Feet Slipping on the Deadlift? How to Stay Planted

Your feet slip on the deadlift when the floor cannot hold the force your legs put into it. Dust and chalk on the platform, shiny or worn rubber and smooth soles all cut the grip, and the pull leaks out through your feet. To stay planted, wear flat shoes with a grippy sole, set your stance with the bar over your midfoot, and push the floor away with even pressure through the whole foot. Keep the platform clean, and if it is still slick, give your stance a grippy surface to stand on.

Why do your feet slip on the deadlift?

A deadlift is a push against the floor. You drive your feet down and the bar comes up. Most of that force goes straight down, but not all of it: as your hips and knees move, your feet also push a little forward, back or out. Grip is what keeps that sideways push from turning into a slide.

Three things take that grip away:

• A dusty or chalky platform. Chalk that falls from your hands and dust from the gym floor settle on the rubber like fine powder, and your soles ride on top of it.
• Shiny or worn rubber. Years of feet and plates polish platform rubber smooth. The spot where everyone stands is often the slickest one.
• Smooth soles. A worn outsole has little left to bite with, and a soft, cushioned shoe lets your foot shift on top of the foam.

The slide is often small. Your feet creep an inch, your stance changes between reps and the pull stops feeling like one piece.

“Platform was dusty and slick. Mat under my stance and my feet did not budge. Pull felt connected from the first inch off the floor.”

Where should your feet be on a deadlift?

It depends on the pull. Set your feet first, then build the rest of your position on top of them.

• Conventional. Feet about hip width apart, toes turned out slightly, and the bar over the middle of your foot. Your hands go just outside your legs.
• Sumo. A wide stance with your toes turned out, shins close to vertical and hands inside your knees. Find the width that lets your hips get close to the bar.
• Romanian deadlift. Feet about hip width apart, knees soft, and the bar close to your legs as your hips travel back.

Then set the pressure. Feel your big toe, little toe and heel all pressing into the floor, with your weight over the middle of the foot. Many lifters use the cue "screw your feet into the floor": without letting them move, turn your feet out against the floor until your hips feel tight. That tension only works as well as the floor holds your shoes.

Do your shoes make a difference?

Yes. For deadlifts, a flat, thin, firm sole suits most lifters: it keeps you close to the floor and gives your foot a stable base. Turn the shoe over, too. A sole that still has some tread grips rubber much better than one worn smooth.

Some lifters pull in socks or barefoot to get even closer to the floor. On clean rubber that can work, but on a dusty or polished platform socks can slide more than a shoe. Check your gym's rules before you take your shoes off.

Why do your feet slide on RDLs and sumo pulls?

Each pull pushes your feet in its own direction.

In a Romanian deadlift, your hips travel back while the bar stays close to your legs. As you hinge, your feet want to sneak forward on the rubber, and you end up watching your stance instead of feeling your hamstrings.

“RDLs on shiny platform rubber made my feet sneak forward. Mat under the feet stopped that. I could hinge without babysitting my stance.”

In a sumo pull, your feet sit wide and your knees push out. Part of your leg drive becomes an outward push against the floor, the feeling lifters call spreading the floor. On slick rubber, your feet skate outward instead, your stance gets wider mid-pull and your hips lose their spot.

“Used it as a small platform piece for sumo. Feet stopped skating on the rubber. Lockout felt like I actually owned the floor.”

The same outward push shows up in a wide squat stance. If the floor is the problem there, here is how to squat on a slippery gym floor.

How do you fix a slippery deadlift platform?

Start with the floor you have, then add grip where it is still missing.

• Clear the dust. Sweep or wipe off chalk dust before your working sets, and chalk up away from where you stand. If your gym limits chalk, here is what lifters use instead.
• Dry the rubber. Sweat drips onto the platform between sets. Wipe it before you set your feet.
• Pick a better spot. If one platform or strip of rubber is polished smooth, pull on another one.
• Add grip under your stance. Lifters in the reviews put a grip mat under their feet on dusty platforms and shiny rubber, and their feet stayed where they set them.

“Deadlift platform was packed so I tossed this down on a side strip of rubber. Compact, grippy, did the job.”

PR Grip is a double-sided grip mat built for benches and machine pads, and lifters take it to the platform too. HexaTrac on both faces grips through pressure, not adhesive, so it leaves no residue behind. At 16 x 26 inches (about 41 x 66 cm) and about 300 grams, it rolls into a gym bag, and it wipes clean with a damp cloth and mild soap. On the bench, it does the job it was designed for: here is what a non slip bench press mat does. Feet that slide on a calf raise plate have the same problem, and here is how to keep them locked on calf raises.

See the PR Grip mat

Frequently asked questions