Description
The deadlift exercise is a functional, strength-training exercise that you should do to keep your muscles toned, stretched and active as you age, and to simply stay agile and strong as you go on further. When you grow old, your muscles become stiff and weakened, which gradually leaves you immobile and incapable to continue with your daily routines.
With the deadlift workout, it aims to stretch out your whole bodily muscles from your upper body up to your lower area. It also helps you to acquire more power and speed while executing hard-core exercises. In order to perform the deadlift, you need to keep your back straight and your abdomen tight and flexed in the whole duration of this exercise. Avoid arching your back because it may lead to back pain, leaving your back prone to injury. Upon lifting the bar, always keep your head up and your chest out to maintain proper bodily posture, and always straighten your legs out as you pull the bar up high to form a straight line from your hips down to your feet. Furthermore, keep the bar close as you lift it up from the ground.
This exercise also helps and trains your spine to gain more stability and high endurance as you expose yourself to lifting. Stable spine means stronger back and lesser pain.
Results
This exercise primarily works on the muscles in your legs, arms, back, buttocks, shoulders and abdomen. The deadlift exercise contributes in increasing the mass and in building up core strength in your muscles. Furthermore, it is an effective way to develop your muscles, making them more flexible, more toned, stronger and even bigger, especially to the male athletes. It also results to well-defined abdominal muscles as you continuously lift up the bar.
Sets and Repetitions
For starters, you need to test how much weight your body can handle so that your exercise rhythm would not break down. If your hips, knees and spine are not moving in unison, then the bar may be quite heavy and you may want to lessen the weight until your body can cope up. You can start with a 10-pound barbell in your first week, and add five to 10 pounds to the bar in the succeeding weeks. Complete four to five sets of three to six repetitions.
For advanced, you can also begin with 10 to 15 pounds, and increase the weight to five to 10 pounds every week. The same four to five working sets of three to six repetitions.
Remember that you don’t need to exert more what your body can already handle as it may lead to body strain and further injuries.
Top Performance Metrics
Mr. Arnold Strongman has been able to achieve a new world record for the deadlift with 1,155 pounds in the year 2014.
Related Movements
The deadlift exercise can be integrated with the following exercise for better and faster results:
Squat
Bench press
Sumo deadlift
Related Foods
Before you carry on with your workout, eating foods that boost your energy is basically important because your body needs to be fueled for the physical demand of your workout. The following foods can be among your options:
Whole grain toast with peanut butter and banana
Oatmeal with berries
Greek yoghurt and nuts
Boiled yams
Afterwards, your body also requires to be replenished as a means to recover from the workout. Your muscles are stretched and they need nutrients to be healed. The following foods can add up to your options:
Protein bar
Brown rice or quinoa and chicken
Sweet potato and salmon
Omelet with avocados and veggies
Celebrity Use
The Wolverine that everyone knows in the live action movie, X-Men, has been achieving higher weights in his deadlift routine—435 lbs. Hugh Jackman is known to love his deadlifts that is why he is very much attached to it.
Functional Use
You would be able to manifest improvements when you lose body fat, build more muscular mass, increase muscular stability and endurance, and gain more strength. One of the most important change you can notice is your posture as it gets better and corrected with the deadlift, since it focuses on your bodily position. Your shoulders become more aligned and your spine straightens out even more. Your body also becomes more balanced and you also become taller.