diamonds or deadlifts?
Deadlifts are a girls best friend 👯
Thats right. None of this diamond nonsense 💍
🙅🏼
Deadlifts have to be my all time favourite exercise and imma tell you why all you ladies should have these as a staple in your training.
I’m going to start off with the very basic and broad question, what is a deadlift? This may sound a tad silly but many women don’t know what the movement is or what it does!
The deadlift is considered one of the 'big three' #liftingjargon compound exercises (squat and bench press the other two) whereby you pick a loaded barbell up off the ground and put it back down again... complex right?! The movement is designed for you to lift heavy heavy weight, often 2-3x times your bodyweight!
Deadlifts work your quads, glutes and hammys, but also place a large focus on your back muscles, grip strength and arms. With a movement that trains so many muscle groups at once, I don’t know why I need to keep trying to convince you to deadlift!
There are a couple variations to this movement, all of which place more emphasis on certain muscle groups, thus allowing you to somewhat tailor the exercise to your strengths and weaknesses.
Another great thing about deadlifts is that they are an exercise that EVERYONE can do. They are great for athletes looking to build power, people trying to build muscle, those who want to lose fat, and even injury rehab/prevention. So from a fitness standpoint it is easy to see the role they play. However 'deads' make everyday life easier too! Carrying the groceries in from the car only takes one trip, picking your child up off the ground becomes easier and pain free. Your posture, mobility and biomechanics all flow better.
The thing that I love about deadlifts is that it really makes you feel strong 💪🏼It’s a big movement and very intimidating to begin with, but once you get your form correct the weight can increase quite quickly and you will be surprised by how much you can pull. It’s the challenge of knowing what your max was last time and trying to beat that.
So ladies, yes the big weight plates and deadlift platforms are intimidating and of course you might not be able to lift as much as the boys next to you (but the look on their faces when you are lifting heavy is priceless 🙀) but do me a favour and get deadlifts into your training. Aim for at least once a week and start to reap the benefits of some true weight lifting.
- D