Technique
Why your deadlift stalls at the knee
It is almost never grip and almost never the lower back. It is where the bar sits when the lift starts.
When a deadlift dies just above the knee, the cause is usually two inches lower: the bar drifted forward off the floor and you are now pulling it around your legs instead of up your legs.
Fix the setup first. Bar over mid-foot, shoulders slightly ahead of it, lats tight enough that you could hold a sheet of paper in your armpit. If the bar moves away from your shin in the first inch, nothing above the knee will save it.
If the setup is right and it still stalls, add pauses: stop for two seconds at the knee with sixty per cent of your max. Five sets of three, once a week, for six weeks.
What will not fix it: a stronger grip, a wider stance, or a belt.
