The Best Exercises You Might Not Be Doing, #4, deadlifts

I’ve had a few emails from readers lately, who provided me with a breakdown of their workouts. Most of them were relatively standard, but I did notice a few exercises that seemed to be missing. So I decided to write up a quick series of articles on some of the best exercises that most people are missing out on. Number 4 is going to be deadlifts.

The Basics

Like the lunge, the deadlift is both an exercise and a stretch. It’s a rather simple movement. Just stand up straight, feet slightly apart. Now bend down at the back, keeping your legs straight, until your fingers are at toe level. Hold for a second and straighten back up. Here’s the video of a dumbbell deadlift from Cooper’s.

Proper Form

The Cooper’s video is showing a stiff legged dead lift.  That means you’d lock your knees and then do the movement.  However, I prefer a slightly bent kneed stance.  Bend your knees just slightly so that you’re not locking them and then keep that stable.  You don’t want to increase or decrease the bend of your knees as you’re doing deadlifts.  That means you’re working out your knee and not your back.

Benefits

The deadlift is one of the best lower back exercises.  It also recruits many of the muscles in your legs for an even better workout.  Like the lunge, the deadlift can be done with no equipment.

Warnings

The deadlift does place a lot of strain on your lower back and on your knees if you choose to do the stiff leg pose.  You can minimize this a bit by bending the knees as I discussed in the form section, but you’ll still be putting strain on your lower back.  If you have a back issue, you’ll want to be careful with this one.

Variations

The dumbbell deadlift shown is the basic one, but there are lot of variations.

• Toe touches - No weights involved with this one but the form is essentially the same.  Just bend down at the waist and touch your toes with your fingers.
• Barbell deadlift - Same as the dumbbell one but with a barbell instead.  This allows for greater weights to be lifted.
• Bent knees deadlift - As discussed above, this is the same as the stiff legged deadlift shown in the video but with the knees slightly bent.  Less pressure on the knees this way and you recruit more of your leg muscles.  However, this is a harder form to maintain properly.

Who’s Missing Out?

The opposite of the lunge, it’s women who seem to overlook the deadlift.  Actually, I’ve noticed that women in general tend to overlook the back exercises.

Summary

Another easy exercise that can be done anywhere and at any time, the deadlift is useful as a workout and as a stretch.  It’s one of my favorite exercises to do as a break from work or from a long plane ride.  It’s also part of my back day and my legs day.

Series Navigation

«The Best Exercises You Might Not Be Doing, #5, LungesThe Best Exercises You Might Not Be Doing, #3, push ups»

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