In this article we'll cover the proper way to do the dead lift.  Now since this lift is difficult a lot of people avoid doing it but there are a huge number of benefits that come from pushing yourself and doing this exercise.  There are several benefits to doing the deadlift including; First, with our sedentary lifestyles always being on the computer or driving in our car we're naturally more prone to hunch forward.  In addition to that when people do work out they tend to focus too much on chest and bicep exercises which further compounds the body wanting to hunch forward and we don't want to be walking around all hunched over when we get to our fifties, sixties and seventies. 

So the deadlift is a great exercise that works a massive amount of muscles on the backside of your body, from you neck all the way down to your calves particualarly you lower back.  Another reason that it's a great exercise is the fact that it's so intense that it can actually raise your anabolic growth hormones and your testosterone naturally because the body perceives it's intensity and feels that it's in a life or death situation.  It's by far one of the best natural ways to get your anabolic levels boosted. 

One question a lot of people have when doing this lift is whether or not to use straps.  My recommendation is to use straps half the time.  For the first couple sets I recommend not using straps and then once your grip and forearms have had a good workout you can use the straps on the last couple sets.  The number one way to increase your grip and forearm strength is to do back exercises without straps so I say use them half the time and don't use them the other half of the time.

Now with all that said, the dead lift can be a great exercise but it can actually be a dangerous exercise as well.  One of the most common injuries people suffer is to their back and they blame it on the lift itself when infact you could hurt your back by bending up and picking up a pencil the wrong way.  Anytime you bend over and round out that lower back so always be sure to rotate your buns and stick your buns behind you and tighten up that lower back.  When you do that technique during a deadlift everything get's positive on the lower back and you lower the risk of negativity. 

There are many ways to do the deadlift, the version I'll cover in this article is the most basic routine that works the best for most people.  To get started you'll place both hands on the bar with one hand on the top of the bar facing down and the other hand on the bottom facing up.  By choosing this grip position it will allow you to hold the bar closer to yourself as you stand up versus having the two hands over. 

Once you're hands are in position you'll slowly lift the bar up off the rack.  You'll take slow steps back and place your feet shoulder width apart while exaggerating the chest open and trying to touch your shoulder blades back at the top.  You'll want to keep your legs stiff on the decent until the bar passes the knee, once the bar passes the knee you can sit into it and tap the weight softly on the ground.  Once you're at the bottom blow your air out and lift the weight up until you're back in the starting position with your chest out and your shoulder blades back at the top.  By adding that one unique movement at the top you'll definitely feel it in your traps more than you will on any other isolation exercise. 

As you do this exercise always focus on going down slowly and barely tapping the weight on the floor, making sure not to slam the weight on the floor.  As you stand up blow that air out and always exaggerate those shoulders back up at the top.