They are one of the most overlooked exercises in the gym. In fact, I don’t know too many people who incorporate them into their workout at all. In my opinion, this is a huge mistake. Deadlifts build more muscle, in more parts of your body, than any other exercise. They work your back, shoulders and legs at the same time. And they are one of the best mass and strength building exercises out there. However, they also take extreme care to perform correctly, and you can easily injure yourself if you use poor form. Deadlifts can also be incredibly grueling, placing strain on a lot of different muscles and joints, and these are some of the reasons people tend to shy away from them. That, and many people just don’t know too much about deadlifts, how they are executed, and what muscles they target. Read the rest of this article and you will understand how to perform a deadlift correctly, and learn why no workout regimen is complete without a healthy dose of deadlifts now and then.

Performing a Deadlift

If you haven’t done this before, you will want to start out with a light weight to get the feel for it. You can use an unloaded barbell at first. Begin with your feet about shoulder-width apart, and the barbell at your toes. Bend over by moving your hips backwards slightly, and bend forward at your knees. It is crucial that you keep your back straight throughout each motion of the lift. DO NOT BEND YOUR BACK FORWARD, as this can cause severe injury.

With your arms by your sides, grasp the bar with either an overhand grip (both palms facing you) or a mixed grip (one hand with your palm facing you, one hand with your palm facing away). The grip you choose is a matter of preference; many feel that it is easier to get a good grip with the mixed approach, so I would start with this choice (Refer to the image below, courtesy of Men’s Journal). Your arms will be locked and fully extended, slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Notice how your thighs begin almost parallel to the floor, and your back is straight, not bent forward. This is very important and represents the proper starting form in this exercise.

As you lift upward, keeping your back straight, you will push off your heels and move your hips slightly forward as you straighten your legs. This should be done in a fluid, controlled motion, keeping the barbell close to your body the entire time (it should almost rub your knees on the way up). When you are standing straight up roll your shoulders back slightly and feel the bar pulling on your traps. Pause briefly, for about one second, and then repeat by moving your hips backwards slowly and bending at your knees towards the ground again, lowering your glutes towards the floor. You should cease your downward motion just before the bar reaches the ground. Do about 10 reps without adding weight to the bar to really get a feel for the exercise. Ideally, when you add weights, you should not be able to perform more than 8-10 reps. Deadlifts are meant to be a low to medium-rep exercise, but be sure not to overload the bar as you can really hurt yourself with this exercise if you try to lift too much.

Where Will You Feel It?

The great thing about deadlifts is that they work so many muscles in your body. I choose to include them with my back workout, because this is the primary target, but you will feel them in your legs and shoulders as well. They help to build excellent lower back strength, shoulder strength in your traps and delts, leg strength in both your quads and hamstrings, and glute strength. Performed properly, deadlifts are really the ultimate mass building exercise.

Images in this post can be found by clicking here: Men’s Journal.