The 7 Most Important Benefits Of Deadlifting

The deadlift is the most manly exercise you can perform. To simply put it, there is no other exercise that provides as many benefits to the male body as does deadlifting. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll go over the seven biggest reasons why you should start deadlifting right away if you aren’t already doing so.

If you want to gain strongman strength and build an attention commanding physique, you can’t skip deadlifting. The benefits to risks ratio makes this exercise a no brainer for anyone who is serious about his overall fitness (strength, power, aesthetics, cardio, etc). This monster movement covers all the corners.

Sadly, it’s avoided by most people because it’s not a comfortable movement to perform, it can be risky, and it’s associated with loud, grunting musclemen who like to disturb the whole gym. Most chain gyms don’t even have a deadlifting platform, they discourage it and some goes as far as banning it in their gym.

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But don’t  let that stop you, if there is a will there is a way. Do what you have to do, grab a bar from the bench or squat rack and get to work. Avoid dropping the weight which can cause floor damage and unpleasant disturbance to others. And please don’t  scream like a pig getting slaughtered, it’s cliche and does nothing for your strength and the results you get from the exercise. Grunting is fine and it’s ok to let off a quick scream at the end of your set.

All of  this is unnecessary and will only draw unwanted attention to you and ruin it for other deadlifters if you get the exercise outlawed in your gym with your antics. There are gyms that cater to this behavior but they are the exception and few and far in between.  Ok enough with the etiquette lesson, let’s get down to business.

How to get the most of out the deadlift

First, before we go any further, you should know how to make sure you get all the benefits from deadlifting. The simple act of deadlifting itself doesn’t guarantee any results. You need to follow certain protocols and techniques to get the results you want. Let’s quickly go over the main things you need to do pay attention to.

Fix your deadlift form

One of the reasons why the deadlift is not more popular is the risk of injuries associated with it. Because it involves so many muscles, the chances of injuring yourself are greater than most other exercises. Also the posture you have to be in to perform the movement puts your spine in a vulnerable position. But with the right form, you can get all the benefits and avoid all the injuries.

The most important aspect of your form is the shape of your back. Avoid rounding your back as this will put your spine and back muscles under extreme tension. When you round your back, you wind up putting the majority of the load on isolated areas of your back.  The right way is to keep your back and spine straight all the way up to your neck. Neck and back should be aligned.

Your grip should preferably be shoulder width apart. Don’t fully extend your arms at the elbow to avoid placing too much weight on your elbow joints. Slightly bent elbows will distribute the weight throughout your arms and body without placing to much strain on the joints.

Lift Heavy For The Real Benefits

While doing light deadlifts is better than not doing any at all, to get the most out of it, you need to do them with heavy weights. What’s light or heavy depends on your current strength level and body weight. But a good indicator that you’re lifting heavy is that you’re only able to do eight reps per set at the most. If you find you’re able to continue after 8 reps, increase the weight.

6-8 reps using heavy weights with good form will yield amazing results given that other aspects of your health and fitness are in order.  In fewer words, to get the best results from deadlifting, you need to lift heavy with good form. Now that you know that you need to do, let’s go over the seven  most beneficial reasons to incorporate this exercise into your workout routine right away.

1) Muscle Growth

This tops the list of benefits for very obvious reasons. Most guys want bigger muscles and there is no better exercise for overall muscle growth. When you deadlift the right way, you use almost every single muscle in your body. You get a rigorous full body workout. And when you combine that with heavy lifting, you naturally release growth hormones that induce muscle development.

2) Strength Gain

If you want fast strength increase on all the exercises that are part of your workout routine, deadlifting is your solution. It increases your grip and core strength like no other exercise can. Want a bigger bench? Stronger squat? Crazy curling strength? Pullup power? Easy fix, just deadlift heavy.

3) More Powerful

Power while sometimes used interchangeably with strength is actually different from it. Power is the ability to exert great force and a short period of time. While strength is the ability to move or support heavy objects sustainably for a longer period of time. Power is useful for athletic performance. A football linebacker tackling a an opponent, a tennis player returning a serve, a basketball player dunking over opponents etc. If you play any sport, deadlifting will make a big different in your performance.

4) Testosterone increase

What guy doesn’t want more testosterone? It makes you more manly, more attractive to the ladies, more upbeat about life and you just want to get shit done. Resistance training itself can increase your testosterone level, but add heavy deadlifts to the mix and you’ve got a natural test booster with only positive side effects.

5) Better Overall health

Stronger, more testosterone, more positive outlook on life equals better overall health. It’s simple. Doing deadlifts also improves your cardio. And as you know, good cardio is important for overall health. You also build joint strength and your immune system gets stronger. Most Compound exercises will do these things but the one thing that makes the deadlift stand out is that it does this for your entire body. It’s a true full body powerhouse.

6) Positive Effect on other exercises

When you combine the above benefits, what you get is increased strength and flexibility on all other exercises. When you do heavy deadlifts, you are actually doing heavy lifting using all the major muscles in your body, back, chest, legs, arms etc. So when you do isolation movements or other more specific compound movements, you will notice an immediate strength gain.

7) Fat burning

Because of the exertion involved during the deadlift, you recruit more muscle fibers, burn more calories and than you could with other movements. The result is increased fat burning.  If you’ve read my other articles, you know that compound movements are the best exercises for fat loss. And the deadlift is the king of compound exercises so you get the idea.

Now get off the computer and hit the gym for a nice deadlifting session.

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