Why Deadlifts Deserve a Place In Your Fitness Routine

By Maureen Farrar

While deadlifts might seem intimidating, they’re an incredible exercise for people of all fitness levels. This foundational movement builds muscle, boosts athletic performance, and improves overall strength.

The deadlift is one of those exercises that bridge the gap between the gym and real life. It strengthens the movement patterns you use every day, making activities like lifting, carrying, and even walking feel easier and more effortless.

The key is learning the proper form to reap the full benefits safely and effectively.

Why Should I Deadlift?

The deadlift involves lifting a weight off the ground by bending at your hips and waist, then standing back up. It’s a compound exercise, meaning it works multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

To perform a deadlift, you bend over while keeping your back straight and engaged, grip the weight securely, and push through your feet to lift it. This movement primarily uses your glutes, hamstrings, and quads to lift the weight.

Maintaining a strong core throughout the lift is essential. This helps stabilize your spine and prevent any twisting or rounding of your back, ensuring a safe and effective exercise.

So how does that help you? Let science count the ways!

Deadlifts Activate Multiple Muscle Groups

The deadlift is a powerful exercise that targets multiple muscle groups throughout your body. It involves hinging at your hips to lift a weight, usually a barbell, off the ground. This movement primarily engages your hip extensors and leg muscles, making it especially effective for strengthening the posterior chain – the muscles along the back of your body.

However, the deadlift is truly a full-body exercise that activates several muscle groups, including:

• Glutes
• Hamstrings (back of thigh)
• Quadriceps (front of thigh)
• Latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and erector spinae muscles (the muscles of your back)
• Core, including the abdominals
• Calves

Deadlifts Build Muscle

Research indicates a strong connection between muscle mass and overall health and longevity. While simply having bigger muscles doesn’t guarantee a longer life, studies show that greater muscle mass and strength are linked to a lower risk of death from all causes.

Strength training, particularly with compound exercises like deadlifts, is highly effective for building muscle and increasing strength, power, and endurance. Muscular endurance, the ability to sustain muscle contractions against resistance, is crucial for completing your workouts and achieving your fitness goals.

Deadlifts Increase Bone Density

Deadlifts offer more than just muscle gains; they also strengthen your bones. As a weight-bearing exercise, deadlifts increase the load on your skeletal system, which can lead to greater bone mineral density, particularly in the hips and lower back. Incorporating deadlifts into your workouts can help slow down age-related bone loss and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Deadlifts Increase Muscle Mass

While resistance training in general is excellent for building muscle, the deadlift stands out due to its ability to place a significant load on multiple muscle groups simultaneously. This leads to rapid muscle growth when performed regularly and with intensity.

Furthermore, the heavy lifting involved in deadlifts encourages the body to maintain its existing lean muscle mass. This is a crucial factor in preventing sarcopenia, the age-related decline of muscle tissue. Studies have shown that compound exercises like deadlifts provide a greater stimulus for muscle growth compared to exercises that isolate a single muscle group.

Deadlifts Activate Your Core (and May Prevent Back Pain)

Deadlifts are excellent for building back and core strength, which translates to a more resilient and less injury-prone back. As a posterior chain exercise, deadlifts target the muscles along the back of your body. Research indicates that regular posterior chain training can help reduce back pain and improve posture.

A key component of the deadlift’s effectiveness lies in its ability to strengthen your core. The effort required to stabilize the weight during the lift forces your core muscles to engage and work hard. This is because your core needs to keep your torso steady as you lift the weight.

However, it’s important to remember that deadlifts can be risky if performed improperly. 

Related: Single-Leg Deadlift Variations

How to Properly Deadlift

There are a lot of deadlift variations, but here’s how to perform the basic deadlift. Proper form is essential for a safe and effective lift. Coach Valbo demonstrates using a barbell, but you can use a kettlebell or a pair of dumbbells. If that is too much weight to use while you get your form down, practice with a broomstick or a PVC pipe and add weight as you get more comfortable:

1. Position the bar over the top of your shoelaces with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Push your hips back and hinge forward until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor.
3. Drop your hips enough that you can reach down and grasp the bar using a shoulder-width, double-overhand grip.
4. Drive through the whole foot and focus on pushing the floor away.
5. Ensure the bar tracks in a straight line as you extend the knees and hips.
6. Once you have locked out the hips, reverse the movement by pushing the hips back and hinging forward.
7. Return the bar to the floor, reset, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

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Here are some other tips to keep in mind:

• Practice deadlifts in front of a mirror. That allows you to focus on form before adding any weight.
• Keep your back neutral (don’t arch or round your back).
• Push through your feet, and lift from your legs, not your arms or back.
• Start light. Decrease your weight if you feel off balance or struggle to stand back up. 

Related: Do You Know Squat?