4 reasons why women should train deadlifts
A quick summary...
- High repetition deadlift sets can improve endurance and burn fat.
- Deadlifts will not increase your waist size - this is a myth.
- Deadlifts can reduce some of the negative effects associated with wearing high heels and poor posture.
- Deadlifts are a basic exercise that will help you with more advanced training such as training with the Olympic weightlifting exercises.
- Use the "ladder" training method to get used to the exercise and master good exercise execution form.
The 'broad and bulky' myth must die
When it comes to women and training with weights, most no longer believe in the 'broad and bulky' myth, but there are still a few exercises that women shy away from.
Deadlifts are one of them. Of course, we could talk about how this exercise can help you get a great, toned butt. But even though deadlifts can certainly do this, we want to go a little further.
Whether you're a woman who trains hard but doesn't see the need for deadlifts, or you're a man trying to convince your wife or girlfriend to use this exercise, here's a list of reasons why women need to include it in their training program.
1. deadlifts are an excellent exercise for strength and conditioning
Deadlifts should be at the top of your list of exercises for general strength and conditioning, as this exercise will not negatively affect your joints as long as you use good technique.
Larger women with long limbs may find the compression forces of squats uncomfortable, but most who suffer from knee problems will still be able to perform deadlifts without any problems. In addition, the muscles on the back of your body that you recruit during deadlifts will help stabilize your joints and correct any imbalances you may be suffering from.
However, it's important to stop judging deadlifts by the videos you may have seen on YouTube. Click on any internet deadlift video and you'll probably see a guy wearing a variety of bandages trying to perform a single repetition deadlift with 350 kilos.
People love to show off their max weight and this can convince less experienced strength athletes that training with low reps is the workout of choice for such an exercise.
Yes, sets of 8 to 10 reps do exist. They can have a positive effect on the conditioning and endurance of your muscles and burn fat at the same time. Deadlifts train a lot of muscles and the more muscles you train, the greater the impact of your workout on your metabolism.
The postural muscles of your back, which are recruited during deadlifts, respond particularly well to endurance-style training due to the nature of the task they perform in the human body.
Deadlifts with more time under tension than heavy single reps or sets of 2 to 3 reps are a serious exercise that will also improve your grip strength - if this is of interest to you (which it should be).
2. deadlifts will not make your waist wider
Many women avoid deadlifts because they think this exercise will make their midsection wider. This old myth needs to be dispelled. Bret Conteras has noted: "Through EMG experiments, we have found that many common exercises activate the rectus abdominis and oblique lateral abdominal muscles as much or more than squats and deadlifts. These include exercises such as pull-ups, standing shoulder presses, hip thrusts, reverse hypers, push-ups, pull-overs, tricep presses and curls." "Most targeted abdominal or core exercises outperform squats and deadlifts when it comes to activating the oblique lateral abdominal muscles. These exercises include RKC planks, side planks, ab wheel rollouts, crunches with added weight, straight leg sit-ups, hanging leg raises and side bends..."
So the truth is that if you're doing any core exercises, you're doing more to widen your waist than if you're moving a heavy barbell. This is not to say that all direct core training should be avoided. Growing a muscle group is a product of volume and intensity. The idea that deadlifting will make your waist wider is as far-fetched as the idea that cardio will ruin your progress.
3. deadlifts can help correct pelvic obliquity
High heels are a double-edged sword when it comes to a healthy appearance. What may look great can have devastating effects on a woman's pelvis. Olympic weightlifters train in special weightlifting shoes, which usually include a heel lift that can be up to 5 centimeters high. These shoes keep squats more quadriceps dominant and promote a more vertical torso in the lowest position to better catch the bar during heavy deadlifts or snatches. The altered geometry allows the knee to move further beyond the toes due to the adjusted pelvic position. Now take this example and apply it to high-heeled shoes, which are often twice as high as Olympic weightlifters' shoes. The result causes an unhealthy excessive curve in the lumbar region of the spine, which can result in tight hips and dominant quadriceps. Quadriceps and hips are already heavily used in daily life movements and emphasizing their involvement can make things worse. I don't want to write an article here saying that women should never wear high-heeled shoes again, but involving the posterior chain of muscles in deadlifts can mitigate some of the effects of high heels.
Because the gluteus and hamstrings tilt the pelvis backwards, deadlifts can compensate for the forward tilt of the pelvis caused by constantly wearing high heels. For this reason, deadlifts should be one of the basic exercises in every woman's training program.
4. master the deadlift and you will be ready for the other heavy exercises
Deadlifts are the easiest, best way to start learning the "hinge movement" when it comes to heavy weight exercises. Once you master this exercise, you will get better at many other heavy exercises as well. CrossFit, along with the ubiquitous conditioning programs published by professional athletes and motivational advertising, does the average person a disservice by popularizing training methods that in most cases are too advanced for normal people.
They see it on YouTube or in commercials and assume that this - in some cases even risky - training is something they should be doing too. But in order to perform all these demanding and grueling exercises such as Olympic weightlifting, jumps, metabolically demanding kettlebell training or even plyometric training, you must first master the "hinge movement" (also known as the hinge pattern), as this is the cornerstone of all these activities. Deadlifts will open this door for you, through which you can then progress to perform more advanced exercises.
Deadlift tips
Start with a light weight. This will help you understand the exercise and maintain good form when training with heavier weights. Choose minimalist shoes or train in socks or bare feet if your gym allows it. The more direct contact your feet have with the floor, the better. A shoe with thick soles can contribute to instability and increase your pulling distance, both of which can have a negative impact on your exercise performance. If possible, use so-called "bumper plates". These lighter weight plates have the same diameter as the 20 kilo plates used in Olympic weightlifting. This allows you to hold the bar at the correct height above the floor. If there are no such plates in your gym and you are not yet ready for 20 kilo plates, then place the bar loaded with weights on two elevations to achieve the correct height of the bar. The starting height of the bar should be somewhere around the middle of your shin.
Deadlift technique
Remember the basic tips of keeping your back straight and not lifting your heels off the floor. Deadlifts are a vertical pull exercise, which means it's crucial that the bar moves in a straight line. Your setup should encourage this as much as possible. Deadlifts are performed with a conventional stance. If you are concerned about the strength of your lower back or have ever had an injury in this area, you can try a medium-wide sumo stance. Instead of keeping your hands on the outside of your shins, the sumo variation places your shins further out than your hands. In addition to this variation of the deadlift preventing your lower back from catching fire, sumo deadlifts are good for activating the glutes and thighs.
'Laddered' progression in the deadlift
If you've never done deadlifts before, you should use a cautious approach, slowly working your way up to 10 reps. Don't immediately try to perform 4 or 5 sets of 10 reps deadlifts with a moderate weight, as this could give your body a shock you weren't expecting - especially if you have a weak lower back or a history of back injury. Instead, using a conventional stance and a rough estimate of your maximum weight for 10 reps, perform just 2 reps on the first set. Pause for 2 minutes and then perform 3 reps on your second set. Rest again and then perform 5 reps on your third set. Finish with a fourth set of 10 repetitions.
For each of the following training sessions, remove the set with the lowest number of repetitions and perform another set of 10 repetitions instead. Your first 4 training sessions should look like this:
- Day 1: 2 reps, 3 reps, 5 reps, 10 reps.
- Day 2: 3 reps, 5 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps.
- Day 3: 5 repetitions, 10 repetitions, 10 repetitions, 10 repetitions
- Day 4: 10 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps, 10 reps.
This will serve as an easy way for you to get used to the movement. Learning an exercise properly is just as important as incorporating it into your training program, so take the necessary time.
by Lee Boyce
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/4-reasons-women-must-deadlift