Neutral spine, what does it mean?

“Neutral spine.” You hear this all the time, but do you know what it means?

You should be able to draw a straight line from the top of your head to your tailbone. This means no broken angles in your neck or any curvature in any part of your spine. If I taped a PVC pipe to your back, you’d be able to actually feel your entire back and neck making contact with the pipe.

Now imagine you’re deadlifting, would you still have the same straight line and the same connection points to the PVC pipe? If you usually deadlift with your neck hyperextended looking at yourself in a mirror, you are no longer in a neutral position.

I’m not at all a fan of mirrors for either squatting or deadlifting, because they make the lifter want to lift their head up and move it out of neutral alignment. Please note that head position does NOT dictate line of sight. You can have your head in a neutral position while still looking up or out with your eyes, specifically on squats. For deadlifts, think about looking at a spot about 1-2 feet in front of your toes.