Deadlift: All in One Exercise

Let’s be frank, there are some exercises which simply look cool. Especially if a girl does it. Deadlift is one of them. Squat is the other. But let’s concentrate on this most ancient, fundamental alpha lift here. I cannot imagine a leg day without deadlifts because it’s an addiction and every time I do it, I get so much stronger. What’s more, against most girls’ belief that lifting heavy will lead to huge legs – they will actually loose the fat and get skinnier legs. Which is exactly what happened to me: I shrank the circumference of my legs a total of 7 centimeters by lifting heavier than most of the average gents at our club.

The primary benefits of deadlifting are increased strength and muscle mass. Because deadlift is a compound movement it utilizes nearly every major muscle of your body as well as the small stabilizer muscles in your body. Muscles trained by the deadlift:

• BACK: the main stress is on the lower back throughout the movement
• GLUTEUS: develops round and strong gluteus muscles and works the surrounding hip/pelvic muscles
• LEGS: works the entire leg
• FOREARMS: the forearms are worked tremendously
• SHOULDERS: shoulders and trapezius will develop

So doing a deadlift is almost like doing  a leg press, a back extension, a lying leg curl, an abdominal crunch, a gripping exercise, a straight-arm pull down and a shrug all at the same time. Yep, its one hell of a compound lift.

Another great reason for deadlifting is the testosterone release you get from dumping the barbell to the floor. That sound is simply PRICELESS!

I know three Deadlift variations: The stiff-legged Deadlift, the Quadriceps Deadlift and the Sumo Deadlift. Given that heavy weights are typically used for all of these Deadlifts, the potential for injury is great due to the complexity of the movement. It is therefore very important to maintain correct technique at all times. For me, the hardest thing was not lifting the weight but managing to hold on the grip through out my sets. I now ordered straps which will hopefully be useful. Of course, it won’t be that sexy anymore but I really hate those blisters on my hands!