Deadlift and Bench Press: Free Resources for New and Aspiring Lifters

Welcome once again to all the new readers. I anticipated a little bump from appearing on the Tom Woods Show last week, but didn’t expect that more people would still be pouring in over a week later. If I’d known, I might have delayed publishing the first piece in this series until this week, to make sure everyone got a chance to see it.

So if you’re new here and haven’t seen it yet, Part 1 of this series went up last week, and covered some important background knowledge as well as the resources to learn how to squat and (overhead) press correctly. If you haven’t see that yet, check it out before reading this one. You can find it here: Free Resources for New and Aspiring Lifters: Squat and Press.

Now onto your free resources to learn how to deadlift and bench press correctly. As I wrote last time: If watching these videos helps clarify things for you and makes it all click, that’s fantastic - that’s exactly why I’m posting these resources. But if you’re brand new and watching all this makes it seem overwhelming, that’s a sign you probably need to start with a coach. Send me a message here or anywhere on social media and we’ll make that happen.

Deadlift

The first video is Uncle Rippy himself narrating the brilliant 5-step deadlift set-up that he pioneered. I’ve watched so many coaches teach the deadlift using various methods, and this one is the very best one I’ve ever seen for getting a new person to deadlift reasonably well in a very short amount of time.

Another look at the 5-step deadlift setup below. It’s the same basic teaching method and steps, but has a slightly different style and emphasis, so looking at both will helpful if you’re new as they reinforce each other:

I’ll add my own addition to the discourse with two of the most popular videos on my channel: First, clarifying and troubleshooting the “squeeze chest up” cue that you first heard Rip use in the top video above, and second, the famous “push the floor away” cue that we often use in the deadlift:

Finally a video to address a VERY common deadlift error - leaning back at lockout instead of standing up tall:

Bench Press

We’ll start with our friend Grant from The Strength Co showing the process of taking a new lifter how through bench for the first time:

Here’s a slightly different take on the same basic form. Like the deadlift videos, both are good, so watching both will allow you to get a slightly more complete picture:

For my own contribution here, a video that addresses the extremely common issue of people having trouble squeezing and holding their shoulder blades back together while benching:

And there you have all the resources you need to start learning the Big 4 lifts on your own. Some of the process can only be learned by doing, but these videos should help you on your way quite a bit.

If watching these videos makes it seem more intimidating instead of less, shoot me a message and learn how to get started with coaching.

Finally, please share this post with anyone and everyone you know who could benefit from it, by using the button below.