One of the funniest words of caution I received from a female, bodybuilder author and mentor was that people are going to “sh*t bricks if you talk about how much fun deadlifting is.” Seriously, that still cracks me up, and I frequently reread her email every time I need a good laugh. Of course, she’s absolutely right. Her point was, in order to convince people of the importance (and joy) in barbell work and strength training, I’d have to build a bridge from the couch to the power rack.
Personally, I’ve found the following to be true; my happiness is positively correlated with my ability to deadlift a big weight. Now, it doesn’t HAVE to be a deadlift in your case. It might be any basic move, important to you, that you can continually build upon, achieve, destroy, and surpass. It might be one body weight chinup, doing a pushup on your toes, the bench press, the squat, or the barbell military press. Really, I don’t care what move it is, as long as it gets your heart pumping, gets you motivated to get to the gym, get it done, and to do more.
I realize some gentle readers who do not share my love of the deadlift are thinking that such moves are only for lunatic body builder and powerlifter types but that is just not the case. To be fair, I conducted a random interview of my clients, friends, training partners, and fellow gym rats and got the following replies, when asked, “why do you love deadlifts?”
WORST REPLY AWARD:
Bootcamp enthusiast: “What’s a deadlift?” Still, good question. The internet is full of deadlift techniques and videos, and there are many different variations of the deadlift. I like this article at Elitefts, this video, or this article.
Client with scoliosis: “it has to be putting on the plates and realizing that I’m lifting more weight than the last time. I like to think back to the time when I was only lifting an empty bar (Sumi’s emphasis: NOT a standard Olympic Barbell- her starting bar weight was 7 lbs) and I thought that it was such a hard lift. I think that that’s pretty cool. “
From a 1st-Place Figure Competitor: “If I could do one and only one exercise it would be the deadlift. Deadlifts work my entire body (and mind) neck to calves. You must use the stabilizer muscles as well as the big ones to do a deadlift correctly. When you do it right, it’s a great accomplishment.
I feel really empowered when I set up the bar, step up behind it, grasp the bar solidly and evenly, take a deep breath, and move my body as efficiently as possible to lift the weight. At the top of the lift, I set my shoulders, abs tight, look straight ahead, confirm perfect form and begin the descent, rinse and repeat. Upon completion, I step off the box feeling worked but strong and solid from head to toe.”
From my verbose training partner and fellow personal trainer: “Gotta do them, they’re a required exercise.”
From a competitive bodybuilder: “I do deadlifts, I love them…they are a great tool to strengthen the legs, core and back. Truly a full body workout.”
Class participant and fellow gym enthusiast : “I particularly like deadlifts because it’s one of the few exercises that works my upper hams and butt…also because it strengthens my forearms…and it totally kicks my a*s.”
SECOND PLACE AWARD FOR BEING WITTY:
From my neighbor in the squat rack: “There’s never a wait (for the power rack), and the way it’s oriented I can check you out if you happen to be on the squat rack, in which case yes I love deadlifts.” I am quite sure it is because of my strict role model technique.
AND MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE REPLY (I couldn’t have said it better):
From a competitive powerlifter: “Deadlifting is awesome because it’s the ultimate test of power. There is no other exercise that recruits more muscles fibers and requires so many different bio-mechanical processes.
Concluding Thoughts
I love the deadlift. It’s one of the great weight training movements and, done properly, can do wonderful things for you. But you must do it properly to avoid getting hurt. So learn the deadlift, and then let it make you amazing!