Three ways to improve your deadlift

I am not an expert, but I can pull a pretty decent deadlift.  I have been working on my deadlift technique for the past year and although I can still improve, I feel I have some words of wisdom that could help others to improve the conventional deadlift.

1.  Line up with the bar over the mid-point of your foot.

I wear the same shoes for deadlifting every time so I found this position once and then I know from that point where the bar should be.  On the sole of your foot find the middle, see which lace that lines up, then put the foot under the bar using that lace as a reference.

A lot of people set up with the bar either too far away from their shins (resulting in it not being dragged up the body, which is the easiest path for the bath, and is best for the health of the back) or too close to their shins.  By having the bar over the mid-point of your foot you then have room to bend your knees enough to have the shins touch the bar and no further.

2.  Determine stance width.

There are two widths you can use in the conventional deadlift - narrow and shoulder width.  Narrow will look like this:

and shoulder width will look like this:

  

I have been experimenting with these stances and I'll be honest and say I have found I feel stronger in the narrow stance.  This will be different for different people, but give it a try.  

3. Engage your lats before pulling.

Your lats are large broad muscle that runs from arm put across the trunk of your back.

It is the muscle that is used during pull ups, chin ups, rowing, swimming, and DEADLIFTS.  By engaging and contracting this muscle before pulling the barbell off the floor you will tighten everything up, turn your upper body into a solid, strong mass, and then pull a solid, strong mass off the floor using...a solid, strong mass.  Simple!  So it's all well and good me saying to you "engage your lats" but how do you actually go about doing this?  The easiest way I can explain it is once you get into position and grab the bar you then squeeze at your arm pits.  You should feel this in your arm pit and on your back almost behind/beside the arm pit.  Doing this will make your elbows rotate slightly outwards so don't be alarmed if this happens.  It'll all help the tightness!  Tight is GOOD.

Lifting things is good.