Originally published March 25, 2017. Updated February 2026 with peer-reviewed research.
In This Article
- The CrossFit Deadlift Standard
- The Bounce Problem
- The Science of Bouncing
- Starting Conditions: A Framework
- We Already Do This With Pull-ups
- The Hand Release Solution
- References
A peer-reviewed biomechanics study found that bouncing the barbell between deadlift reps significantly reduces force production in the early portion of the lift, with the hip joint most affected.1 In other words, when you bounce, you’re not deadlifting — you’re doing a fundamentally different exercise. CrossFit already distinguishes between strict pull-ups, kipping pull-ups, and butterfly pull-ups. So why not distinguish between a strict deadlift and a bounce lift?
The CrossFit Deadlift Standard
Let’s start with what CrossFit actually requires. The movement standard for the deadlift states:
“Starting at the floor, the barbell is lifted until hips and knees reach full extension with the shoulders behind the bar. The arms must be straight throughout.”
Read that carefully. It says “starting at the floor.” It doesn’t say “starting at a dead stop.” It doesn’t say “starting from zero momentum.” As long as the weight touches the floor, the standard is technically satisfied — even if the barbell bounces off the ground and the athlete catches it on the way back up.
This creates a loophole. And in CrossFit, where the goal is to be as efficient as possible, athletes exploit that loophole. They drop the bar, let it bounce, and use the rebound to initiate the next rep. It’s smart. It’s efficient. It’s within the rules. But it’s not a deadlift.
Interestingly, CrossFit has recognized the issue in some workouts. Certain Open standards have included the additional note “No bouncing” — for example, in the 2015 Open (15.1). But this instruction appears inconsistently, and when it does appear, the enforcement is inherently subjective. What counts as a bounce? How long must the bar rest? Without a clear standard tied to the starting condition, the line remains blurry.
The Bounce Problem
Let’s go back to what “deadlift” actually means. As I explain in detail in What Is a Deadlift? Why the Fitness Industry Got It Wrong, the word means exactly what it says:
Dead — an object not moving, with no momentum.
Lift — raising an object to a higher position.
“Deadlift refers to the lifting of dead (without momentum) weight”
The higher the height you drop an object from, the higher it bounces. A bouncing barbell is not dead. It has momentum. It has energy stored from the impact. The athlete isn’t generating force from zero — they’re riding momentum generated by gravity and the elasticity of the barbell and plates.
That’s not a deadlift. It’s a bounce lift.
I know that might sound like I’m being pedantic. I’m not. This matters for the same reason that the distinction between a deadlift and a Romanian deadlift matters — because different starting conditions produce different training stimuli, and pretending they’re the same exercise hides real differences.
The Science of Bouncing
This isn’t just a naming argument. Researchers have actually studied what happens when you bounce the barbell.
Krajewski, LeFavi, and Riemann published a biomechanical analysis comparing bounce and pause styles of deadlifting. They had twenty physically active males perform deadlifts at 75% of their one-rep max using both techniques. The results were clear: bouncing significantly reduced the net joint moment impulse and work at the ankle, knee, and hip during the early portion of the lift, with the hip joint most affected.1
Research: Krajewski, K., LeFavi, R., & Riemann, B. (2019). “A biomechanical analysis of the effects of bouncing the barbell in the conventional deadlift.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 33(7S): S70–S77.
The researchers concluded that the bounce technique does not allow the athlete to develop maximal force production in the early portion of the lift. That early portion — lifting from a dead stop — is the defining characteristic of a deadlift. Remove it, and you’ve removed what makes a deadlift a deadlift.
This is confirmed by the broader body of research showing how different deadlift conditions create different biomechanical demands. A systematic review of EMG literature on deadlift variants showed dramatically different muscle activation profiles across deadlift variations and techniques.2
Starting Conditions: A Framework
In the exercise naming convention we use at Cavemantraining and IKU, we classify lifts by their starting condition — the state of the external load at the moment the lift begins. There are four distinct starting conditions:
Dead — the weight is motionless on the ground. No momentum. Force is generated from zero. This is a deadlift.
Hang — the weight is suspended in the hands, not touching the ground. There is no impact, no bounce. Tension is maintained throughout. This is what the Romanian deadlift actually is — a hang lift, not a deadlift.
Bounced — the weight contacts the ground but rebounds immediately. There is momentum from the impact. The athlete does not generate force from zero. This is what happens in high-rep CrossFit “deadlifts.”
Racked — the weight starts in a rack or fixed support. The range of motion is shortened. This is a rack pull.
These are four different starting conditions. Each produces a different training stimulus. Each develops different attributes. Calling them all “deadlifts” hides those differences.
We Already Do This With Pull-ups
Here’s what makes this argument airtight: CrossFit already distinguishes between starting conditions and techniques for other exercises.
We’ve got strict pull-ups. We’ve got kipping pull-ups. We’ve got butterfly pull-ups. Nobody calls them all “pull-ups” and leaves it at that. The community recognizes that these are different exercises with different movement standards, different skill requirements, and different training effects. The names reflect those differences.
So why not apply the same logic to the deadlift? Why not have bounce lifts, hang lifts, and strict deadlifts? The naming precision that CrossFit already applies to pull-ups is exactly what the deadlift needs.
I’m not quite sold on the whole bouncing thing myself, but I can see that it’s a skill that can be mastered — just like kipping is. The problem isn’t that people bounce. The problem is that we call it a deadlift when it’s not one. Give it its own name and the controversy disappears.
The Hand Release Solution
If CrossFit wanted to enforce a true deadlift standard — where the weight actually goes dead between reps — here’s a practical solution.
You could suggest requiring a hand release, but there’s a problem: an athlete can release their hands before the weight has hit the ground and still use the bounce. The hand release alone doesn’t guarantee the weight goes dead.
We need to go a bit further. I’m suggesting a deadlift with the same movement standard as currently implemented, plus a hand release through a hand clap behind the back. Whether you come up or stay in the hip hinge position to clap does not matter. What matters is that the clap forces a pause long enough for the weight to actually go dead.
This would create a true strict deadlift standard for CrossFit. The athlete has to fully release the bar, clap behind the back, re-grip, and lift from a dead stop. Every rep becomes a real deadlift. No bounce. No momentum. Pure force production from zero.
I love CrossFit. I’m simply saying: let’s improve the standards for the deadlift. Or better yet, let’s call the current standard what it actually is — a bounce lift — and keep both options available. Different names, different standards, different programming uses. Everyone wins.
Related Articles
- What Is a Deadlift? Why the Fitness Industry Got It Wrong — the full scientific case for the deadlift as a starting condition
- The Romanian Deadlift Is Not a Deadlift — Here’s Why — the same naming problem applied to the RDL
- Squat Deadlift — Deadlift Squat Style — another deadlift variation that proves the starting condition argument
- Exercise Naming Convention — the full naming system including starting conditions
- The Kettlebell Swing Is Not a Hip Hinge — the same naming error applied to the swing
References
- Krajewski, K., LeFavi, R., & Riemann, B. (2019). “A biomechanical analysis of the effects of bouncing the barbell in the conventional deadlift.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 33(7S): S70–S77. PMID: 29489730.
- Martín-Fuentes, I., Oliva-Lozano, J.M., & Muyor, J.M. (2020). “Electromyographic activity in deadlift exercise and its variants. A systematic review.” PLOS ONE, 15(2): e0229507.
- Cavemantraining. “What Is a Deadlift? Why the Fitness Industry Got It Wrong.”
- Cavemantraining. “Exercise Naming Convention.”
