Bar over mid-foot
Walk in until the bar sits over the middle of your foot, about an inch from the shins.
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Forge Strength Systems / Biomechanics lab
Deadlift Lab: The Hinge From Floor to Lockout
Watch a pull from the floor, then switch on the common setup faults and see exactly what changes — where the bar travels, how long the hip lever gets, and which muscles pick up the slack.
Plain-English concept
The bar wants to travel in a straight line over mid-foot.
When the bar stays over the middle of your foot, you are balanced and the weight moves the shortest distance. Your hips act as the hinge; the horizontal distance from your hip to the bar — the hip lever — decides how hard your hips and lower back work.
Most deadlift faults either start the bar in the wrong place or let it drift during the pull. Both stretch that lever, so the same weight suddenly asks a lot more of your back.
Interactive model
Pick a setup, then watch the pull.
The dotted red trail is the bar path for the whole rep. Scrub from the floor to lockout, and switch to 3D to see the grip and plates.
Lower back
Very high
Glutes / hamstrings
High
Quads
Low
- Hip lever
- 50 cm
- Bar off mid-foot
- 0 cm
FloorLockout
Coach takeaways
Make every rep look the same.
Shoulders over the bar
Hinge down with straight arms. Your shoulders should sit just in front of the bar, hips wherever that puts them.
Lats on
Pull the slack out of the bar and keep it brushing your legs all the way up.
Stand, don't lean
Finish with hips under shoulders. Leaning back at the top adds nothing but stress.
Keep exploring
Related models
Biomechanics Lab
Bar Path Lab
Trace the line the bar should travel and see how drift away from the body changes the work.
Open modelBiomechanics Lab
Squat Lab
Step through a rep and see how depth, torso angle, and bar position shift the load on your hips, knees, and back.
Open modelMuscle Lab
Mechanical Tension
See why muscles actually grow. Change load, effort, and muscle length and watch the training signal shift.
Open model
Learn it here. Apply it at Forge.
Take the idea to the bar with a coach in your corner — in Chowchilla, or through the Forge App.
Disclaimer: This is a simplified coaching education model. Real deadlift mechanics depend on limb lengths, stance, grip, mobility, injury history, and load — let a coach check your setup in person.