Deadlift

Ignore the name! This exercise is one of the easiest exercises out thereee!!

1. Stand with your feet under the bar, hip-width or slightly more apart.

2. Reach down for the bar, with your arms shoulder-width apart or wider.

3. Focus on your hips! You should be leaning forward from the hips to reach the bar.

4. Knees should bend slightly, depending on how low the weight/lift is on the ground (to prevent overstretching the hamstrings!).

5. Knees should also be BETWEEN your arms.

6. Make sure your back isn't hunching over. (Keep that spine aligned!)

7. To lift the weight, work the glutes! Just simply stand up, focusing all the weight on your butt.

8. You should be feeling it in your glutes. Your arms and upper body should stay relaxed the whole time.

Tips

*Deadlift is a GLUTES exercise! Although the weight is in your hands, you need to focus on the power in your glutes!

*Try to keep your back as straight as possible the whole time. Try not the hunch over - focus on the HIPS!

*You should be feeling this exercise in your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps. Your arms and upper body should stay relaxed! DON'T work the upper body!

Although the name may sound intimidating, the Deadlift exercise is actually very simple and primarily targets the lower body - this includes your glutes, hamstrings (behind your thighs) and quadriceps (front of your thighs). The Deadlift, when done with PERFECT form, also helps maintain/fix your posture!

Every time you stand up, your glutes contract - and that's exactly what this exercise is about! With the bar in your hands, every time you stand and bring that weight into the air a bit, your GLUTEUS MAXIMUS works. Your HAMSTRINGS also help the GLUTEUS MAXIMUS a bit, but they mostly flex your knees. As you straighten your knees, your QUADRICEPS also work. So you should be feeling this exercise in your butt and the front of your thighs. You could also say that your GLUTEUS MEDIUS and GLUTEUS MINIMUS muscles, which are at the sides of your hips, are also contracting.

As you carefully lower the bar back to the ground, your knees slightly bend, which works your HAMSTRINGS. Your major hip flexor, called the ILIOPSOAS - the opposite of the GLUTEUS MAXIMUS - also contracts as you work your hips to reach the bar on the ground. *This is important!* You should be flexing from your hips to reach the bar, and NOT hunching your back over, to get the most out of this exercise. You should be feeling the ILIOPSOAS contraction at the top of your legs.