28 Jan Coaching the Big Three Lifts: Squat, Bench, and Deadlift Done Right
Article Rundown
- Build tension before the bar moves—every lift starts with position and intent
- The squat, bench, and deadlift all rely on the same fundamentals, just expressed differently
- Heels, hips, and upper-back tension drive power, not the lower back or arms
- Clean setup and controlled positions prevent breakdowns and long-term injury
Coaching the Big Three Lifts
When I coach the squat, bench, and deadlift, I’m not reinventing the wheel for each lift. The principles are the same. What changes is how those principles express themselves under different constraints. Stability, intent, and full-body tension always come first. If you miss those, no cue in the world will save the lift.
Building the Squat: Ownership of the Bar
Before the bar ever leaves the rack, I want pressure into it. You don’t just duck under and hope for the best. You wedge yourself into the bar. Legs drive down, chest comes up, spine stays neutral. That’s the lifter’s wedge.
Elbows matter here. If your elbows are floating or pulled back too far, you’ve got nothing. When the elbows come down and the upper back tightens, now you’ve built a real shelf. The bar stays where you put it, not where gravity wants it to go.
From the rack, it’s two steps back—maybe three at most. Anything more and you’re wasting energy. Once you’re set, the descent starts with the hips, then the knees. It’s the same movement pattern as a belt squat. Stay tight, open up, sit between the hips, and keep the spine neutral.
Out of the hole, the cue is simple: drive the heels through the floor. If the position is right, the bar comes straight up because your structure is doing the work—not your lower back.
The Bench Press Is a Full-Body Lift
People underestimate how technical and demanding the bench really is. Done correctly, it’s a full-body movement that can beat you up worse than the squat or deadlift.
I want you thinking of your body as a tripod on the bench: both heels and your upper back. Heels dig in, traps stay tight, and your hips hover just enough to stay loaded. That’s how you create leg drive.
The handoff matters. The bar comes out over the sternum to create the shortest, most efficient bar path. Grip the bar hard—so hard you’re trying to bend it. That lat tension is your foundation.
As the bar comes down, stay tall. Don’t let your air out. The moment you flatten, you lose leverage and power. The press starts from the heels, driving energy up through the body. Elbows stay tucked enough to maintain shoulder integrity, but not forced. This isn’t bodybuilding. Find the amount of flare that works for your structure.
The biggest mistake I see is losing shoulder blade position at the bottom. If your scapulae come undone, everything leaks. Keep them retracted and locked, and the bar path stays clean.
Deadlifting Without Beating Yourself Up
If you’ve ever hurt yourself deadlifting, odds are it happened before the bar even moved.
Getting down to the bar is a hip hinge—not a squat, not a reach. Once you’re there, the first job is to pull the slack out of the bar. Bend it. Get tight. Neutral spine, chest up, lats engaged. The position should feel very similar to the bottom of a squat, just with higher hips.
Your stance will usually be narrower than your squat. Start around shoulder width and adjust from there. Grip is personal—mixed, hook, whatever you can control—but the intent stays the same.
The pull starts by driving the heels through the floor. Not yanking with the arms. Not jerking the bar. As the bar passes the knees, all you need to do to finish the lift is squeeze the glutes. That’s it. Most people miss lifts here because they panic and lose position, when all they had to do was stand tall and finish the hips.
Think of staying behind the bar the entire time. If you drift forward, you lose leverage fast. When everything stays stacked, the bar moves smoothly and efficiently.
One System, Three Lifts
The squat, bench, and deadlift aren’t separate skills. They’re expressions of the same system. Build tension first. Own your positions. Use your legs and hips to move the weight—not your spine.
When you respect those fundamentals, the lifts don’t just get stronger. They get safer, more repeatable, and sustainable long-term. And that’s how you keep training heavy without paying for it later.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.