Close Grip Deadlift

If you were stuck on a desert island and could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, the smart money is on a deadlift. It’s a compound movement (using more than one joint during the exercise), and recruits almost every major muscle group in the body. This makes it one of the strongest and most powerful movements the human body can perform. It’s also very simple and very functional. No matter what you do, you will need at some point to bend down and pick something up.  Deadlifts teach you how to perform that movement with both correct technique and strength.

Deadlifts predominantly use the leg and glute muscles to drive the lifting phase of the movement but also require strength through core, back, neck, shoulders and ams in order to maintain strong posture. Although it’s a simple movement, correct technique is important to make sure you get the maximum benefit from the exercise.

To start:

You can use a medicine ball or kettlebell to do this exercise at home. Whatever you’re going to lift, put it on the floor between your feet. Before you start really pay attention to how your feet are positioned. Imagine you’re standing on skis with your feet parallel and about four feet apart. You need to feel as though your weight is evenly distributed and connected to the ground through your whole foot – heel, ball, pad and toes.

Once you feel solid adjust your hips and spine so you’re standing is a neutral position with your eyes looking towards the horizon. Focus on keeping your shoulders wide and your sternum up. Even though it might feel strange, standing like this makes sure you’re stabilising everything above your hips, whick keeps your spine in the correct position.

The lift:

Keep thinking of how your feet are positioned as you prepare to lift your weight. It’s also important to maintain equal weight distribution through your left and right leg, and you can use your feet to give feedback on which side is working harder.

Grip your weight evenly and start your deadlift by bending (flexing in anatomical terms) your hips, knees and ankles in a smooth movement (this is the multi joint action mentioned earlier), which is controlled by your glutes, hamstrings and your back (this is called your posterior chain – the muscles in the back of your body).

Make sure your knees stay aligned over your toes, and don’t swing out to the side or towards one another. let your hands travel down your thighs to below your knees, keeping your arms straight. To channel the power in yur legs into your lift, yu need to keep your spine straight and stabilised, your head and sternum up, and your weight balanced from the beginning to the lowest point of the deadlift.

As you return to the start position, your glutes will straighten (extend) your hips, your hamstrings will extend your knees and your calves will extend your ankles, still controlled by your posterior chain.

Your glutes and lower back muscles work together to keep your spine straight and drive your pubic bone forward as you move into the upright position. Your arms need to stay straight during the lifting phase of the exercise, and your hands will finish just below your pelvis.

Some important things to remember:

Keep your weight even between left and right feet and balanced evenly between your heels and toes.

You’ll need strength and stability through your core, back, neck, shoulders and arms to keep your posture strong.

Your knees need to stayed aligned over your toes.

If you can’t keep your spine straight, you’ve gone too deep into the movement, and your legs won’t be able to power you back up properly. less is more when you start a complex movement like this – let your body get strong before you try to get your arse on the grass.

If any of your leg muscles are tight, your flexibility will be a limiting factor on how deep you’re able to move. Tightness can also cause your hips to twist or pivot, which will also take power away from your legs.

Keep your head and sternum up through the movement to activate your lower back.

Your deadlift needs to be a smooth movement controlled by your posterior chain.

Benefits of deadlifts:

Highlighting any imbalances between the left and right sides of the body, especially shoulders, hips (which can lead to knee and ankle imbalances). You might also notice one side of your body working harder than the other.

Activating your posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings)

Increase flexibility of your hamstrings and glutes.

If you’re able to perform a deadlift with correct technique, you can you it to increase your strength and power. You can also do it with out weight, and improve your stability and endurance if you need to perform many identical movements – long distance running is a good example.

Deadlifts are awesome for improving nearly everything about your body.

Give them a go and let me know what you think.