10 Benefits of Deadlifts You Probably Never Knew

The Deadlift. It is the quintessential weightlifting exercise. According to David Robson, a bodybuilder, personal trainer, and contributor to Bodybuilding.

“In my experience as an athlete, and based on the results witnessed by many of my personal training clients, the deadlift, if performed correctly, will build unparalleled mass while strengthening all the major muscle groups.

Yes, many will argue that the squat is the King of Exercises, and will contribute to more strength and size gains than any other exercise.

While it is true that the squat does rank as one of the best size builders (and on this basis alone should be included in everyone’s program), the deadlift, in my opinion, builds the upper and lower body like no other movement.”

The deadlift is done by simply grasping your free-weight bar (with as many weights as you can feasibly – not comfortably – lift) and lifting up until you stand up with the bar hanging in front of you, arms extended.

1. Increased Fat Burning

Alwyn Cosgrove, a personal trainer and fitness author, recently wrote about a study where: “Overweight subjects were assigned to three groups: diet-only, diet plus aerobics, diet plus aerobics plus weights. The diet group lost 14.6 pounds of fat in 12 weeks. The aerobic group lost only one more pound (15.6 pounds) than the diet group (training was three times a week starting at 30 minutes and progressing to 50 minutes over the 12 weeks).

The weight training group lost 21.1 pounds of fat (44% and 35% more than diet and aerobic only groups respectively). Basically, the addition of aerobic training didn’t result in any real-world significant fat loss over dieting alone.”

Lifting weights and resistance training will burn more fat than just dieting or dieting with cardio exercise alone.

2. Better Posture

Deadlifting increases your core strength and adds to core stability, according to Robson. Deadlifting targets all of the muscles responsible for your posture and enables you to keep your back straighter during regular daily activities.

3. More Muscles Worked

The Deadlift works more muscles than any other exercise, including the squat. The lift engages all of the major muscle groups, according to exercise physiologist Kevin Farley. If you need to do one exercise, this is the one to do. The Deadlift works your lower and upper body, including your back muscles.

4. Increased Real Life Lift

When you do other lifting exercises, like a bench press, for example, you’re not doing anything you might really do in real life. When are you ever going to have the need to lay on your back and push something in the air — unless you’re giving your two-year-old “flying lessons.” The Deadlift develops the muscles you need to actually carry something, like a bucket of water, those heavy grocery bags or your neighbor’s dining room table.

5. It’s Safe

The Deadlift is one of the safest weightlifting exercises you can perform. You aren’t going to get pinned under the weight or have to worry about it pulling you over backward. If you get into trouble, you can simply drop it…making for a loud bang, no doubt, but no damage. You also don’t have to have a spotter to perform this exercise.

6. Improved Grip Strength

According to Outlaw Fitness:

“Deadlifts are renowned for their ability to build massive amounts of grip strength, and for good reason. Your fingers are literally the only things connecting you to the weight of the bar. Your forearms have to work incredibly hard as you progress in weight to keep the bar from falling out of your hands. Subsequently, your grip strength grows by leaps and bounds.”

7. Increases Hormones

Now don’t worry, these aren’t the hormones that will make you more emotional! Instead, by doing at least 8 to 10 repetitions of Deadlifts with significant weight, you can increase the amount of testosterone and growth hormone produced by your body.

Testosterone increases muscle growth and improves muscle repair while growth hormone, which is produced by your pituitary gland, promotes tissue healing, bone strength, muscle growth, and fat loss.

8. Cheap and Easy

A lot of exercises require a lot of equipment, special shoes or whatever. Not the Deadlift. Just a bar with some weight. Pick it up. Simple. You can usually find free weights and a bar at a thrift store – or being given away by a friend – making it even cheaper.

9. Increased Cardio

Believe it or not, doing 10 repetitions of Deadlifts will increase your cardiovascular ability. You might want to make sure you have somewhere to sit down when you’re done!

10. Prevents Injury

The Deadlift can help prevent injuries by increasing the strength of your muscles around critical tendons and ligaments. Supporting joints with strong muscles is crucial to preventing injury, especially in the hamstrings and lower back, according to Outlaw Fitness.

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Can deadlifts help you lose belly fat?

7 Reasons You *Need* to Be Doing Deadlifts

Deadlifts legit changed my workout routine. I’d spent years developing my skills as a cardio bunny, but after watching a YouTube video about how Chris Evans got ripped for his role as Captain America, I decided to turn to a professional. Until then, I’d tried everything: yoga, pilates, barre—I’d even dipped my toe into lifting weights at my local gym, but my knowledge was a combination of Google searches and a college gym class that produced few results. The first exercise my trainer added to my workout routine? Deadlifts.

I’d never done them before (OK, I’d never so much as touched a barbell), and I was skeptical. Surely a single exercise couldn’t revolutionize my workout in a way years of trial and error had failed? But fortunately, I was (dead, heh) wrong. Deadlifts changed my shape—whittling my waist and giving my butt a much-needed boost—while improving my posture, increasing my overall strength, and making me feel like a confident badass.

So why should you be doing deadlifts?

1. Deadlifts work your entire body.

“The deadlift targets multiple muscle groups in a single lift, offering more bang for your buck than an isolation exercise,” says Zach Mayer, a master trainer at Burn 60 Studios (studio of choice for Reese Witherspoon, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Naomi Watts). “Incorporating deadlifts one or two days a week into a weight training session will develop strength in the hamstrings, glutes, low back, and upper back.”

They also rely on core strength to stabilize your body throughout the lift, which means you’ll be working your abs on top of everything else. As if you needed more convincing, deadlifts often work your glutes more than squats do. According to Mayer, this means you can get faster results on your backside than relying on squats alone.

Building muscle helps increase your metabolism too, which in turn helps you lose more fat long-term.

2. Deadlifts build killer strength.

One study showed that deadlift training generated huge improvements in strength and stability—especially in women who were relatively new to lifting. Because you’re using muscles on both the front and back of your body, deadlifts protect your joints from unnecessary stress and future injury, which is an awesome added benefit.

Even if strength isn’t your main goal (or if you’re afraid lifting weights will make you bulky… which, no, it won’t), this is still a fantastic benefit—especially since it makes you feel like a badass.

3. Deadlifts help improve your posture.

A strong back can absolutely help with your posture, but another way deadlifts help fix bad posture is by helping correct it. To perform deadlifts properly, you need to make sure your form is right—and good form during deadlifts often translates to good posture.

“You can expect a noticeable change in walking upright and sitting without rounded shoulders after regularly performing this lift,” Mayer says, which is especially important for those of us who spend a lot of time hunched in front of a computer screen.

4. Deadlifts can actually make you stronger in real life.

Instead of working on purely cosmetic gains, deadlifts involve movements and muscle routines that are a huge part of our daily lives. This means deadlifts will make it easier for you to perform basic tasks, which directly contradicts the assumption that gym training doesn’t actually prepare you for the real world.

“Deadlifts are highly functional,” Mayer says. “Increasing strength by deadlifting will prepare you for situations like carrying groceries, picking up someone who fell, or helping a friend on moving day.”

5. Deadlifts help to prevent injury.

Some might avoid deadlifts out of fear of back injury, but studies have shown that deadlifts can be beneficial for reducing low-back pain in some cases.

“The deadlift requires total control of the deep abdominals, the hips, and the pelvis, which is paramount in the treatment and prevention of low back pain,” says Nicholas Licameli, a physical therapist at Professional Physical Therapy.

Because the deadlift trains the posterior chain—which includes the spinal erectors, lats, rhomboids, glutes, and hamstrings—Licameli says it helps to prevent injury in muscle groups that are typically ignored.

“In fact, two predictors of tearing the ACL are actually an imbalance of strength in the quads and hamstrings, and gluteal weakness/instability,” Licameli adds. “The deadlift will have you covered.”

Remember that building strength takes time, so don’t jump into too heavy weights or complicated lifts before you’re ready. Be sure to watch your posture and technique to build muscle and ward against injury.

6. Deadlifts will save you precious, precious time.

Compound exercises like deadlifts work for more than one muscle group at a time. Instead of working on three different machines, you can work for the same muscle groups in less time by performing the deadlift—making it the ultimate time-saver.

7. Deadlifts are easy to incorporate into your workout.

You don’t need access to a barbell to use deadlifts, but it definitely doesn’t hurt. Dumbbells or kettlebells can be used to do the exercise, especially variations like the straight leg or Romanian deadlift variation.

“Ask a trainer or coach for his or her guidance,” Mayer recommends. “Your friend who is an ‘avid lifter’ may be well-intentioned, but chances are they don’t know the best way to coach a beginner through the deadlift. While instructional videos may also seem helpful, for novice lifters who are developing body awareness, it is best to work with an experienced professional.”

Basically, deadlifts are the unicorn of the fitness world. They’re a great way to get a whole host of results without spending a lot of time in the gym, and even fitness newbies can utilize them. Still not sure? Watch this badass grandma deadlift 225 pounds like a boss. Let her be your deadlift inspiration and enjoy reaping all of the benefits deadlifts have to offer.

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7 Benefits of Doing Squats and Variations to Try

• Muscles worked
• Basic squat
• Benefits
• Back squats
• Overhead squats
• Jump squats
• Safety
• Bottom line

The squat is a dynamic strength training exercise that requires several muscles in your upper and lower body to work together simultaneously.

Many of these muscles help power you through daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, bending, or carrying heavy loads. They also help you perform athletic-related activities.

Adding squats to your workouts can help boost your exercise performance, decrease your risk of injury, and keep you moving more easily throughout the day. But these are just a few of the benefits.

Keep reading to learn more about the rewards you can reap from doing squats and variations you can try for added benefits.

What muscles do squats work?

If there’s one exercise that has the ability to challenge most of the muscles in your body, it’s the squat.

The obvious muscles targeted are in the lower body, but in order to do this compound exercise correctly, you also need to use several muscles above your waist.

The lower muscles targeted in a squat include your:

• gluteus maximus, minimus, and medius (buttocks)
• quadriceps (front of the thigh)
• hamstrings (back of the thigh)
• adductor (groin)
• hip flexors
• calves

In addition to the lower body, the squat also targets your core muscles. These muscles include the rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis, and erector spinae.

If you do a back squat or overhead squat, you’ll also work the muscles in your shoulders, arms, chest, and back.

How to do a basic squat

Known as a bodyweight squat or an air squat, the most basic type of squat uses just your body weight for resistance. Variations of the squat can include weights, like barbells or dumbbells, resistance bands, or yoga balls.

To do a basic squat:

1. Start with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
2. Keep your chest up, engage your abdominals, and shift your weight onto your heels as you push your hips back into a sitting position.
3. Lower your hips until your thighs are parallel or almost parallel to the floor.
4. You should feel the squat in your thighs and glutes.
5. Pause with your knees over, but not beyond, your toes.
6. Exhale and push back up to the starting position.

What are the benefits of doing squats?

The list of squat benefits is lengthy, but to summarize and point out the top picks, here are seven key benefits of doing squats.

1. Strengthens your core

Having strong core muscles can make everyday movements like turning, bending, and even standing easier. Not only that, but a strong core can improve your balance, ease pain in your low back, and also make it easier to maintain good posture.

A 2018 study trusted Source that compared core muscle activation during a plank with back squats found that back squats resulted in greater activation of the muscles that support your back.

Based on these findings, the researchers recommended targeting the core muscles with back squats to reduce the risk of injury and to boost athletic performance.

2. Reduces the risk of injury

When you strengthen the muscles in your lower body, you’re better able to execute full-body movements with correct form, balance, mobility, and posture.

Plus, incorporating squats in your overall workout routine also helps strengthen your tendons, ligaments, and bones, which, according to the American Council on Exercise, may help reduce your risk of injury.

3. Crushes calories

Calorie burning is often equated with aerobic exercises such as running or cycling. But performing high-intensity, compound movements like the squat can also crush some serious calories.

For example, according to Harvard Medical School, a 155-pound person can burn approximately 223 calories doing 30-minutes of vigorous strength or weight training exercises, like squats.

4. Strengthens the muscles of your lower body

Your lower body boasts some of your largest and most powerful muscles.

From getting out of bed to sitting down in a chair, your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, and calves are responsible for almost every move you make.

Strength training exercises like squats can help strengthen and tone the muscles in your lower body. When these muscles are in good condition, you may find that you can move more comfortably, with less pain, and that everything from walking to bending to exercising is easier to do.

5. Boosts athletic ability and strength

If you compete in a sport, adding jump squats to your workout may help you develop explosive strength and speed which, in turn, may help improve your athletic performance.

A 2016 study trusted Source investigated the effects of jump squat training done 3 times a week over the course of 8 weeks.

Based on the results of the study, the researchers concluded that jump squat training has the ability to improve several different athletic performances simultaneously, including sprint time and explosive strength.

6. Variety helps with motivation

Once you master the basic squat, there are many different types of squat variations you can try. Changing up your squats can help keep the exercise interesting, while also activating different muscle groups.

Squats can be done with just your body weight. They can also be done with weights, like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or medicine balls, or with resistance bands or yoga balls.

7. Can be done anywhere

To do bodyweight squats, you don’t need any equipment. All you need is your body and enough room to lower your hips into a sitting position.

And, if you’re pressed for time, you can still benefit many muscle groups by doing 50 squats a day: Try doing 25 in the morning and 25 at night. As you get stronger, add 25 to the afternoon.

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Benefits of Calisthenic Exercises

Calisthenics might be the word your grandfather used for physical exercise. This type of workout started cropping up in grade schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These low-resistance exercises use your body weight rather than other equipment.

You do many repetitions of each move to help build muscle while improving how long you can keep the exercise going. Calisthenics can be a warm-up or cool-down for another fitness routine or sport. Or it can be its own workout.

Calisthenics is making a big comeback in workouts around the world. There are lots of ways these moves can benefit you.

Types of Calisthenics

Calisthenic exercises are relatively quick and involve moving most or all of your body. You repeat each exercise at least 10-12 times. You do more if you like, depending on your fitness level.

Some examples of calisthenic exercises include:

Jumping jacks

Trunk twist

Push-ups

Pull-ups

Chin-ups

Sit-ups

Planks

Lunges

What Are the Benefits?

The benefits of calisthenics depend on your fitness level. For beginners who are only able to do 10-12 repetitions at a time, the workout helps build muscle strength. Once you're able to do more reps, calisthenics help increases muscle endurance -- how long you can keep up the exercise.

If you're already physically fit and want to increase muscle strength, you can adjust calisthenic exercises for your fitness level. For example, you can add extra weight while you exercise. This could mean wearing a weighted belt to do pull-ups.

You can also make exercises harder by changing your body position. Try raising your legs on a platform or a step while you do push-ups. This challenges your muscles more, which helps build strength. Building muscle may give you a leaner appearance, too. Calisthenics may also help make your body more flexible.

They can also be good for helping you stick to workouts for a longer time. But in order to get the full benefit, you have to do the exercises quickly. You can't stop for more than a minute or so between each set. That keeps your heart rate up, making calisthenics a more challenging and effective workout.

How Many Calories Do Calisthenics Burn?

The number of calories you use while doing calisthenics depends on several things, including your weight and your age. On average, doing calisthenics for about 30 minutes burns:

• 135 calories if you're 125 pounds
• 167 calories if you're 155 pounds
• 200 calories if you're 200 pounds

If you do vigorous calisthenics for half an hour, your calorie burn will be more like this:

• 240 calories if you're 125 pounds
• 298 calories if you're 155 pounds
• 355 calories if you're 200 pounds

If you have health problems, get your doctor's OK before beginning a new exercise routine.

e gain you MUST follow if you want to get jacked:

1. TRAINING: You must TRAIN WITH PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD– without getting injured
2. DIET: You must eat enough calories – and eat mostly whole foods
3. LIFESTYLE: You must get lots of sleep – and manage your stress levels

Let’s first have a look at the training module and how to train calisthenics for maximum muscle gains. 

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Can you build muscle with calisthenics?

If you want to build calisthenics muscle mass and bulk up, you need to pick up some heavy stuff repeatedly… or so you’re told.

I’m here to tell you that you don’t. Your body alone is heavy enough to achieve that same exact goal, minus the expensive gym membership, free weights, and complicated machines.

Not only does bodyweight training allow you to bulk up as well as a bodybuilder, but it provides your body with more than just some new, pretty-looking muscle. With bodyweight training, you build muscle, increase strength, develop endurance… and get into a split while you’re at it!

Yes, You Can Build Mass With Calisthenics

Why would lifting weights be more effective than bodyweight training? Your body doesn’t differentiate the kind of weight you’re working on, but rather how you work. Bodybuilders have the muscle-building technique down pat, while calisthenics tends to be better-known for muscle endurance.

…but that’s not all calisthenics is good for!

We live in a society convinced that without the gym, you can’t get fit.

I’m here to tell you…that’s a preconceived notion and a load of bullsh– bullcrap.

Ever Google male gymnasts? They’re packed with muscle, yet rely ONLY on bodyweight training.

Here’s the thing: to build calisthenics muscle mass, you gotta train a bit differently.

The “Science” Behind Building Muscle Mass

How does calisthenics muscle mass grow? If you don’t know, well… you should, and I’m here to help you in to find out how.

Muscle doesn’t grow while you’re training it. It grows when you’re resting.

For your muscles to experience that growth, they need to be challenged by tension or weight for an extended period of time. It is this specific kind of stress that breaks down muscles with micro-tears.

Rest allows them to rebuild. If you’re eating enough calories, your body will naturally use that rest-time to both restore the muscle and add some mass to it.

Calisthenics can easily recreate a situation where enough tension or weight is placed long enough on the muscle that it’ll resist, then tear, and rebuild with more mass. The more you train, the more tension or weight you’ll need to place on the muscle. It’s levels of resistance grow the more you train and develop strength.

See? You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to build calisthenics muscle mass.

How do I build muscle mass with calisthenics?

Create tension/resistance in the muscle.

This stress will help your muscle grow in the same way weight-lifting would.

But if you want to build muscle mass as quickly as possible, calisthenics won’t be right for you.

If you want to make it a long-term thing though, calisthenics is totally for you.

Calisthenics is focused on progressions. Start with what your body allows you to do, then up the ante as you keep training.

More than that, don’t think that just because you can easily execute 20+ push-ups, you’re advanced.

Calisthenics wants you to slow it down, and focus on your form.

Here’s some useful terminology if you take your training seriously

1. Concentric, or positive movement is the movement where you go up in your push-up. Technically, it’s the motion of an active muscle while it’s retracting under load.

2. Eccentric, or negative movement is the movement where you go down in your push-up. Technically, it’s the motion of an active muscle while it’s lengthening under load.

Bodyweight Muscle-Building Techniques

You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to build muscle mass, but you do need technique. Here are some of the main tricks you can use to maximize your bodyweight training aiming to build muscle mass.

1. Slow it DOWN

Bodyweight training relies heavily on the application of concentric and eccentric movement. Depending on how you train both concentric and eccentric movements, your body will develop differently.

So even if you can do 20+ push-ups, I want you to slow down the entire movement and deconstruct it into separate steps.

Instead of powering through as many push-ups as you can, do less, and focus on your form. In fact, try taking 30 seconds for each aspect of the movement.  

Go down slowly, controlling your descent the entire time (4s minimum). Once you get down to a couple of inches from the ground, stop for a couple of seconds before pushing yourself back up in one explosive move.

By doing this, you’re taking the time for your eccentric movement to happen. You’re helping the muscle develop differently than most people train it. In fact, eccentric movements are where the micro-tears I mentioned will happen most.

So stop ignoring the eccentric movements if you want to gain that big muscle!

If you work out early in the morning, make sure to eat a meal right after.

This is a promise: your body and energy will thank you.

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What is a calisthenics workout? Supplements

8 Calisthenics Exercises for Beginners

What is calisthenics?

Calisthenics is exercises that don’t rely on anything but a person’s own body weight. These exercises are performed with differing levels of intensity and rhythm. Sometimes these exercises are done with light handheld tools like rings and wands.

These exercises allow for the development of strength, endurance, flexibility, and coordination.

Calisthenics was developed in ancient Greece and became popular again in the early 19th century. Today, fitness training of athletes, military personnel, law enforcement officers, and people trying to keep in shape use these exercises for warming up for strenuous sports or to help build up their bodies. Scientists are also now studying the use of calisthenics to help treat various health conditions, from obesity to COPD.

Exercise routine

Here is a calisthenics workout for beginners that works various parts of the body for a complete, full-body workout:

Perform the following exercise circuit three times, with a 30-second rest between each exercise set, and a three-minute rest between each circuit repetition.

10 pullups

1. Stand facing an exercise bar.
2. Grasp the bar from the top with your arms slightly more than shoulder-width apart.
3. Use your shoulder muscles to pull you up, bringing your head up over the bar.

10 chin-ups

1. Stand facing an exercise bar.
2. Grasp the bar from underneath with your arms in a tight, slightly closer than shoulder-width grip.
3. Use your biceps to pull you up, bringing your head up over the bar.

20 dips

1. Stand inside a dip bar and use your arms and shoulders to lift you off the ground.
2. Bend your elbows back using your tricep muscles to move you up and down.
3. If you do not have a dip bar, you can also perform dips off an exercise ball or bench by keeping your feet on the ground and knees bent at a 90-degree angle.

25 jump squats

1. Stand with your body facing forward and your feet parallel, directly underneath your shoulders.
2. Move your feet a few inches apart with your toes pointed slightly outward.
3. Lower yourself into the squat, lowering your hips back and down while bending your knees.
4. Keep your chest upright, with your head and face forward.
5. Get into as deep a squat as possible, and then explode forcefully upward into a jump.

Never extend your knees over your toes, as that moves the strain of the squat to the knee joints. This can injure your knee joints.

20 pushups

1. Get on your knees and place your hands underneath, but slightly outside, your shoulders.
2. Extend your legs while holding your body up with your arms, getting into the “plank” position.
3. Be careful not to let your back sag or backside stick up into the air.
4. Lower your body by bending your elbows close to your body until your chest almost touches the floor.
5. Your upper arms should form a 45-degree angle when the top part of your body is in the lower pushup position.
6. Pause while you are in the lower position, and then push back up to the starting position quickly.
7. Keep your abdomen, or core, flexed during the entire movement.

50 crunches

1. Lay on the ground with your back flat.
2. Place your feet flat on the ground, bending your knees up at a 90-degree angle to your body.
3. Cross your hands on top of your chest and keep your head about a fist’s distance from your chest.
4. Keeping your core tight, sit up until your elbows or chest touch your knees.
5. Focus on using your core muscles to pull you up, breathing out as you sit up and breathing in as you lie down.

10 burpees

1. Stand facing forward with your feet shoulder-width apart, keeping your weight in your heels and your arms at your sides.
2. Push your hips back, bending your knees and lowering into a squat.
3. Put your hand's palms down on the floor in front of you, a little narrower than you are keeping your feet.
4. Put your weight into your hands and jump your feet back, landing softly on the balls of your feet, your body in a straight plank position.
5. Be careful not to let your back sag or backside stick up into the air.
6. Jump your feet forward so they land next to your hands.
7. Push your arms up over your head and jump quickly into the air.

30 seconds of jump rope

1. Grasp the jump rope handles and hold your hands roughly the same distance from the center line of your body.
2. Rotate the rope with your wrists — not your elbows or shoulders — while jumping off the ground about one to two inches into the air, clearing the rope.
3. As you jump, keep your toes pointed down and a slight bend in your knees.

Calisthenics vs. weight exercises

Calisthenics exercises require a person to use their own body weight to perform strength-training movements. Weight exercises, on the other hand, require a person to use dumbbells or other weighted apparatuses to perform strength-training movements.

According to researchers, calisthenics and weight exercises produce similar physical results, at least in the short-term. For example, in one study researchers had 15 men follow a weight-based training workout and 17 men follow the U.S. Army’s calisthenics-based Standardized Physical Training program for 1.5 hours a day, five days a week, for eight weeks. At the end of the eight weeks, both groups’ fitness increased to a similar degree.

The takeaway

Calisthenics exercises appear to increase physical fitness to a similar degree as weight-based training exercises. The benefit of calisthenics over weight-based training exercises is that calisthenics requires little-to-no additional equipment — all you need is your body!

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