Why I love the deadlift

Every Friday, I enter the gym knowing that I will be spending a good 'ol 30 minutes just doing one particular exercise that I know if I didn't do any other exercise for my legs, I would still get a well-rounded workout, both muscle-targeted & a hint of cardio. Why? Because every Friday I perform an exercise called the Deadlift - and yes the deadlift is as deadly as it sounds, but in a very lively way. 

What is the Deadlift?

It's an exercise that is sadly often ignored but highly appreciated and beneficial among bodybuilders and powerlifters. The deadlift is a compound exercise that works more than one muscle at a time which means more calories are burnt. Usually, in my 4 sets of doing the deadlift, which takes me about 20-25 minutes, I lose upto 150 calories - but then again, I am talking about heavy weights & usually use between 70-80% of my Target Heart Rate (THR).

When doing the deadlift, you usually use a barbell bar and stack it up with weights on both side of the bar and lift the weights from the ground. Note: Steps are below in a video.
This is probably one of the exercises that will actually help you with your daily activities. When was the last time you bent down to pick up an item, a heavy box, or a tray? A lot of times you find yourself touching your lower back, eh? Well, this exercise will help in reducing that pain or discomfort.

The muscles usually worked in a Deadlift are: 

From where I'm standing, it seems like the whole body is, eh? But more seriously:

• Hamstrings (back of the leg)
• Quads (front of the leg)
• Glutes
• Calves
• Lower Back
• Abs
• Lats 
• Traps 
• Forearms

Honestly, after every single session of doing a proper Dead, I always feel that I've ran a marathon, which I never really have, so how would I know how that feels like? Nevertheless, you'd usually hear me grunting while performing the exercise, swimming in sweat,panting for air and drinking plenty of water after every single set. So far, I feel that performing this exercise is one reason why I feel my body has the strength. Also there are many variations for the deadlift, them being: Romanian deadlift, Stiff-Legged Deadlift, and Sumo-Deadlift.

More on the author: She weighs about 52kgs and can do a deadlift with 57.5kgs. Her goal is to do a dead twice her bodyweight by sometime mid of next year. 

Yours Truly,
GymFreak at 999-Fitness.

* Here is a video that shows: How to Perform a Deadlift