Besides the squat, one of my all time favorite movements is the deadlift. Usually when I load the bar for some heavy deadlifts in the gym…I get the perplexed look by men lifting around. Often times some of them dare to approach me and ask “ You are a woman, why in the world would you need to deadlift?”. I used to make the effort to explain them but as time goes by I realized that a person who classifies a movement as being for women or for men is really astrayed and I do not need to make it more complicated, because his mind is in a fog!
The deadlift is one of the best movements that you could do in the weightlifting room. Personally, I think that if you go to the gym and never make the effort to deadlift, you are pretty much wasting your time. I often hear people saying that they avoid deadlifting because it hurts their lower back and leads to unwanted injuries! Truth is that it is not the deadlift that is hurting your lower back, but rather the way YOU do it!
Deadlift technique
That’s why today I will pay attention to the proper technique when doing a deadlift.
1. Your feet should be at shoulder-width
2. Your hands should be a little wider than shoulder-width ( place them on the outside of your legs)
3. Shoulders should be in front of the bar. Chest up, but do not squeeze your lats.
4. Head should be in neutral position( in one line with your spine)
5. Keep your back arched
6. The bar should touch your shins
7. As you lift up keep the bar close to your legs
8. Don’t lift the bar with your hands.(Imagine them as chains which are just holding the bar)
9. When you rise above, push on your heels.
10. Pulling the bar up, keep your glutes and your abs tight
11. Shoulders and hips, should move up at the same rate, till you reach the level of your knees
12. After you pass the level of your knees, you should lock up your hips. Come to full extension with your chest up and your shoulders back.
13. Then go back to the ground following the pattern backwards.
Here is a video, that does a great job at explaining the deadlift! I found it in the crossffit journal! Visit it for more useful information!
When you deadlift do not squat! Deadlifting ain’t squatting! The hight of your hips, depends on the length of your limbs, but you should never squat lower than your knees!
Besides that it is really important to keep the weight on your heels, and I mean push on your heels! Don’t bring your knees together! Push them out!
The stripper deadlift
Some time ago in the crossfit journal, I found a video about deadlifting. There they were using the term “The stripper deadlift”. Since then this “term” is part of my workout dictionary. If you think that this is a type of deadlift , that you should learn, you are DEADLY WRONG! This is one of the worst ways to do the deadlift but unfortunately it is the common way people perform it. The stripper deadlift is pretty much when you straighten your legs first and then lift the bar only with your hands. Thus you are putting the pressure on your lower back and that is what causes the pain! Don’t do it! And why they call it the stripper deadlift…well if you’ve seen a stripper, you probably know the answer! So in order to make sure you understood me…Don’t ever do it this way! That is what will lead to injury in your back!
Here is one of my favorite websites, where you could find a lot of information about the deadlift!
And as a conclusion, I want to say that deadlifting is for EVERYBODY that wants to look good, feel good and get the most out of the workout! SO GO DEADLIFTING GIRLS!
