The deadlift is considered a core exercise by athletes and bodybuilders alike. There is good reason for this since the deadlift can bring about many beneficial results. However, it is surprising to see the differences in how the deadlift is executed and why it is used. In this article the deadlift will be discussed in regard to its main purpose—developing the gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles—not the lower back.
EXECUTION
NOTE: Before you can do the straight leg deadlift you must have extremely good hip joint flexibility. If you do not, you should do the bent knee version of the deadlift and gradually move into the straight leg version as your flexibility (and strength) improves.
- Stand close to a barbell on the floor so that your feet are under the barbell
- Bend over from the hips with the back in a neutral position, i.e., in its normal curvature. Do not round the back!
- Push the hips to the rear as you bend over until you can grasp the bar with straight arms
- Use a pronated grip or a mixed grip (one hand supinated, one hand pronated)
- Inhale more than normal and hold your breath as you lock the trunk in position
- Pull with the hips to raise the trunk
- Drive your hips forward as the trunk nears the vertical position
- Maintain the natural curvature of the spine at all times
- Exhale as you approach the vertical position, pause momentarily and then repeat
- Pull with the arms (from the shoulders) but keep them straight throughout the lift
- To do multiple repetitions when in a standing position, inhale again and hold your breath as you lock the spine in its neutral curvature and bend over from the hips until the bar is below the knees
- Continue to hold your breath and then return to the erect position, exhaling as you pass the most difficult part of the lift
- When using very heavy weights, if you find the air pressure building up excessively in the trunk, let a little air escape as you execute the up phase. However, you should still be holding the breath as you do the up phase.
COMMENTS
1. The straight leg deadlift is an excellent exercise for isolating and strengthening the gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles. However, if you do not have the necessary flexibility in the hip joints, you should do the bent knee version. In this variant you bend the knees as you incline the trunk forward similar to what takes place in the squat. When grasping the bar, use the legs to initiate the lift. As the bar is traveling upward and the legs straighten, begin hip joint extension to bring the trunk to the vertical position and to drive the hips forward.
2. If you do not have the necessary hip joint flexibility to hold the neutral spine position as you do the straight leg deadlift, you will invariably round the spine in order to grasp the bar or as you lower the bar when doing multiple repetitions. When your hamstrings are tight, they prevent the pelvis from tilting forward. As a result, you must round the spine in order to reach the bar. But, lifting with a rounded spine, especially when the weights are heavy, creates tremendous compression forces on the spine which can easily rupture the disks. Some powerlifters lift very heavy weights in the deadlift with a slightly rounded back. In this case there is no movement of the spine. In other words, they lock the spine in position and hold it throughout the entire lift. Because the lower back muscles are so strong, they can get by with this as the muscles help to handle the great compression forces. However, if your lower back muscles are relatively weak and your hip flexibility is lacking (as I typically find in most athletes), there is invariably some rounding of the spine during the lift which can cause a ruptured disc or other spinal problem. Because of this, it is critical that you have not only ample lower back strength but that you hold the normal curvature of the spine throughout the lift.
3. Breathing plays a very important role not only in giving you greater strength to lift the bar but also to protect the spine. When you inhale and hold your breath during the exertion phase, you stabilize the trunk so that there is no movement in the spine. This isolates the action to the hip joint, which in turn not only helps to prevent injury, but provides for maximum tension on the gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles, which are targeted in this exercise.
4. Grip strength is very important in successful execution of the deadlift. I do not recommend the use of straps since you should be able to handle the weight with your own strength. If you cannot, you should do supplementary exercises to strength the grip Before you develop hand and wrist problems, which in time may lead to your inability to even do this exercise. Some good exercises include gripping with the ExerRings, wrist flexion and extension while holding a plate with the fingers, wrist flexion/extension, ulna/radial flexion and supination/pronation with the Strength Bar.
5. For some reason many bodybuilders and athletes now use the deadlift to strengthen the lower back muscles. This is not the purpose of the deadlift exercise! In addition, to increase the range of motion these individuals do the deadlift standing on the edge of an exercise bench so that the barbell can go even lower than the level of the feet. The only way to do this, however, is with excessive rounding of the lower back. Not only is this positioning extremely dangerous, but the rounded back position is one of the most common causes of back injury to bodybuilders and athletes. If you desire to strengthen the lower back, you should do back raises or reverse back raises on the Yessis Machine or on a Glute-Ham Developer that has the necessary adjustments.
6. There are many similarities between the deadlift, good morning and squat exercises. For example, in the bent knee version of the deadlift, you in essence do a squat but with the barbell held on extended arms. When you do a good morning, the action in the hip joint is identical to the deadlift. In the good morning the barbell is held on the shoulders rather than suspended on straight arms. The straight leg deadlift is identical to the good morning except for the positioning of the barbell.
7. To execute these exercises successfully, it is important that the spine remain in its neutral, i.e., slightly curved position in the lumbar area, at all times. In this way you will be able to work the buttocks and hamstring muscles effectively together with the quadriceps if you do the squat or the bent knee version of the deadlift.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED
The major hip joint muscles are the gluteus maximus and hamstrings. The gluteus maximus is a large, fleshy muscle at the back of the hip—the one you sit on. It comprises the buttocks. The hamstring muscle group is composed of three muscles: biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosis, all of which are two-jointed muscles, i.e., they have an action at the hip joint and knee joint. In the deadlift only the hip joint action is involved. Of the hamstring muscles the biceps femoris is the largest, located on the lateral side while the semitendinosus and semimembranosus are located on the inner posterior thigh. The quadriceps muscle of the anterior thigh is also involved if you do the bent-leg deadlift. The quadriceps muscle group is composed of the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris muscles. There is only one major action in the straight leg deadlift—hip joint extension. In this movement the leg is stationary as the pelvic girdle is rotated upward and backward. The spine is kept in its neutral position by static contraction of the erector spinae muscles so that the trunk, i.e., the hips and upper body move as a unit upward and backward. As the trunk approaches the vertical position, the hips move forward so that the shoulders, hips and feet are in alignment.
SPORTS USES
Hip joint extension is a key action in the walking, running and jumping events. It is especially important in sprinting and in the long jump and jumping for maximum height in basketball and volleyball. Hip joint extension also plays a major role in kicking actions as in karate and other martial arts. One of the most important uses of hip joint extension is in lifting weights off the floor. Thus the deadlift is very important in powerlifting, weight lifting and bodybuilding. For bodybuilders, the deadlift is one of the best exercises to develop and define the posterior thigh and buttocks muscles.