What’s a Zombies favorite exercise?

The Deadlift!  The king of lifts!  One of the most useful exercises imaginable.  It works the entire body and wears you out!  It is also the exercise that gets the most people doing it wrong to the point of injury.

A few notes:

  • Push your chest out
  • Drop your shoulders, don’t let them raise up and shrug at any point during the lift.
  • Don’t let your lower back roll, keep it flat.  Many find they are unable to do this, this may be due to lack of flexibility.  Work on your flexibility while you limit the movement of the deadlift as to not let the lower back roll.
  • Keep looking forward.  This will help keep the back straight.
  • Keep your arms straight, don’t try and pull and lift with the arms, just hold.
  • There are numerous ways to do the lift.  From not bending the knees, to fully bending the knees.  The typical deadlift (shown in the video) involves a good amount of knee bend and bend at the waist.  You’ll use both leg strength and hip/core strength to lift the weight.
  • When first learning the exercise, use a double overhand grip (both palms facing you).  This will be the most natural and will work your grip strength.  When you’ve perfected the technique and are looking for a more secure grip when doing heavier lifts, use an over-under grip (one hand palm towards you, the other palm away).  Other grips can be used, such as the “Hook” grip in which the thumb is tucked under the fingers.  All grips have their purpose, understand them before using them.
  • Breathe out while lifting the weight up from the ground, breathe in while returning it to the floor.
  • At the height of the lift, go into a fully straight posture.  Note that, with considerable weight, this may involve a slight lean backwards in order to offset the weight and properly straighten your posture by bringing the hips forward.  Don’t over lean, just enough to attain a straight posture, if any.
  • Always start with help.  Have someone who knows what a proper deadlift is check your technique when you are first learning.  It’s not easy to simply “feel” that you’re doing it correctly, you’ll need someone see it from the side.

Like any exercise, if not done properly, it can lead to injury.  For the deadlift though, it is especially important to perfect this technique.  The amount of serious injuries to the back is too great to take lightly and overlook technique.