David Litte

Last updated 10:21, Thursday, 04 September 2008

NO matter where you look, there is always a fitness magazine, website or forum asking this question: what is the best exercise you can do?

So what is it then? You could list quite a few if forced to, but how many of you would name an exercise that is as functional as stirring a cup of tea?

Functional is a term that is big news in strength and conditioning – no longer is isolation the buzz word. People want functional strength because this is what they perform in everyday life.

What is the most common functional exercise you perform? I’m sure if you’re a parent it’s picking stuff up after your kids.

Let’s stop at that thought, though: picking things up is exactly what you do in the gym, so even before you perform the exercise you are using functional strength.

Imagine yourself in the garden. You decide to move your heavy plant pot over to a more suitable place. How do you lift it?

In most people’s cases, very casually – then you wonder why you have bad lower back pain for a couple of days afterwards.

It’s important to think about your posture and technique when lifting things. There’s a remedy for this and it comes in the form of the most powerful exercise around: the Deadlift.

I’m sure you have all been to a safety course where they discuss how to lift items correctly: head up, back straight, knees bent and shoulders back, the four common practices that you should adhere to.

These are also the four most important rules to remember for the deadlift.

The effort and strength needed to perform this movement should never be underestimated.

To tell you a little story, I once knew someone who thought deadlifts didn’t require any effort at all. The bar didn’t need lifting above head height so why was it considered difficult? In his arrogance he thought that for his very first deadlift he would pile the plates on and compete against his brother who had performed deadlifts for years.

So here it was: the gym was quiet, he knew it was going to be easy. He gripped the bar tightly, his back was arched, head was down and in one adrenaline-filled moment… nothing.

The only benefit was that there was nobody else was in the gym to see this chap make a fool of himself.

His lower back was sore and his face was a funny shade of red. Luckily this guy learnt a lesson.

That guy was me.

Having arrogance and ignorance towards the deadlift will only serve as punishment for the workout ahead. I know people who have performed deadlifts on the Monday and haven’t trained once after that for a week just to recover.

You should always follow key points:

Start very light, just use the bar.

Get the form correct and practise the motion until you feel comfortable.

Always look ahead throughout the exercise. This will ensure your shoulders roll back which in turn will assist your lower back.

Always keep your lower back straight. This might be increasingly difficult with a heavier weight but the whole point of starting off with a lighter is getting used to that technique.

Lean back slightly as this will mean you push through using your heels.

The bar should be in touching distance with your legs at all times.

Puff your chest out at the finishing point with shoulders back.

Never use your arms to lift, your grip must be tight but try and get your legs to lift the bar.

The grip on the bar is important, your right hand should have knuckles facing you and your left hand should have knuckles facing the opposite way.

Try not to use straps as this will defeat the purpose of the deadlift.

The deadlift works almost every muscle in the body, primarily the legs and lower back muscles but also other minor and major muscles groups are blasted. Can you name another exercise that does this? Clean and Press maybe, but deadlifts are simply mammoth in stature.

Deadlifts are generally used for muscle building and mixed with other exercises act as a conditioner. It’s important to consider your goals at this point.

Tone and Definition – Increase the reps on the deadlift and lift a weight you can perform 20 reps on. Integrate with other exercises for a one shot workout. Perform the reps quick and explosive – this will hit the fast twitch fibres which help with endurance.

Muscle Bulk – Think about your one rep max. Try this, 6 sets of 1 rep. Each time try and beat your personal best. This will increase muscle size as you are overloading the bar. Try and keep form however, if you sway from that you will cause injury.

Fitness – yes, deadlifts can increase fitness because the oxygen needed to perform the exercise is similar to running up a steep hill. I’m not saying you’ll be able to run a marathon but your body will improve over the weeks so you’ll be able to recover in less time and lift more.

Burn Fat – Your metabolism will be burning fat long after the workout. Performing the muscle bulk routine will enable this to happen more successfully.