Deadlifting is one of the best exercises you can do to build muscle. The movement targets multiple muscles to build strength and improve your health.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Deadlifting is challenging, and if you do it wrong, you risk injury. To help improve your form, here are five awesome deadlifting tips.
- Focus on Putting Force Into the Ground and Keeping Your Toes Down
Instead of focusing on lifting the weight, focus on pushing force into the ground. Your toes should point down as you raise your body. This provides a broad foundation that creates more power as you lift.
You’re also more likely to lift the weight when you focus on pushing into the ground versus lifting the weight up.
- Protect Your Back
One of the biggest mistakes in deadlifting is curving your back as you perform the lift. Proper deadlift form is essential to prevent injury.
If you have long thighs with a short torso, your back angle should be more horizontal to the floor. If you have short thighs and long arms, your back angle should be more vertical.
Focus on setting up properly before you lift, with the bar over the middle of your foot. Keep your chest lifted throughout the lift.
It also helps to engage your core through the process.
This keeps your back straight and firm, reducing the chances that you injure your back.
- Try Lifting Without Shoes
It may sound strange, but shoes are counterintuitive to deadlifting. Shoes increase your height which forces you to lift the weight higher. Shoes also force your body forward which throws off the natural movement and can keep you from holding your form.
Lifting in socks or flat shoes (like Converse) is the most helpful way to do deadlifts.
- Consider Using a Belt
If you’re wondering how to get better at deadlifting quickly, consider using a belt. With a lifting belt, you can increase the weight of the bar by about 25 pounds.
If you use a belt, breathe into your stomach and push against the belt with your abs. This creates a more stable core and helps you maintain form.
- Control Your Breathing
Before pulling the bar up, inhale your breathe and hold it while you pull the weight. Once you lower the bar back to the ground, exhale your breath. If you’re doing multiple reps, repeat this breathing technique each time.
Holding your breath during the lift keeps your lungs filled with air, which puts pressure on your torso and force on your spine. This helps you keep the proper positioning and keeps it from bending each time you lift.
If you’re trying to increase muscle as you deadlift, consider using peptides for body building. It can help you build strength faster for your lifts.
Now You Have Several Deadlifting Tips You Can Incorporate
All five of these deadlifting tips can significantly improve your form and prevent injury. Though some of these tips may feel awkward at first, they will get easier over time as you practice.
Try to be patient and focus on getting better with each rep. Taking videos of yourself can also be helpful to track your improvement.
After a few months, you’ll start seeing massive differences!
If you want to read about more fitness-related topics, be sure to check out our blog. We have a ton of other articles that you’ll love!
