I don't think so, it's the dead lift. Nothing demands more, and nothing has as many benefits in terms of stability, mobility, strength, hormonal response and more important of all, feeling strong. Feeling strong is most of the battle when things get tough, and they don't get much tougher than a good dead lift.
Form
First and foremost, a dead lift is not a squat with the bar underneath you. It is a similar movement but recruits from a different motor pool. It is much more hamstring and glute focused rather than quad dominant and the center of mass is further forward.
- The bar is resting on the floor, reset after every rep.
- Bar over the middle of your foot
- Your shins should be near vertical
- Thighs near 45 degrees
- Back flat
- Core engaged
- Neck Neutral
- Shoulders over the bar
- Hands shoulder width apart
- Scapulae retracted
The cue is to pretend that you are pushing the floor away from you, your hips and knees should move as one. Fully extend together at the top of the movement, to complete a rep.
The worst case scenario for a dead lift leaves you feeling it in your lower back, and nowhere else. What you should feel the next day is 'that feeling' from the back of your knees, all the way up to the top of your shoulders, and all around your abs. The dead lift defines 'whole body exercise.'
I love the front squat, but the reason I love think the dead lift is a better exercise is that it is more available to most people and offers a lot of the same benefits when it comes to posture. Most people can't do a good front squat straight off, most people can do a good dead lift from the off.
Having said that, people often struggle with technique on a dead lift, 90% of the time it is because the weight is too heavy. However it is not uncommon for people to have weak links which limit their potential. These must be addressed if you hope to improve without injuring yourself.
Some common solutions to common problems:
Shrugging the weight up at the end of the rep
- The chances are the scapular adductors are weakened due to poor posture. During the dead lift you are hanging the bar off your ligaments in your shoulders, rather than with the muscles. Then when you stand, and the weight is reduced, you are re-engaging your muscles.
- Perform a dead lift hold; hold the bar with a supinated grip standing as tall as you can. Hold on and feel the muscles in your upper back being pulled down. Resist, this will build the necessary strength to hold the bar with your muscles during the deadlift.
Excessive Lower Back Fatigue
- Could be one of a few things
- Lack of hip mobility
- Lack of core strength
- Weak or unstable hip extensors
- Poor technique due to excessive weight
- Rack the dead lift up by starting from a raised position. Place the bar bell on a couple of plates or a platform and perform the lift from that position. Focus on technique and drop the weight, squeezing your legs through the movement.
- Alternatively perform the top down Romanian Dead lift.
Struggling with grip
- Your legs are stronger than your forearms.
- Use the deadlift hold at the end of the session to improve grip strength.
- Use an alternate grip, this prevents the bar from rolling out of your hands
- Use a lower volume higher weight programme
- Use wrist straps
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