also noticed that he was doing everything else correctly—keeping the bar extremely close to his body and snapping it at the top. Although he did bend his arms early, he still had a nice pop at the top. To the surprise of both of us, he did 240, more than anyone else on the basketball team, and the success really helped his confidence. From that day on I let him do the lift in his own way, and he moved it to 260 before the season started.”

     Starr went on to describe some of the weightlifting greats he knew who also had “bad” form:

     “When I find myself harping at some beginner, I remind myself that some of the strongest weightlifters had flagrant form mistakes in their pulls. Norb Schemansky was one of my early heroes in the sport. The first time I saw him is fixed in my memory forever. It was at the ’64 Olympic Trials, and I recall his Herculean physique standing over the bar, rocking slowly back and forth, seemingly willing the bar to vault to arm’s length. I also recall just as vividly that Norb always bent his arms far too soon on both his snatches and his cleans—too soon, according to the textbooks, but not too soon for him. How could he finish the lift, I wondered but finish it he did. He finished with a flourish, snatching 363 in split style. His early arm bend didn’t hurt him at all, in fact, it helped.

     “Certainly, the most vivid example of a champion weightlifter who broke all the rules of pulling was Mario Martinez. One winter I stayed with a friend in San Francisco and took the opportunity to train at Jim Schmitz’s Sports Palace. Mario was the reigning Heavyweight champion at that time, but after watching him go through a clean workout I was shocked. I’d never seen anyone bend his arms so much. The start of his pull resembled a bent-over row. Yet in spite of his form, he was handling some impressive poundages. What was going on? The next time he cleaned, I watched more closely. His pull to his belt was really atrocious, but once the bar reached that height everything changed. His torso shot upright, his arms were straight, the bar was tucked in close to his body and he was in perfect position to drive the bar upward.

     “Mario’s technique was extremely unorthodox, no question about it, and no coach would ever teach a young lifter to pull that way, but the bottom line was that it worked well for Mario. He had confidence in his style of pulling, and it would have been a mistake to alter it.”

     There are too many lifters, especially some of the “coaches” online, who are constantly fretting and fussing over the “finer points” of lifting technique.  But if a lifter deviates from the assumed “best” form for a lift and gets stronger using his “bad” form, then there’s no reason to “fix” it because it doesn’t need to be fixed.  The point of strength training, after all, is to actually, you know, get stronger.  Use the form, whatever it is, that allows your strength to increase.  Don’t worry if someone tells you that your form is “wrong.”  Often the “form police” in most gyms aren’t actually strong or big themselves and have no reason to attempt to tell others how they should be doing their lifts.

     To get really strong on a lift, any lift, you must constantly work on your technique until you do find the form that is best for you.  Don’t stop doing this until you find the form that you like, one that feels comfortable for you, and also allows you to move the most weight.  Once you reach the point that you have your form down pat, constantly work on ensuring that your form stays that way while doing heavy sets of low reps, which brings us around to the last point-of-note I want to make before finishing this essay off.

     Even when lifters have good technique or proper form on a lift, their form can go from good to bad by the end of a set, and usually the reason is because they are training with too many reps.  I believe this is another reason that you should use multiple sets of low reps.  When you limit your reps to 5 or less on an exercise, any exercise, you are much less likely to have form degradation.  And when you train with 8 to 10 sets on one lift—perhaps even more—while using triples, doubles, or singles, you can really home in on your form.  This is especially true of the quick lifts—power cleans, power snatches, high pulls, or any of their derivatives—but it also helps when attempting to perfect your form on squats, bench presses, deadlifts, overhead presses, or even just barbell curls.

     Just remember: the better your form, the bigger your muscles, and the stronger your lifts. Once you perfect your form, bigger and stronger will be a guarantee.

     If you have any comments or questions, leave them in the “comments” section below.  You can also send me an email if you prefer private correspondence.  I usually get around to answering my emails every couple days or so.

     I hope you enjoy reading my blog.  If you want even more training information, then check out my books.  If you want more Starr, then be sure to get your hands on a copy of my book The Strongest Shall Always Survive: Lifting Lessons from an Iron Legend.  You can find more info on it, and all of my other books, by clicking on the link.