You might find it hard to believe, but in the 1800’s the deadlift was actually refered to as the “healthlift”. Many of today’s gyms and trainers have seen the movement ostreasized, dismissed as dangerous, and even banned.
I’m here to officially call a hault to the bashing of this lift and start a movement of embracing it. Well, maybe thats a bit dramatic, but this lift has to be a part of any serious strength and conditioning program, and that is an idea, that is easy to support.
Even if you don’t care how much you can lift, you can’t get through life without picking things up off the ground right? So why not be exceedingly good at that, and at the same time train hundreds of muscles in one motion?
When we deadlift with proper form, we engage our entire posterior chain. As we stand up and the movement reaches its apex we do infact engage our lower backs, this is necessary to complete the movement. Its not a bad thing to use your back as long as it is done safely and you don’t move heavy weights with only your back.
If I asked you to pick up a paperclip, you couldn’t do it safely without engaging some of the same muscle groups. As we get better and better at the deadlift, this skill becomes a motor pattern and before you know it, your body dials up the same pattern everytime you pick something up! Ever hear a co-worker say they threw their back out playing horse shoes at the company picnic?
Anything is possible, but you have a much beter chance of avoiding those injuries if you have deadlifts in your fitness program.
Besides being one of the safest movements when performed properly, deadlifts are great for asthetic benefits as well. Your core muscles must be engaged throughout the lift. So that means, if you want to see those abs, deadlifts are a much smarter choice than crunches. Stay safe, and don’t let the name fool you, deadlift should be a staple in your fitness program.
