Legs are the integral muscle group of our body and requires to be strong. Athletes and weight lifters focus on improving their lower legs to perform well on the ground. there are multiple workouts in the fitness world that are gentle for the legs. But Deadlift has its own significance as it delivers good impact. Deadlift is one of the toughest weighted exercises that requires you to drive more power through legs. In this article, we will gather information about this outstanding movement and see some alternatives to deadlift.
Basic Workout
Deadlift is the prime workout for the strong legs and guarantees muscle strength if performed well. it will keep your heart rate up and makes you sweaty enough throughout the movement. You need a barbell and install weighted plates according to your capacity. You can grip the bar with three positions including an overhand, underhand, and hook grip to target specific areas.
On yearly basis, Olympic Weightlifting Competitions are held across the globe and people show their power through Deadlifts. Deadlift will require you to generate power not only through legs but you are also engaging other muscle groups.
Benefits of Deadlift
However, there are different advantages that deadlift offers for a human body. Some of the major benefits are discussed as follows:
Gripping Power: performing deadlift will provide strong hand grip and build strength in the wrist. if you don’t have strong barbell grip, you must work on it.
Strengthening the Muscles: deadlifts guarantee to build muscular mass and endurance. Sportsmen and athletes like footballers, basketballers, etc. can increase their overall performance through this certain move.
Better Posturing: No doubt that deadlift improves your posturing and helps you to maintain a stable position. It is just because of the flexion you bring to the body and make the body stable.
Calorie Burner: Strength training exercises are often known as calorie burners because they help you to lose extra fats.
Muscle Endurance: Deadlift is also well-known for its muscle endurance functionality and improving bone density.
Back Injury Prevention: According to experts, Deadlift lowers the risk of back injury and causes less pain throughout the movement. But it may become painful if you don’t follow proper form.
Deadlift also challenges your overall strength because you are using more muscles. This particular workout is for advanced fitness lovers or athletes who have a strong body.
How to Perform
Performing deadlift is very simple as you need to lift barbell. But in actual it is the toughest one and correct form is very important. Follow the below mentioned points to gain positive results:
- Load the bar with weighted plates and plant the feet strongly on the surface.
- Engage the core and hold the bar with a strong grip. Bring yourself to the squat position in such a way that the shoulders are parallel to the feet position.
- Bring the bar up enough to touch the shins by generating power through legs. Don’t move your back or hip flexors otherwise it will divert the muscle tension.
- You should not use arm muscles or bring shoulder muscles in use if you want to train strong legs.
- Bring the bar down with a slow motion and repeat the whole process for desired number of times.
- Start with low weight and try to focus on proper positioning. Make sure to perform 12-15 reps for each set.
Don’t bend too down and maintain a proper form. A single mistake can shift the entire load to other relevant muscles and you can’t get what Deadlift is famous for. If you feel pain in the back or feeling heavy, then stop doing and relax yourself. Make sure to warmup your body before you begin deadlift as it only works better if your muscle pours are open.
Alternatives to Deadlift
Deadlift is very effective and supportive exercise but is painful in some cases. Therefore, people must try exercises like Deadlift to avoid bearing pain in different body parts. Here are some of the best alternatives to Deadlift that you can add up to your routine:
1. Trap Bar Deadlift
Trap Bar Deadlift is very similar exercise to the conventional deadlift and you have to perform it with same intensity. The posturing, body alignment, movement, etc. remains same for this workout but the equipment is different. You are using Trap Bar instead of a barbell that will divide weight amongst all the muscles equally.
With a support all around the corners, Trap Bar will effectively shift weights to the core, back, and legs regularly. However, in deadlift movement, a single mistake can shift load to one specific muscle group making it irregular for muscles.
2. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift will challenge your body balancing and weight bearing functionality. In this move, you have to lean forward and bring yourself back to the starting position while maintain your position. All you need is to pick dumbbells and stand straight with chest directing outward.
Now, hinge forward and bring the dumbbells down to ground. while maintain the same position as you do in the deadlift, bring the weight up to the torso. Repeat the movement for required number of times and perform at least 3 sets.
3. Bulgarian Split Squat
Bulgarian Split Squat is one of impressive and effective exercise for lower legs especially glutes and quads. Moreover, this particular workout is also best for increasing stability in the hips and will improve flexion rate as well. if you are looking to maintain weight on a single leg, then try this movement.
All you need is a bench and a pair of dumbbells that is easily accessible. Keep one foot on the bench and hold the equipment. Afterwards, your aim is to perform squat and bring the front knee closer to the ground while picking the weight in hand.
4. Kettlebell Swings
Kettlebell Swings are very suitable and reliable movements for generating explosive power in each muscle group. With a single piece of equipment, you are training your multiple muscles and gaining an advantage. The core, back, legs, and arm muscles will gain attention but the posterior chain of the back holds proper attention.
While swinging the kettlebell, you have to improve your range of motion and must approach to the peak position. Rapid movement may cause pain in the muscles so perform it quite slowly and be humble in your movement. you can perform this particular move anytime and anywhere which makes it a brilliant choice for every person.
5. Bent Over Rows
Bent Over Rows is one of the superb alternatives to Deadlift because of the same results. However, the equipment for this exercise and deadlift is also the same such as barbel.. moreover, both the exercises have a common bottleneck of pressurizing the lower back. If you have pain in the back, then don’t be involved in this risky movement.
All you need is to load the weighted plates to the barbell and bring it to the knee level. Make a bend in the back in such a way that you are posing like a chair. Now lift the weight up towards your thighs to the inner part. Don’t make movement in the lower legs or back and carry the movement slowly for best results.
Conclusion
We end up the discussion by stating that Deadlift is an impressive and favorable workout for athletes. Global-awarded training and worldwide competitions of this exercise have been observed and weightlifters struggle hard to win the contests. But it is not safe for newbies and for starters, they must look for the workouts that are designed for their needs. Therefore, in the above article, we have mentioned some alternatives to deadlifting that a newbie can perform to get the same benefits. Stay tuned for more value!