Deadlift

Why you should do deadlift!

Deadlift is one of the most classic exercises you can do. It trains not only the back muscles but also large parts of your body, which makes it a must in your training.

This essential exercise is part of more training sessions for increased muscle mass to activate large parts of your body. You will train the upper and lower back, middle back, lats, and buttocks and the thighs, hips, abdomen, and forearms. Few exercises beat ground lifting in its total load. The exercise gives you a strong body in short. But be careful! It is easy to put on a lot of weight and drive at full speed, but the risk of injury is excellent if you lift incorrectly.

Performance

You start with the bar lying on the ground. It is called deadlift for a reason. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and let the bar lie over half your feet in depth. Bend your legs and grab the bar a little wider than your shoulders with an overhand grip (both palms facing you) or with a mixed grip (one palm facing and one from). Make sure your arms are straight. The bar should now be in line directly below your shoulders. Pull back your shoulders and press the shoulder blades together; push your chest forward. Tighten the torso so that the back is straight and neutral. Your hips should lie between your knees and shoulders in height. Feet, hips, and shoulders should all be parallel to each other; none of them should rotate in any other direction relative to the others.

The body weight should be in the middle or towards the heel. Finally, inhale air into the abdomen and relax the abdominal muscles. Firmly push your feet into the floor and pull with straight arms up the bar close to your body until you have fully stretched legs and hips. Hold for a second and then lower it to the floor again.

At the start of the lift, you should mainly lift with the front of your thighs. It would help if you pressed your feet with full force into the floor so-called “leg drive.” Hips and shoulders will then go up simultaneously because it is the legs that drive everything up. When the bar comes up over your knees, push your hips forward and straighten your back. The bar should always be close to your body and go straight up vertically. Before lifting, inhale and hold this torso pressure until you reach the top position. Go back with the weight and exhale.

Do not pull up the bar but tighten the body and pull up the weight.

Tips for Deadlift

• Maintain a tensed core throughout the lift
• Your back should be neutral throughout the lift, do not bend it at all
• Feel free to find a fixed point on the wall in front of you to look at. Your neck should be neutral when you look at the point.
• Your arms should be straight throughout the exercise
• The bar should be in line directly below your shoulders at the starting position
• Your hips should lie between your knees and your shoulders at the starting position
• During the start of the lift, your legs should press the floor with full force, so-called “leg drive”.
• In the start, the hip and shoulders should move upwards simultaneously; it is your legs that pull at the start. It is common for the hip to move first before the bar has left the ground, which is wrong.
• When the bar has come over your knees, straighten your back and press in your hips.
• Pull the bar close to your body throughout the lift
• Do not jerk the bar up but tense the torso and pull it up