Why You NEED to Deadlift

The deadlift is argued to be one of the most difficult movements to perform. However, as a certified strength and conditioning coach, I do believe that the deadlift has to be one of the most important and crucial movements in any program. The problem comes from the deadlift’s reputation, though. People believe that lifting heavy weight off the ground could be harmful and dangerous. Although this is true, this is only true in the context of performing the deadlift without good form and technique. With proper form, coaching and technique used, there are a ton of benefits to putting the deadlift in your program that make it worth the risk for success.

Whether it’s building more muscle mass, strength, or improving your ability to lift weight off the floor during your daily routine, the deadlift proves to be an important movement in more ways than one. The deadlift targets muscle groups like the lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and the core, all of which are pivotal muscle groups for improving your postural strength for preventing injury. That alone makes it an important movement for lifters to engage in as it can build muscle mass, strength, and prevent future injury. To effectively do this, though, it requires athletes to perform with proper form and technique, which will be highlighted throughout this article.

In this article, we will continue to talk about the benefits of the deadlift, the muscles trained during the deadlift, the potential limitations to the deadlift and variations of the deadlift to consider for programming success. The classic deadlift seems to be focal point of most deadlifting discussion, however, we will highlight some of the other variations of the deadlift that can serve different populations such as the RDL, trap bar, and sumo deadlift. All of which will be a discussion in this article, and more.