What is a deadlift?

A barbell deadlift is one of the three big exercises in powerlifting. It targets mainly the lower back, gluteus, hamstrings, and calves. In other words, the posterior chain of the legs.

It’s one of the best compound exercises to gain both strength and muscle mass. This makes it a staple in every workout program.

However, it’s a very technical exercise which means that it’s easy to mess up somewhere, leading to injuries. So learning the proper technique before lifting heavy weights is required.

While performing deadlifts, the trainee hinges on the hips until the trunk is almost parallel to the ground without rounding the upper back. The knees are also bent. Then, the barbell gets pulled upwards by extending the knees and hips until they are straight again.

What muscles does the deadlift train

As a very important compound exercise, barbell deadlifting trains a large variety of muscles. Mainly:

Legs

• Gluteus Maximus (Butt)
• Quadriceps (Front muscle above the knees)
• Adductor Magnus (Inner thigh)
• Hamstrings: (Upper back of legs)
• Soleus: (Calf muscle)

Back

• Latissimus Dorsi muscles (Lateral muscles at the back/ V-shape)
• Erector Spinae: (Lower back)
• Trapezius, upper: (Upper back muscles)
• Trapezius, middle: (Middle back muscles)

Neck

• Levator Scapulae: (The muscle from your jaw to your shoulder)
• Rhomboids:  (Upper inner back muscles right below your neck)

Abdominal

• Obliques: (side abs)
• Rectus Abdominis: (abs)

Benefits of deadlifting

• Improved grip strength

  Since your hands and fingers have to hold the barbell for you and the weight you can lift with deadlifts is high, your grip will most definitely improve.

  You will feel your forearms burning from trying to keep the barbell from slipping out of your hands.

• Real-life application

  Lifting heavy objects from the floor will resemble the deadlift pattern.

  This makes the deadlift have carry-over potential to your daily life activities. Squats for that matter do too. Squatting is a movement that’s necessary to pick something up or to sit down, in addition to getting up from a chair.

• Builds strength and muscle

  

  One of the biggest benefits of doing deadlifts is that it builds strength and muscle mass.

  It’s a great compound exercise. This means it’s a movement that uses multiple joints and muscles at the same time.

  Due to this, it enables us to build more strength and muscle mass than isolation exercises will because more muscles are being trained at once.

• It will make your behind and legs look great

  Let’s face it, every one of us likes to feel and look decent.

  The reason it will make your legs look good is because you gain muscle definition in your glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings.

  I mean, what’s not to like?

  For the girls who are worried about getting big legs when deadlifting heavy weights, don’t. Women aren’t predisposed to gain large amounts of muscle mass. However, it will help you to make improvements in your strength and muscle definition.

• Keeps you flexible

  

  Deadlifting will keep you flexible and injury-free.

  How many people do you see lift objects from the ground while arching their backs? A lot! This is not the correct way because it’s damaging to your spinal discs and can lead to back problems like hernias.

  Therefore, it’s important to let the biggest muscles in your body, which are the leg muscles, do the heavy lifting. Keep your back straight and let the legs do the work. Deadlifting with proper technique can even fix bad posture by improving muscle imbalances.

• Burning fat

  

  Because the deadlift is a compound exercise, a lot of calories get burned. More so than an isolation exercise would.

• Increased testosterone levels

  For men, the deadlift releases a ton of testosterone in the body because it’s such an intense exercise where a lot of muscles need to be coordinated at the same time.

  This enables us to gain a large amount of muscle mass and strength.

• Feel better

  Exercising releases endorphins. These endorphins make us feel better and are our body’s natural way of acting as a pain reliever.

  This means people who have a lot of joint or other injuries can benefit from deadlifting. Exercising also helps people with depression feel better and cope with the symptoms of depression.

When should you not deadlift?

• When you have a lower body or core injury

  Always consult your doctor before continuing to lift in these situations.

  If you are allowed to continue training, then I would always recommend training with light weights and listening to what your body tells you. When in pain, stop lifting.

• When you have bad form

  Correct technique is always the single most important thing when weight training. Especially if you plan on going heavy.

  Make sure you’re lifting with proper form before loading on heavier weights!

Variations of the deadlift

• Single-leg Romanian deadlift
• One leg deadlift
• Dumbbell stiff leg deadlift
• Single-leg dumbbell deadlift
• Kettlebell Romanian deadlift
• Barbell stiff leg deadlift
• Sumo deadlift dumbbell
• …