Friday, August 31, 2012

Fitness Friday: How to Deadlift Correctly




The folks at Fitsugar have excellent instructions on how to deadlift:

  • Hold the barbell (or two dumbbells at your sides) close to your legs, almost touching them.
  • Keep your arms straight and knees slightly bent.
  • Slowly bend at your hip joint -- not your waist -- and lower the weights as far as possible without rounding your back. 
  • Keep your back straight; a good way to do that is to look forward, rather than at the ground. Keep your spine neutral with a natural low-back arch, shoulders down. 
  • Squeeze your glutes to pull yourself up at a quicker pace than it took to bend down (Fitsugar recommends four seconds to bend down and two seconds to pull up). Don't use your back. Do not round your spine.
  • Using a weight that allows you to do three sets of 12-15 reps, keeping your form strong and correct through to the end.
Be sure to read the article, and not just because it concurs with what I have told clients for years: deadlifts are great for your core, glutes, posture... pretty much every muscle group.

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