The Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the most powerful and effective exercises ever developed for gaining muscle and increasing your strength. Many people would agree that the deadlift is the best overall test of brute strength there is. This lesson will focus in teaching you how to deadlift correctly, with good form. If you are serious about gaining muscle and improving your strength then you have to include the deadlift in your workouts. The deadlift is a compound exercise which targets pretty much every major muscle group in your body.

On the face of it, the deadlift is not a complicated exercise as all you are really doing is picking a weight off the floor and then lowering it back down again. To a degree this is true but the real difficulty with the deadlift comes from lifting the weight in a way that is safe and will not cause you injury. Good form is essential to prevent injury in any exercise and the deadlift is no exception. Another reason why you need to consider good form when deadlifting is because the weights you deadlift will probably be very heavy and thus expose your back to potential injury if you neglect your form. Most people find they can lift more weight in the deadlift than any other exercise.

Deadlift Form

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and keep your shins touching the bar. Keep your head looking forwards and begin pulling the weight off the floor making sure to keep your back straight and tight throughout the lift. Try and keep the bar as close to your shins as possible when deadlifting. Don’t use your arms when deadlifting, your arms are just there to hold the weight. You will want to use an alternating grip, with one hand over and one hand under the bar, where possible. The alternating grip will allow you to grip the bar much tighter and allow you to deadlift more weight. You also might want to consider using chalk on your hands because once you start deadlifting heavy, the bar will tear your hands apart and you will need chalk to maintain your grip and reduce friction on your hands. Keep your head looking straight up, your back flat, chest up and your hips down. Keeping your hips down will help take some stress off the lower back.

Points To Remember

When deadlifting keep these points in mind

Don’t round your back

Don’t use gloves. If you need extra grip use chalk.

Keep the bar close to your shins at all time

Don’t jerk the movement. The deadlift should be a smooth controlled movement.

It is important not to train heavy deadlifts too often because the exercise is so taxing on your body. A good idea would be to train the deadlift every two weeks to prevent overtraining.

Why Deadlift

The deadlift is the best mass building exercises for the upper body there is. It works your back, your abs, your quads and your hamstrings all at the same time.

The Sumo Deadlift

One common variation on the standard deadlift is the sumo deadlift and it is mainly used by powerlifters who want to put less strain on their lower backs. The sumo deadlift is similar to the conventional deadlift except the lifter adopts a much wider stances and it tends to work the legs more intensely, particularly the hamstring muscles. You might want to experiment with the sumo style deadlift. It is usually your body shape and height that dictates what style of deadlift is best for you. People with stronger legs tend to prefer the sumo style deadlift and those with stronger back tend to prefer the regular deadlift. The sumo deadlift generally takes stress away from the lower back and puts it more onto the hips and glutes.

Deadlift World Records

The deadlift has produced some amazing lifts over the years and here are two amazing powerlifting examples.

Super Heavyweight Class: Garry Frank, USA, deadlifted 931.5 pounds in 2002.

Heavyweight (242 lb. class): Ed Coan, USA, deadlifted 887.4 pounds in 1998.

I hope you enjoyed this article on deadlifting. Work on getting your form right and you will soon be lifting heavy weights in no time. When done correctly, the deadlift is one of the best mass building exercises around.