When it comes to bettering yourself, you must do it genuinely. Going to the gym because everyone else is, following someone else’s routine, and not paying attention to your bodily needs will get you nowhere. If you too have been focusing more on those muscles that you can flex for brownie show-off points, then we urge you to find the right reason for why you want to be better.If you have been having trouble at the gym and you want to get better at it, we recommend that you start with the basics. That involves doing exercises that will strengthen your core and perfect your deadlift form.
What is the Deadlift?
The deadlift is a type of heavy lifting exercise. When people picture the gym, it is most probably the first picture that comes to their mind – someone lifting heavy weights.
Before moving on, here is a fun fact! The deadlift is called a deadlift because it was equated to lifting dead weight in the olden days. There’s immovable weight on the floor and you are picking it up. However not just any way, you need to have the perfect deadlift form.
Why Should You Perfect Your Deadlift Form
Deadlifting is one of the most basic, strongest and most efficient exercises. It will help you with strength building and making your muscles grow.
If you have the right deadlift form, you will be able to do a lot more in the gym. Having the right knowledge about deadlifting enables you to maintain your core strength and balance which will ultimately help you with further exercises.
Deadlifting helps all parts of your body, strengthening all muscles and letting your body prepare for heavier exercises. It helps broaden the capabilities of your posterior muscles, test your core strength and test your absolute grip strength.
Deadlifting also makes you healthy and improves your performance in sports. You will be able to perform well in sports such as track, football, rugby etc. You will also be able to swim and cycle better, and eventually, all of it will make you healthier.
As you can probably make out by now, your deadlift form needs to be perfect for a better way of living.
In addition to the barbell squat and the bench press, the deadlift is one of the three essential exercises in any strength training programme. It’s a terrific strength booster because there are so many variants to work different muscle groups; you’ll find that you advance through the weight quite rapidly. More significant than a quick arm pump, you’ll activate many muscle fibres throughout the deadlift, and seeing yourself succeed will make you feel good about yourself.
How To Deadlift?
The basic principle is to take hold of the bar directly outside your legs while standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. Drive your hips forward while retaining your back flat to lift the bar. As soon as you start lifting really heavy weights, it’s okay to let go of the bar on your final rep.
However, we are dealing with the fact that you have to work on your deadlift form, hence there will be intricacies to the act.
The perfect form
Run both hands down until they contact the bar while placing your thumbs against the outside of your thigh. This is your ideal positioning.
Your grip
Your grip should be a hybrid grip in which one hand holds the bar underhand and the other overhand, often known as a double overhand grip. You can lift more weight with the mixed grip, but remember to switch hands frequently to avoid establishing any muscular imbalances.
Your head positioning
To have the perfect deadlift form, you need to make sure all your posterior muscles are aligned perfectly. Since they start with your neck, your head positioning is important.
Remember that throughout the lift you need to keep your head in a neutral position. To do this, you need to start by gazing forward while keeping your focus on a location on the ground two to three metres in front of your feet. Additionally, pay attention to maintaining your chin up to keep your head in the ideal lifting posture.
Your spine positioning
Following up on the previous point, your spine is the next in order when it comes to your posterior muscles. You need to keep your chest up the entire time to prevent your torso from hunching forward over the bar.
This will helps keep your spine strong throughout, ensuring that your deadlift form is stable.
Your core
Not just your posterior muscles, but your core is also very important when it comes to making your deadlifts better.
To maintain an arched lower back and a strong and stable body, especially while trying higher lifts, you must keep your abs tight throughout the whole action. Start by engaging your core so that your abs are tight when you squat to grab the bar. Breathe deeply into your belly, hold your breath, and tighten your abs as though you’re about to get punched in the stomach as you prepare to raise the bar.
How to begin deadlifting?
Now, if you are willing to work on your deadlift form but are a little apprehensive, we have a solution for you. You can begin with a lighter version of deadlifting, also known as Rack Pull.
This involves lifting the barbells that are on stacked blocks or a rack. This way you will not have to squat fully, and you can work on your deadlifting slowly and steadily. This method helps build confidence. You will be able to work on your strength, grip and lifting while coaxing your body to further its limits. With constant practising, you will be good at deadlifting soon.
Further tips and tricks
Here are some more tricks that you can incorporate into your routine so that your deadlift form is nothing less than perfect.
1. Make sure your movements are simultaneous
Ensure that your legs lock and your back straightens at the same time. Once you’re straight, retract your shoulder blades and hold your head high, keeping the bar under full control. Then reverse every part of the move to lower the bar back to the ground
2. Try going shoeless
Lifting with shoes will make it tough for you to maintain your balance. Try lifting without any shoes, with just socks on. If you do want to wear shoes, try going for Converse.
3. Try belting up
Simply by using a weight lifting belt, you may quickly add about 12 kg to your deadlift. By breathing into your stomach and pushing against the belt with your abdominal muscles, increased intra-abdominal pressure and a more stable core, which are required for lifting bigger weights, are produced.
4. Strengthen your grip
Working on your core and legs can only help as much. You need to focus on your grip as well so that you can begin your journey of working on your deadlift form.
Try using chalk and white-knuckling, which involves grasping any bar you come across as tightly as you can, to strengthen your grip.
When you get the hang of things, you can start working on your deadlifting and switch it up by doing different variations of it. It is all uphill from here, the efforts and progress both.