If you know what’s up, then you would probably agree that the deadlift is ONE of the best exercises out there.
Deadlifts make you strong, lean, powerful and they also build mental toughness. Deadlifts make just about everything in life better.
If you want results then you should definitely have deadlifts in your program, they work the whole body and can produce all the following benefits:
• Strengthen everything from your handgrip to your calves
• Strengthen your posterior chain for a healthier back and hips
• Build bone and muscle tissue
• Work your core and give you six-pack abs.
• Can also improve speed, power, and athleticism.
Basically, what all this means is that deadlifting gives you a better-looking ass, killer abs, and an all-around shredded physique.
Besides getting you looking super lean and defined, deadlifting also teaches your body to move correctly, a skill that is increasingly missing in modern day life. In case I still haven’t convinced you, here are five reasons that will prove you should perform deadlifts on a regular basis.
1) Deadlifts get you lean
The deadlift is the ultimate exercise to include in a training program targeted on losing fat and increasing lean muscle mass because it uses the biggest muscles in
the body, bringing about a huge calorie burn during and post workout.
2) Deadlifts strengthen your lower back and build better abs
Compared to the typical exercises used to train the core and lower back, deadlifts are far superior as they activate all the muscles in the trunk, including the rectus abdominis, the internal and external obliques, and the multifidus in the lower back.
The typical “core” exercises such as plank exercises on a BOSU etc. don’t effectively activate the muscles through the lower back, making them fairly useless for preventing lower back pain.
However, what you might not know is that as good as the deadlift is for strengthening the lower back, it’s NOT the best exercise.
Squats actually require greater recruitment through the lumbar region of the back than deadlifts do.
For example, when a heavy squat (80% 1RM) was compared to a heavy deadlift, the squat required roughly 34% greater activity in the lower back. However deadlifts produced a greater activation through the upper region of the lower back.
So to get the best r
esults, train BOTH deadlifts and squats , if you’re training both in the same session, do squats first, when your lower back is fresh. This will warm it up for pulling those heavy loads off the floor.
3) Deadlifts break through training plateaus
If you program your deadlift training properly, it will make you stronger from head to toe. You’ll have stronger glutes, hamstrings and back. You’re arm and grip strength will improve, therefore increasing your strength in other exercises.
Here are a few little tricks for smashing those plateaus so you can get more out of your deadlifts.
• If you’re weak off the floor, perform “dead stop” deadlifts to eliminate the benefit you get from stored elastic energy on the eccentric phase.
• If you‘ve plateaued in squats as well, do dead stops in the bottom squat position. Try a 4-second eccentric phase with a 2-second pause in the down position of the squat followed by an explosive concentric phase.
• For beginners try eccentric-enhanced deadlifts, lowering on a 4, 8, or 10 second count increase your muscles time under tension.
• More advanced lifters can do supramaximal eccentrics where you load the bar in a power rack, pick it up, and simply lower it to the ground.
Now go pick a heavy barbell up off the floor guys!
Matt
Struggling to break through that plateau in your training? Feel like your not getting the results that you want?
Do you want your very own personal Training & Nutrition blueprint to epic results, plus have 1 weeks worth of Personal Training at our Newcastle training studio? Simply fill out the form below and lets get you those awesome results you want!
