Deadlifts: 5 Tips to Improve
Deadlift is considered by many people to be one of the best exercises to perform to achieve a myriad of goals in the gym. This exercise can help for many purposes: building muscle, burning fat, even increasing strength levels (whether you are a man or a woman!).
Too good to be true (am I right?)! However, this is where the problems begin… in fact, an exercise that has so many benefits for various muscle groups all together, also has the ability to cause injury to all of these muscles if not performed correctly.
Also, failing to improve your performance from week to week can become extremely frustrating. I wrote this article to help both beginners and more experienced weightlifters among you to better develop your deadlift technique and maybe even make your workout more fun.
Follow these tips and give your deadlifts a boost!
1) Heating
Warming up your muscles before performing one of the fundamental exercises of weightlifting plays a fundamental role in optimizing your performance and reducing the possibility of injury. To prepare your body appropriately for the training you are going to do, you should warm up with dynamic stretching exercises and, more importantly, with sets of deadlifts with little weight.
Being one of the fundamental lifts, deadlifts stimulate muscles of various parts of the body, therefore, it is important to stretch each of these muscle groups before picking up the bar.
Be sure to do various dynamic stretching exercises and perform each of these movements for at least 8-12 seconds. After a few minutes of stretching, you should start your session with a few warm-up sets.
Heating Series
Start with a weight around the 50 / 60% compared to the load you usually train with. It is a good thing to try to accomplish 10-12 repetitions, but keep in mind that you shouldn't do the repetitions to failure during warm-up sets, as this action consumes valuable energy, which will be needed for the heavier sets.
After each set, add an appropriate amount of weight, so that you arrive later 3 series to raise about the 90% of the load you intend to train with. You could also do a pyramid-style number of reps in each set, based on how many strokes you plan on making in the heavier sets.
2) Correct Execution and Grip
A lot of athletes they do not perform deadlifts with correctly: among these there are also very experienced athletes!
The deadlift is a complex exercise, but there is nothing to stop you from perfecting it if you have enough patience. It may take a long time, but I promise you it will be worth it when you are no longer among the ranks of those guys, present in all gyms, who seem to "Have no idea what they are doing".
The best way to learn correct execution is to start with a trainer, an experienced weightlifter or even a video to guide you in the movement. Be that as it may, here you can find some tips to kickstart the development of your deadlifts ...
? Train on a rise
This allows you to be closer to the ground when you perform the exercise and gives you a firmer base than the rubber sole of your shoes. If you don't feel comfortable this way, wear shoes with no lifts so your feet are perfectly parallel to the ground.
? Do not take your feet off the ground
When you do deadlifts, you should always make sure that your heels never come off the ground, which helps you to have a solid base of support. To do this, don't start the deadlift with the bar too far from your feet and imagine pushing your heels into the floor as you lift.
? Use grip supports
If you find it difficult to maintain a firm and strong grip on the bar all the time, there are some remedies you can take to overcome this situation. The first, and most obvious, would be to train yourself in strengthening your grip. There are tons of exercises and tools that can help you achieve this. For an even firmer grip you can use the chalk or strings at the wrists. Chalk is used in many different forms and will help keep your hands glued to the bar (it seems hard to believe until you try). Alternatively, there are wrist straps which are useful for keeping your wrists close to the bar, as they wrap around your wrists and the bar you are lifting.
3) The Support Belt
Another weightlifting accessory, which may seem useless as long as you don't really use it, is the Support Belt. It is not a belt that is used to look more beautiful and certainly not used to hold up in pants, but it will be useful for you to lift more weight and, at the same time, avoid injuries.
Wearing this belt guarantees you a back support during the deadlift. You can detach for years without a belt and not get injured, but using it will certainly give you even more chances! It also has a psychological effect and makes you feel more confident, which allows your mind to focus even more on the exercise.
A belt won't increase your strength levels like magic, but it will give you a hand to lift more weight e complete more repetitions. When you squeeze your abs, an even more internal abdominal force builds up between your belt and your abdomen, giving you the illusion that your abdominal part is stronger than it actually is. This strength helps you keep your back aligned and it really looks like there is less weight on the bar!
4) Complementary Exercises
Believe it or not, Doing sets after sets of deadlifts, without even counting them, is not the best way to improve your max. Certainly doing a few sets will help, but to experience the best possible development you need to add other exercises that stimulate the same muscles to your session.
Some of the best exercises to improve your deadlifts are:
? rowing movements: forward rower, one-arm rower, cable rower, etc.…
? the pulling movements: Lat machine, Tractions
Example:
Exercise # 1: Forward row with the bar (This exercise stimulates the back)
Tips:
? Lean forward at the level of the pelvis until it forms an angle of 45 °; keep your knees slightly bent.
? Look forward and keep your back aligned throughout the movement, as a hunched back is vulnerable to injury.
? Hold the bar in this position for a moment before exhaling and returning to the starting position
Exercise # 2: Machine lat
Tips:
? The series of lat machine exercises should end with a kind of shoulder adduction for maximum effectiveness.
? The palms of the hands should be kept facing each other and the arms extended wide and in front of you. (The torso is tilted about 30 ° and the chest out)
? Exhale as you pull the bar down and inhale in the negative phase.
? Contract your shoulder blades as much as possible
5) Pre-Workout (Pre-Workout Supplements)
Taking supplements before training is a great way to boost your energy, focus, and stamina levels. They will help you train better and reach your goals faster.
La caffeine is an inexpensive and very effective supplement for:
? Increase your energy and focus levels
? Reduce the sense of fatigue
So, in summary, it allows you to train harder, while maintaining good concentration and clarity. However, it may not be a good idea to take it if you work out in the evening, as it can cause sleep disturbances due to its properties.
Creatine
Creatine is one of the most popular pre-workout supplements and helps replenish your body with Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It is the molecule responsible for transporting energy to many cells in the body to stimulate the increase in metabolic activity.
ATP supplies the energy required by the muscles, which contract quickly, making it possible for them to be able to lift all that weight. The replenishment of ATP molecules with supplements such as creatine monohydrate, will only increase the amount of energy supplied to your muscles, which will lead to an increase in muscle strength and endurance.
All the usefulness of the pre-workout
It reduces fatigue, increases energy and concentration levels, promotes the improvement of your performance.
2 Measuring cups contain:
? 400mg of Caffeine
? 4g of Creatine
?3g of Beta Alanine
? 4g of BCAAs
A tip not to forget
The deadlift is certainly one of the most popular and stimulating exercises for body development in general. It increases an athlete's mental and physical strength, as well as helping you achieve your ideal physique.
Do it correctly, combine it with other effective exercises, train hard and I guarantee you will have great results!
