A deadlifting looks simple, but it works a lot of muscles throughout your body. Not everyone can do it but I encourage you to do it daily for 30 consecutive days. This may sound crazy, but deadlifting daily has been shown to increase your strength. Many have found that deadlifting daily will pack on serious muscle. This is the time for you to think outside the box and go against the grain of “normal” training.
The Deadlifting Workout
Make sure you do warm-ups first before you proceed with deadlifting.
To make this intense training more effective, you should know your 1RM (one-rep max). You can calculate your 1RM by determining the max weight you can lift for a specific number of reps. Say, you can lift 100lbs for 10 perfect reps without breaking your form. Using the calculator, your 1RM is 133 lbs. A standard barbell already weighs 45 lbs. so know how much weight you can handle to complete a set.
If you’re a beginner, start with 50% of your 1RM; experienced lifters can go for 90-100% of their 1RM.
The total reps you should do should only be around 30 or less. If you’re doing 10 reps, do 3 sets of them; for 15 reps, do only 2 sets, and only a single set of 20-30 reps. For starters, 6 reps of 4-5 sets will do.
Increase the weight every week or whenever you feel like your muscles are not getting any stress from your deadlifting. Adding 5 to 10 pounds will do the trick.
Aside from the conventional deadlift form, there are other variations you can try once you’ve mastered the basics of this exercise:
- Snatch grip
- Sumo deadlift
- Romanian deadlift
- Deficit deadlift
For beginners, the Romanian deadlift is one of the easiest to perform aside from the conventional deadlift.
Executing the Deadlifting Workout
As with any other kind of weight training, deadlift requires you to maintain proper form to maximize the workout’s efficiency and avoid getting injured. To begin your deadlift, follow my instructions below:
- You should be standing in the middle of the bar. Your feet should be placed hip-width apart.
- Bend your hips lower and firmly grip the bar; your hands should be positioned at shoulder width.
- Take a deep breath and lower your knees further until your shins touch the bar
- Keep your chest and chin up, with eyes looking straight forward; your back should maintain a neutral spine position.
- Slowly, propel yourself up using your lower body. Focus the drive on your heels, until the bar reaches your knees. From there, keep pulling the bar using your shoulders as you bring it closer to your hips. This is the peak position of your deadlift training so put your chest out and stand tall.
- Lower the bar down to the floor by carefully bending your knees.
- Repeat everything until you complete your target number of reps per set.
Again, take note that lifting too much weight, coupled with improper form, can lead to back injuries and other accidents so always take proper precautions.
The Deadlifting Workout Explained
It’s not meant to build up muscle mass on your arms only. In fact, it’s a total body workout that involves the muscles in your abs, arms, back, butt, forearms, legs, shoulders, and traps. All of these are used in executing a deadlift.
Fat loss, core muscle workout, and cardio training are the obvious benefits of this intense exercise routine. What else can you ask for? I’m already hooked into this exercise and so should you!
