I don’t believe there is one exercise that everyone should be doing. I do believe there are certain “movements” that everyone trains in the gym, but the way people train them may be different.

 

If you’re curious as to what those movements are you can check out my previous blog right here.

 

Today I want to talk about hinging, and more specifically the deadlift.

 

The deadlift is one of the foundational exercises and most people should do some variation while training. The deadlift is a great exercise to help build lower body strength specifically in your hamstrings and glutes. Along with working the lower body the deadlift helps to strengthen your upper back and core.

 

While you may think that deadlifting is only for power lifters trying to move as much weight as they can it actually has great carry over to your everyday life.

 

It teaches you how to properly and safely pick things off the ground so next time you are going to move that big box you won’t have to worry about how heavy it is or hurting yourself.

 

It also has great carry over to almost all sports. It helps you build hip extension strength, which simply means strong, as you stand up tall and tight. You see this in many sports such as at the finish of your golf swing, as you serve for tennis and many other things.

 

Now while I just talked about how great the deadlift is I am aware of some peoples hesitation to deadlift. They may have heard certain “experts” say deadlifts are bad for you or they will hurt your back.

 

Now while their intention may be good they are flat out wrong.

 

Deadlifting with good form and proper weight will not hurt you.

 

Today I want to share with you 3 of the biggest mistakes we see with peoples deadlifts and how to fix them.

 

Rounding Back

 

Now our back is meant to move and while should bend and twist, it should not bend and twist under load, or picking something up like this:

 

To work on keeping you back nice and straight we are going to use a PVC pipe as some feedback.

 

Over Extending At The Top

 

Just like we don’t want to round our back at the bottom we don’t want to move through our lower back at the top like this:

 

To help work on this a great thing to do is to actually work on your plank position. The top of a deadlift is essentially a standing plank. Working on your plank will help you understand what the top position should feel like and you will strengthen your core.

 

Start with an elevated plank to make sure you position is perfect then progress as needed.

 

Squatting Not Hinging

 

Now squats are a great exercise don’t get me wrong, however they are not great when you are trying to deadlift. Hinging (moving through your hips) puts your body in the best position to pick something up of ground.

 

If your deadlifts look like this they are a little too squaty:

 

To help work on this we are going to use a Reaching Hinge and place something in front of your knees.

 

There you have it, 3 of the biggest mistakes we see when people deadlift and simple solutions to help fix them.

 

If you can nail all 3 of these exercises you will have a solid looking deadlift that will help you get super strong and reach your goals.

 

Again not everyone needs to barbell deadlift with hundreds of pounds on the bar, but almost everyone should do some variation of deadlifting at some point.

 

-Coach Pat