Alan Thrall teaches the deadlift as a 5-step setup. Here's how to turn that sequence into a technique your remote clients can repeat.
Most deadlift problems aren't pulling problems - they're setup problems that already happened before the bar moved. The Starting Strength 5-step sequence Thrall demonstrates gives you a fixed, checkable order that lands a lifter in the same braced position every rep. This breakdown covers the method in our own words, adds our honest take for coaching it at a distance, and hands you a copy-paste cue card you can send any client.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Thrall's video demonstrates Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength 5-step deadlift setup - bar over mid-foot, take grip, shins to bar, chest up to set the back, then pull - and why doing it in that fixed order lands the lifter in the same strong position every rep. The one thing a coach should do about it: teach the setup as a numbered sequence, not a vibe, so you can review a client's form video step by step and name exactly which step broke.
Alan Thrall - How To Deadlift: Starting Strength 5 Step Deadlift
Source: Alan Thrall (Untamed Strength) on YouTube - "How To Deadlift: Starting Strength 5 Step Deadlift". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words. The video and channel belong to Alan Thrall; the 5-step method itself originates with Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength, which Thrall is demonstrating and coaching. Nothing here implies his endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Alan Thrall, and why coaches watch
Alan Thrall runs Untamed Strength, a powerlifting and strongman gym in Sacramento, and his YouTube channel is a long-running reference for no-nonsense barbell technique coaching. He is known for breaking the big lifts into clear, teachable steps and pairing them with blunt fault-correction - the kind of tutorial coaches have been sending clients for years. In this video specifically he is demonstrating the Starting Strength 5-step deadlift setup, a method developed by Mark Rippetoe, so the credit for the framework is Rippetoe's; what Thrall adds is a clean demonstration and coaching cues. That distinction matters for this page: we're not treating the sequence as his invention, we're looking at what a fixed, well-demonstrated setup means for how you coach the deadlift to clients you can't stand next to.
What the setup actually is (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video, in our own words - not a transcript. The 5-step framework is Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength method; Thrall is demonstrating it. Watch the original for his exact cues and demonstrations.
- 1
Bar over mid-foot. Step one is placing the bar over the middle of the foot - roughly under the shoelaces, close to but not touching the shins. This sets the vertical bar path everything else depends on; get it wrong and the lifter fights the bar the whole way up.
- 2
Take your grip - without moving the bar. Bend at the hips and take hold of the bar, leaving both the bar and the feet exactly where they are. The common error is shifting the bar toward the shins while gripping; the sequence deliberately locks the bar position first.
- 3
Bend the knees until the shins touch the bar. Only now do the knees come forward, until the shins just meet the bar. This brings the body down to the bar rather than dragging the bar back to the body, and it sets the hip height for the pull.
- 4
Lift the chest to set the back. Squeeze the chest up to pull the lower back out of a rounded position into a flat, braced shape. This is the safety-and-transfer step: it locks the spine before any load comes off the floor.
- 5
Pull - drag the bar up the legs. With position set, take the slack out of the bar and pull, keeping it in contact with the legs. Because steps 1-4 already built the position, the pull becomes a matter of pushing the floor away, not rescuing a bad start.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with teaching the deadlift as a fixed sequence, and it's the reframe most coaches need when they can't be in the room: technique you can't check is technique you can't coach. A numbered setup turns a fuzzy skill into a checklist. When a client sends a form video, you're not squinting and saying "tighten up" - you're saying "your step 1 is fine, but you skipped step 4 and started rounding before you pulled." That specificity is the whole job of remote coaching.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: the honest credit belongs to Rippetoe and Starting Strength for the framework, and it's worth being that transparent with clients too - it models the intellectual honesty you want them to trust. More practically, the 5-step setup is a reference position, not a rulebook. Anatomy differs; a tall client with long femurs will sit into a different hip height than a short, stocky one, and both can be doing the setup correctly. Coach the intent of each step (bar over mid-foot, flat braced back, bar dragging the legs) rather than a single "correct" silhouette.
The safety point matters and we won't hand-wave it: taught sensibly, the deadlift is a normal strength exercise, and this setup exists precisely to keep the spine braced. But a coach's lane is education and technique, not diagnosis or treatment. Screen a client's injury history before you load the pattern, build the movement light before you chase weight, and if a client reports real pain rather than ordinary training soreness, the right move is to refer them to a physio or physician - not to program through it.
So our version of the advice is: teach the setup as five checkable steps, attach a short demo and cue card to the exercise so every client sees the same thing, and use form-check video to audit the sequence step by step. Then - and this is the part that scales - build it into your technique library once so you're not re-explaining the deadlift from scratch for every new client.
Attach the setup to the exercise once, coach it on every client
A setup sequence only pays off if every client actually sees it and you can check whether they're doing it. That's what Coachway's workout builder is for: attach your own deadlift demo and the 5-step cue card to the exercise in your technique library, so the moment "Deadlift" lands in a client's program they get the same setup instructions and video you'd give them in person - no re-explaining it from scratch each time. Then, as clients log and film their sessions, you review the setup and track the load over weeks in client progress, so you can see both that the technique is holding and that the numbers are moving.
If you want the surrounding context first, our breakdown of Jeff Cavaliere's back-training approach covers the muscles the deadlift is built on, and the glossary entry on the posterior chain explains what the lift is actually training - useful vocabulary to hand a client alongside the cues.
The 5-step deadlift setup cue card (for clients)
A client-facing cue card you can copy into any program, message, or exercise note. It states the 5-step setup as short cues plus the fault fixes coaches see most often. The method is Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength setup as demonstrated by Alan Thrall; the fault-fix wording is our own coaching shorthand. Remind clients this is technique guidance, not medical advice - and to stop and check in with you if anything hurts.
5-step deadlift setup
The setup, in order
| Step | Do this | Cue to feel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bar over mid-foot | Bar under the shoelaces, close to shins |
| 2 | Take your grip | Bend at the hips; don't move the bar or feet |
| 3 | Shins to the bar | Bend knees forward until shins just touch |
| 4 | Chest up, set the back | Squeeze chest up until the lower back is flat and braced |
| 5 | Pull | Take the slack out, drag the bar up the legs, push the floor away |
Top fault fixes
| If you see this | It usually means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rounded lower back | Skipped or lost step 4 | Reset; get the chest up and the back flat before pulling |
| Hips shoot up first | Hips set too low, or pulling before position is set | Set hip height at step 3; leg-press the floor and lift chest together |
| Bar drifts forward off the floor | Bar started ahead of mid-foot (step 1) | Re-set the bar over mid-foot; keep it dragging the shins |
How to use it: send this with the exercise, ask for a side-on form video for the first sessions, and coach it step by step - name the step that broke rather than a general "tighten up." Technique guidance only, not medical advice; if a client has real pain, refer out.
5-STEP DEADLIFT SETUP CUE CARD (via Coachway) Method: Starting Strength (Mark Rippetoe) 5-step setup, as demonstrated by Alan Thrall / Untamed Strength. Fault-fix wording is Coachway coaching shorthand. NOTE: Technique guidance, not medical advice. Stop and check in with your coach if anything hurts. THE SETUP, IN ORDER Step Do this Cue to feel 1 Bar over mid-foot Bar under the shoelaces, close to shins 2 Take your grip Bend at the hips; don't move the bar or feet 3 Shins to the bar Bend knees forward until shins just touch 4 Chest up, set the back Squeeze chest up until the lower back is flat and braced 5 Pull Take the slack out, drag the bar up the legs, push the floor away TOP FAULT FIXES If you see this It usually means The fix Rounded lower back Skipped or lost step 4 Reset; get the chest up and the back flat before pulling Hips shoot up first Hips set too low, or pulling before position is set Set hip height at step 3; leg-press the floor and lift chest together Bar drifts forward off the floor Bar started ahead of mid-foot (step 1) Re-set the bar over mid-foot; keep it dragging the shins HOW TO USE: Send with the exercise, ask for a side-on form video early, and coach step by step - name the step that broke, not a vague "tighten up."
Coaching the deadlift setup - FAQ
What are the 5 steps of the Starting Strength deadlift setup?
The sequence Thrall demonstrates comes from Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength method: (1) set the bar over mid-foot, (2) take your grip without moving the bar, (3) bend the knees until your shins meet the bar, (4) lift your chest to set the back into a flat, braced position, and (5) pull, dragging the bar up the legs. The point of the order is that each step locks in a position the next one depends on - so the lifter arrives at the same braced starting shape every single rep instead of improvising off the floor.
Where should the barbell be over your feet when you deadlift?
Over the middle of the foot - roughly under the shoelaces, close to the shins but not touching yet. That is step one for a reason: the bar path wants to travel in a straight vertical line over mid-foot, and if the bar starts too far forward (out over the toes) the lifter has to drag it backward or lean to reach it, which usually pulls the hips and back out of position. For coaching remote clients, 'bar over mid-foot' is the single cue that fixes the most downstream problems at once.
Is the deadlift safe for the lower back?
Taught and loaded sensibly, the deadlift is a normal strength exercise, not an inherently dangerous one - the setup Thrall coaches exists precisely to keep the spine in a stable, braced position under load. That said, a coach's job here is education and technique, not medical treatment: screen a client's history, start light, build the pattern before the weight, and if a client reports genuine pain (not ordinary training soreness) the right move is to refer them to a physio or physician, not to program through it. This page is coaching education about lift technique, not medical advice.
Why teach a fixed setup sequence instead of just cueing the pull?
Because the pull is the easy part - almost every deadlift fault is really a setup fault that has already happened by the time the bar leaves the floor. A rounded back, hips shooting up first, or the bar drifting forward all trace back to a position the lifter set (or skipped) before pulling. A fixed sequence turns technique into something checkable: you can review a client's setup step by step on video and pinpoint exactly which step broke, rather than vaguely telling them to 'be tighter.'
More training-technique breakdowns
- · Jeff Cavaliere on training the back - the muscles the deadlift setup is built on.
- · Ben Patrick on building resilient knees - the joint-prep side of loading the lower body.
- · Greg Everett on Olympic weightlifting technique - cueing the snatch and clean pull for a clean bar path.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep sharpening your coaching
all guidesWhat Is the Posterior Chain? Muscles and Exercises (2026)
The posterior chain is the line of muscle along the back of the body that extends the hips and keeps you upright. Meet the muscles, the key exercises with entry versions, and how coaches program it.
Read the guideExercise Progression and Regression for Coaches (2026)
Progression is the smallest change that keeps a client adapting; regression is the respectful step back that keeps them training. The nine progression variables, pattern ladders for six movements, and the decision rules for when to move.
Read the guideWhat Is Corrective Exercise? A Coach's Guide (2026)
Corrective exercise is movement-quality coaching for healthy clients, not treatment. What it honestly looks like in practice, the fair critique of the corrective industry, and the refer-out line every coach holds.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Deadlift Calculator · DOTS Calculator · Plate Loading Calculator
Build your technique library once, coach it on every client
A setup sequence only pays off if every client sees it and you can check they're doing it. Coachway lets you attach your own deadlift demo and cue card to the exercise, assign it in seconds, and review form-check videos while tracking the load over time. Start your 14-day free trial and build your first technique library from one screen.
