Want a real challenge? In that case, you have to try this deadlift challenge. Why? There are a number of valuable benefits and we describe them all right here!

Taking an exercise challenge can be beneficial in many ways. Progressive challenges allow you to keep advancing in any kind of exercise and push yourself to your limit with each session. As you advance, amazing things will happen to your body. And, we’re not just talking about your appearance. You will also see improvements with your strength, stamina, and endurance. You’ll even improve your state of mind.

Challenges make you stronger for sure, and they are a great way to improve certain exercises that you do. In this case, it is all about the deadlift. You might already be great at the deadlift, but there is always a way to improve it. That might involve improving your form or your strength from the floor up. It might even be an improvement from standing and back to the floor.

If you feel that any area of your deadlift is lacking, a challenge is the way to go because it is like practice and practice makes perfect.

If You Don’t Do Deadlifts, You Should Start

Deadlifts are an amazing, full body strength exercise. The best thing about them is that you do not have to be a beast to start doing them. Anybody can do them (sorry seasoned lifters, but it’s true), as long as you have no medical issues that would inhibit you from performing the exercise.

Start out small and work your way up with the weight. Jumping right in with heavyweight, especially if you are a first timer, can be pretty dangerous.

Why?

The reason is because if you do not have your form down, you might be forced to suffer through muscle strains, back injuries and much more. I’d also like to mention the fact that going too heavy, too fast can be very discouraging. So, do not be afraid to start small, even with an empty bar to ensure your form is there.

Let’s Talk About The Reason Deadlifts Are One Of The Best Exercises

There are a number of reasons why deadlifts are among the very best exercises.

Wondering what they are?

Read on.

Increased Fat Burn

Deadlifts are a compound exercise. This means that they work more than one muscle and joint group at a time. Compared to an isolation exercise such as dumbbell curls, which only work the biceps, deadlifts engage more muscles in the body each time you do them. This takes more energy. Also, when doing intense exercises such as deadlifts, the body will need to consume more oxygen. This puts you at a deficit during and after your workout, and your body will have to work hard to bring everything back to resting levels, thus using even more, energy. This is known as the afterburn effect, and it can last for around 24 hours.

Improved Posture

Deadlifts engage all the muscles of the back, glutes, quads, hip flexors and even the lower legs (calves and shins). Good posture starts from the ground up and every muscle in between plays a role. For instance, if you have tight hip flexors, this can shift the hips and cause your lower back to curve, causing a lot of back pain and issues in the long run. That’s why it’s important to strengthen and stretch all of these muscles and deadlifts are king when it comes to strength and mobility.

A Safer Strength Exercise

Deadlifts are considered a safer alternative to most barbell exercises. Why? The reason is because when doing a deadlift, you are not put in a position to drop the weight on your body if it’s too heavy. When doing a bench press, overhead squat or any number of different exercises, there is always a chance of dropping the weight if you fail to push through as a result of a loss of strength after a few reps. With deadlifts, you can simply drop the weight on the floor and reset without fear of hitting yourself.

Better Overall Health

With all the benefits deadlifts provide from added power, strength, stability, increased testosterone, increased fat burn and more, it’s a given that you will have better health if you are performing them regularly. You will have a better state of mind and feel like you can pretty much tackle the world.

Here Is A Quick Tutorial On Deadlifts

If you’re new to deadlifting, you will benefit greatly by reading up on how to do them properly. Even if you’ve been doing them a while, you might find that you can make small tweaks here and there to improve them.

Start out with a weight that you can do six to eight reps with, not too light, and definitely not too heavy. You may have to play around with this until you find your sweet spot. As mentioned, you can even start with an empty bar to get the feel of the exercise at first.

Begin with the barbell in front of you on the floor then step up to the barbell to where your feet are under it, centered and your legs are hip-width apart. Hinge at your hips, soften your knees and grab the bar with your arms shoulder-width apart. This is called a straight-armed narrow grip.

Bend your knees as far as it takes for your shins to touch the bar. Lift your chest and then straighten your back. Do not drop your hips. Do not move the bar at this point, stay in position. Pull the bar, take one deep breath, hold it and come to standing. You have completed the full deadlift when your hips and knees are locked. Return the bar to the floor by pushing your hips back and bending your legs once the bar reaches your knees.

This Is What Not To Do When Performing The Deadlift

As with any exercise, there are a number of mistakes to be made when doing deadlifts. These mistakes can really mess you up and even set you back. Let’s take a look at a few common mistakes and how you can easily correct them to perform the best deadlift ever.

Keeping The Plates From Touching The Floor Between Each Rep

As you have completed the standing portion of the deadlift and are bringing the weights back down to the floor, it is common for some people to not actually rest the weights on the floor, but to come a few inches above and carry on with the next rep. This can really hold you back from performing the proper amount of reps because you are not resting and resetting your back between each rep. Be sure to set the weight down after every single rep.

Bouncing The Weight Off The Floor With Each Rep

If you are slamming the bar down between reps, this can cause it to bounce as high as shin height. This can also prevent strength gain from the floor to the shins and put extra pressure on your back, as you have not had the chance to reset and re-engage your back muscles. Slowly set the weight down with proper form, reset and go again.

Leaning Back At The Top Of The Deadlift

I know you have probably seen this in powerlifting competitions. This is the way lifters show the judges that they have locked out. But, the reason it’s no good is because it puts so much extra pressure on your spinal discs and that could result in an injury. It’s definitely okay to lock out. That is what you want to do, but do not give that extra amount of lean after you’ve done so.

The Deadlift Challenge & A Few Things To Do Before You Start 

In order to succeed in fitness, you have to stay on track. This means not missing a workout, not slacking off and definitely not giving up. What follows are a few ways to stay successful in this challenge:

Take Measurements

If you stick to your routine, you are going to notice a nice difference in muscle size and fat loss. Taking measurements will verify that and seeing progress in this way can be extremely motivating to keep going.

Snap A Pic

Pictures are another way to see such progress when you begin a new program. Take your before pictures in good lighting and be sure to capture your side, front and back. Continue to snap progress pictures every two weeks or so to have something to compare them to.

Write Down Your Stats

Write down everything from your starting weight, measurements and even the weight you’ll be lifting. Watch over the weeks to see how you keep progressing in all aspects. Why do this? It will definitely keep you going.

Let’s Get To The Deadlift Challenge!

Are you ready?

If so, then here we go!

This challenge is to be done three days per week. You can add it to your back day or leg day if you like, but just make sure that you do all of your compound exercises first in your routines as you will need the bulk of your lifting energy to perform them. Saving them for last can set you up for failure as you have used much of your energy on isolation moves.

Also, you should be increasing your bar weight by 5% every other week to ensure advancement. The amount of weight increase can be adjusted to suit you. For instance, if you can’t complete six to eight reps with a new increase, take it down just a bit, or wait one more week to advance in the weight.

This Is Week 1

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps

 

This Is Week 2

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps (increase weight by 5%)

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 6 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

This Is Week 3

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

This Is Week 4

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (5% weight increase)

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 3 Sets X 8 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

This Is Week 5

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (no weight increase)

 

This Is Week 6

Monday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (5% weight increase)

 

Wednesday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

Friday

Barbell Deadlift 4 Sets X 8 Reps (with weight increase from Monday)

 

Conclusion

There you have it!

Six weeks of deadlifts with progression. Taking a path of slow progression as described is the best way to ensure success with your advancement. Be sure that you are getting the proper amount of sleep, nutrition and hydration as you exercise because that is going to be the key to your success when it comes to fitness.

As mentioned, you can add the deadlift workout to your normal routine for the ultimate strength training workout. When you make it to the six-week mark, think about keeping the flow of progression going and pretty soon you will be the master of deadlifts at your local gym. After all, practice makes perfect.

By Heather Neff, CPT