Rethinking Neutral Spine

If you've been lifting for a while and are consistently pushing your deadlift max, you've probably heard the advice to keep a "neutral spine" during your lifts. While this concept is widely accepted, it’s often taken a bit too literally. The traditional idea of locking your entire spine rigidly neutral can actually be counterproductive, especially when lifting heavy weights. Think about deadlifting 600 pounds with a straight and rigid neutral spine.  Not gonna happen.  Ironically you need to let the spine flex, just like a fishing pole.  I've actually seen a lifter tear his lat trying to maintain neutral spine. Let’s dive into a more nuanced understanding of spinal positioning during the deadlift and how it can improve your performance.

Understanding Neutral Spine: It’s About the Lumbar

When we talk about neutral spine, the focus should primarily be on maintaining a neutral LUMBAR SPINE—the lower back region. If you didn't already know this, your spine is made up of 24 vertebrae (not including fused vertebrae in the sacrum and coccyx).  Starting at the top, think what time you eat breakfast, 7am....You have 7 cervical vertebrae, lunch is at 12 so 12 thoracic and dinner is at 5 so you have 5 lumbar vertebrae.  You'll never forget that again right??   Think of your spine like a fishing pole: the bottom needs to maintain integrity and stability, but the upper parts can allow for some natural curvature and movement without risking injury.

The idea that your entire spine must remain perfectly straight is a misconception. In reality, some degree of bending, rotation, or even extension—such as what you might see in an overhead press—is not only natural but can be beneficial. Being overly rigid can make you feel like a machine or robot, which isn’t how the body is designed to move and you'll find your self really fighting positioning with the barbell if you don't allow yourself to deviate from that rigid neutral position.  Just think of athletes in motion, they bend, flex, rotate, tilt, canter you name it the body can do it and with lifting I think the same can apply.

Common Deadlift Mistakes: Over-Squeezing the Upper Back

One frequent issue I see in lifters, whether from well-meaning coaching cues or personal interpretation, is the tendency to try to squeeze the shoulder blades together aggressively to "maintain neutral spine." This often results in an unnatural and uncomfortable posture that’s hard to hold, especially under heavy loads—think 2x body weight or more.

Trying to force your upper back into a completely retracted position can feel awkward and may limit your ability to generate power. Instead of contracting your upper back muscles against the bar, it’s more efficient to allow the weight to pull and lengthen your lats and upper back muscles.  Think of it as the weight pulling against your back muscles at end ranges.  

Let the Weight Do the Work: Relax Your Upper Back

Rather than squeezing your shoulder blades tightly, try to relax that area and let the weight pull your upper back muscles to their end range. This small adjustment can allow you to:

• Start your deadlift from a slightly higher position

• Focus more on leg drive without overthinking back tension

• Maintain a strong and efficient pulling position that feels more natural

It’s important to experiment with this approach using lighter weights first. Once you feel comfortable, gradually increase the load and see how this relaxed upper back positioning impacts your deadlift.

My goto coaching after explaining it as I did above is to simply encourage the athlete to explore and try to apply as much force as possible to the bar.  Overtime you will self organize and you will develop the proficiency you need.

The Hips Matter MOST

Picture a dog taking a dump.  We've all seen people deadlift that way and it's terrible right??  But it's not because their back isn't in "neutral spine", it's because their hips are in an awful position.  Typically that dog taking a dump look includes a posterior pelvic tilt, or tucked tail. I'll tell you why that matters.

Anterior Tilt = good.  This is described where the top of the pelvis tilts forward.  If you were to poke your butt up generally you'd use a posterior tilt to do that.  This position is what locks in the lumbar spine in extension and prevents any dangerous flexion or rounding in the lower lumbar.  Think about it, when you hurt your back deadlifting, has it been down low? Or up high?  Exactly....down low.  That's why this is crucial to understand what I'm saying in this write up.  Another benefit here is you are increasing access and tension in the hamstrings and the hips helping you generate more strength and power. 

Posterior Tilt = Dog shit. This is described as a "tucked" tail where the top of the pelvis tilts back.  This is what causes rounding in the lower lumbar which increases shear forces and increases your chance of injury.  It's also not allowing you to access your hips and hamstrings to generate force.  

Crucial Mindset to Bring this Home

The deadlift is not a pull, it's a PUSH.  Don't think about pulling the bar up, especially at the beginning.  Instead think about PUSHING the ground AWAY from the bar.  If you really focus on doing this, you will self organize (naturally move into a posterior tilt and find good positioning) and you will see you confidence in the deadlift skyrocket.  I prefer practicing this with sub-maximal weight.  Pretend the bar is velcro'd to the ground and when you are ready in a good position, try to rip that bar right off the velcro up fast as you can. As you learn this, you'll be able to move the bar faster off the ground and hopefully transfer that energy to your max attempts.

Final Thoughts

The concept of neutral spine is a helpful guideline especially for beginners, but as you gain experience it shouldn’t be taken so literally that it limits your natural movement or makes you feel uncomfortable under load. By prioritizing your hips a neutral lumbar spine and allowing your upper back some freedom to move and relax, you can improve your deadlift technique and performance.

Give this approach a try and see how it feels for you. Sometimes, letting go of rigid cues can lead to more powerful, efficient, and enjoyable lifting sessions.

I put stuff just like this in all of my programming.  I am very passionate about adding value to the reps and sets through education and challenging norms to help people move past barriers and plateaus.  I tailor all my coaching notes to the specific level and goals of each program.  The reps and sets of any program are great but the coaching cues and the lifting instincts I share in my programs is what really drives success and longevity.  Shop my programs below, they all come with a free 10 day trial.  I also accept free phone calls you can schedule at your convenience below as well.  Some calls are to simply talk about strategy, or ideas around certain topics, you don't have to be buying a program to chat so feel free to throw a time on my calendar and let's chat!

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