The first exercise my trainer added to my workout routine? Fortunately, I was dead heh wrong. So, should you be doing deadlifts? And how do you even start? Here are some basics to get you lifting. Building muscle helps increase your metabolism, too, which in turn helps you lose more fat long-term. Deadlift training produces a lot of muscle activation in your lower body. A review of studies confirmed that deadlifts do well at activating all the muscles of the legs, back, core, and hips.
Some people might avoid deadlifts out of fear of back injury, but studies have shown that deadlifts can be beneficial for reducing low back pain in some cases. Be sure to watch your posture and technique to build muscle and ward off injury.
When in doubt, talk with a doctor or physical therapist. A traditional deadlift consists of lifting a barbell off the floor while keeping your spine neutral and trunk braced. There are tons of variations, but this one is back to basics. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Reach down to grab the bar, with your knees bent and your butt back.
Keep back straight and neck neutral. Keep your shoulders down, away from your ears. Engage your core as you bend down.
Drive your feet through the floor and squeeze your glutes to extend your hips and come to a standing position. Stand with the kettlebell between your feet. Bend down and grab the handle with both hands, keeping your back neutral and straight. Engage your core while you slowly rise up with the kettlebell. Stand with a bar or dumbbells in your hands. The added benefit with the deadlift is that it uses even more muscles in each rep.
While the squat is great for your lower body, the deadlift forces your arms and upper body to work too. Want another reason? So, it's safer and works more muscles — we're all in, but how the heck do you do one properly? We covered the basics right here , but because it can be a hard move to truly master, we asked Jackson to pass along some pointers.
First, opt for a bar instead of dumbbells — even if you've got no weight on the bar — to ensure that your grip stays steady and you aren't waving your arms to move the weight. Then you should point your toes straight ahead or slightly outwards. From there, Jackson told us that you should "create a double chin, by pulling the chin back towards your neck and pull your shoulder blades back and down towards the hips and pretend you are squeezing an orange in your arm pits.
From here, push through the mid foot and think about driving the hips forward as you stand up straight. Exhale once the bar travels past your knees, being careful not to lean back. If you nail the deadlift like this and keep it in your regular weekly routine, you'll find that you're sculpting your lower and upper body, while getting stronger and leaner all over.
But if deadlifts cause any additional back pain, avoid them. Also avoid them if you have a recent back injury. You can modify squats if you have back pain. Squats are arguably a more beginner-friendly exercise than deadlifts.
You can also modify squats for different fitness levels. Beginners can also practice squats by using a chair to squat down until seated, and then use the chair to help stand back up.
This is an effective way to practice squats for people at risk for falls, like older or pregnant people. They can help you learn proper technique and reduce your risk for injury. A bodyweight squat requires no equipment.
For more of a challenge, you can also do a weighted squat using a rack and barbell, with or without weights. Or, do squats with dumbbells in each hand. For more weight, add 2. The amount of weight to use depends on your fitness level. Depending on your fitness level, there are endless ways to make squats and deadlifts easier or more challenging.
Advanced variations include lifting additional weight. You can also mix it up by using a trap or hex barbell or a kettlebell. Beginners can also try squats with a chair behind you, sitting down on the chair at the bottom of the movement.
Then you can use the chair to push back up to a standing position. Advanced squat options include performing squats with a weighted barbell on a rack or performing jump squats or split squats with or without weight.
They work slightly different muscle groups, so you can perform them in the same workout if you wish. You can also mix up doing squats one day, deadlifts another.
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