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Despite music blaring in my ears full blast, I can barely hear it.
My heart is pumping, I can definitely feel that.
I clip on my belt and begin walking towards the bar.
I set my feet underneath the bar and grab the bar with my chalk covered hands.
Take a deep breath.
And rip the heavy weight off the ground.
I release all my power into a few seconds. Maybe even just one second.
The rush you experience is everlasting, it never gets old.
But unfortunately, most people never get to experience any of this, because they’re scared to deadlift.
Apparently, it’s a “dangerous exercise.”
“Women shouldn’t do them.”
“That hurts your back.”
“You’ll herniate a disc.”
“It’s only for powerlifters.”
And other BS that people like to spout. Those same people have never performed a deadlift in their life.
The only time you’ll get injured is if you do it improperly or if you lift with your ego (go too heavy).
How to Deadlift
The thing is, I’ve trained sedentary clients who got up from their chair at work and blew their disc.
And here’s the irony, when they came to me for help, I immediately got them doing deadlifts.
I could go on all day about the benefits of deadlifts, but I’m going to give you my TOP 5 reasons and benefits of deadlifts, and why you should implement them into your program IMMEDIATELY.
1. MOST FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT PATTERN
What can be more functional than lifting something off the ground?
You literally lift stuff all day, every day.
Grabbing the pan out of the over? Deadlift.
Picking up your dog’s poop? Deadlift.
Grabbing clothes off the ground? Deadlift.
Get it?
Now you may say, “But those movements don’t require lifting heavy weight.” And I have two arguments to counter that.
Firstly, I’ve had clients who don’t know how to organize their spine (which you learn from doing deadlifts) and when they went to pick a small object off the ground, they blew their back out. This didn’t happen in the gym. The way I look at it, the gym is your laboratory or playground. You learn things about your body, such as organizing your spine to lift something off the ground properly. Or how to set your shoulders to lift something overhead.
I’m amazed when I see children lifting things off the ground. They set their feet, organize their spine and lift with beautiful form. Watch for yourself next time you’re near a child. It’s truly magnificent to see that we all once had the ability to lift things with proper form. That is until we started grade school and we were forced to sit down in chairs for 6 hours a day. If you don’t use it, you lose it.
And second, when you lift heavier things off the ground, you don’t have to worry so much about organizing your spine for the small stuff. You’ve become strong enough to not have to worry about blowing out your back from getting out of your chair, which is nice.
You learn how to move properly in the gym (your laboratory) and then you take that newfound knowledge into your life.
Also, check out this list of muscles that activate during deadlifts:
And there are more because you definitely get some minor chest activation as well…
2. GAIN STRENGTH BEFORE SIZE
The reason why most powerlifters are fairly successful when switching over to bodybuilding is because they developed so much strength before they started working on size.
As soon as they switch over to higher volume, bodybuilding programs, they shoot up in size almost immediately.
This is because their bodies are much better at handing load than someone who was just focusing on “getting big” from the beginning.
When focusing on bodybuilding, people tend to do higher reps and lower weight. This technique works really well for gaining size because the more volume you have in your workouts the more size you will gain.
However, it is NOT optimal for gaining strength. To gain strength, you must focus on lifting heavier weight for fewer reps.
Now, where do deadlifts come into all of this?
When deadlifting, the weight you move goes up fast… real fast.
My typical male client starts off deadlifting anywhere between 95-135lbs. By the end of 12 weeks, they are usually deadlifting over 200lbs for reps.
This is not only because they gained massive amounts of strength, but also because they’ve increased the total load that your central nervous system(CNS) can handle.
At the beginning, lifting a 95lb deadlift for 5 reps can be pretty taxing. Not only for your muscles but for your CNS. You might go home, feeling pretty fatigued and hungry.
Your body is begging for recovery.
But over time, as your continue gaining strength and improving your CNS function, you begin to be able to handle more and more load.
That’s not all! Because you’ve improved your CNS function, now running to your bus becomes no problem.
3. DEADLIFTING IS FUN
What better way to enjoy your workout by lifting something heavy off the ground! It’s invigorating and something that pumps you up.
The look that we get from our clients when they lift a personal record is outstanding! Everyone is always excited. They immediately run and tell their spouse and friends about the weight they lifted.
Deadlifting is EXCITING.
Often times, we have clients come in that are nervous about deadlifting. They try it a few times with us and quickly realize that it’s one of their favourite exercises.
And they also like going home, looking in the mirror and seeing back and glute development from deadlift… another great reason to deadlift!
If you haven’t given deadlifts a try, you really should. They’ll change your life. And we’re not just saying that. Deadlifts have literally changed our client’s lives. From physical to mental. From injury prevention to insane strength increases. EVERYONE is happy to deadlift.
PS. If you have ever wanted to learn how to deadlift, don’t be afraid to contact us for a free consultation!