matt p

Hi everyone just a quickie as title really.

My upper body is starting to show some shape now
which is great but im unsure of what exercises to do that
work on my lower back and sides ie-love handles

I was told about deadlifts but im not sure how to do them
so any help would be great.

Cheers matt

Paul Eggleton

There are two main versions; Regular Deadlifts and Stiff Legged Deadlifts (SLDL)

Regular deadlifts are the king of exercises as they pretty much work every muscle in the body(maybe not the triceps so much). Stiff legged deadlifts put more focus on the hamstrings and lower back.

Neither will get rid of love handles though. Extra Fat is down to diet and no amount of spot-reduction will get rid of these. So you need to sort your diet out to reduce the fat.

Regular deadlifts;

OK, Bar on the floor with whatever weight (I use 60kgs as a warmup). Approach the bar with your feet shoulder width apart. Using an overhand grip hold the bar again about shoulder width. Now, bend your knees so your thighs are parallel with the floor and your torso is at least 45degrees. The bar should be close to your shins. Remember to keep your head up too. The first part of the movement see's your torso stay in the same position, you then push through the floor using your legs and start to lift the bar. As you rise you then start to bring your torso into the vertical position. Practice with a light weight as this should become one fluid motion. I hate it when people pick the bar off the floor and then drop it so make sure you lower it under control as well.

NOTE: if at any point your torso leans forward as you drive up with your legs, forcing your arse in the air, the weight is too much!!! This will round your back and cause injury!.

There are other grips you can adopt too such as an alternate overhand/underhand. If you don't have lifting straps this can help you hold the bar as it gets heavy. I will always do the follwing set with my hands the other way round if I use an alternate grip.

SLDL's are slightly different and you will have to use less weight. The movement is basically touching your toes but with a straight back and your knees very slightly bent. Using weight when doing it puts a lot of tension on the hamstrings which is why it is a good basic hamstring movement.

I don't have the link that shows the movement but hopefully the above helps. If you are unsure about any of it, get someone experienced to show you at your gym. Done incorrectly it is a very dangerous exercise. Done properly it will help pack on serious size and strength.

Paul.

matt p

Cheers for that Paul im off down the gym tonight
so im gonna give the regular deadlift ago.

Im gonna just use the bar to start with so i can get
my technique right first.

Thanks matt.

Paul Eggleton

Thats fine, but I always find that a little bit of weight is needed to get the right feeling.

Best of luck

matt p

I see paul what would you recomend for a basic weight
to start with?

The bar that i use is 15kg on its on.

Thanks again matt

matt p

Right i done the deadlift last maxed out at 35kg
i could of done more but i thought i would be a safe
starting point so i can get it right.

After i done 3 sets of 12 my legs went like jelly
could not belive such a simple exercise could do
so much

im a little sore this morning but hey its worth it!

Cheers matt

dexterc

Completely agree.

I dont drop the bar, (unless Im enough of a girl that my grip gives out) but I would not worry about being controlled with the lowering the bar. Ill listen to Dave Tate on this and say that there is no eccentric portion to the deadlift.

I dont necessarily find its due to too much weight. It happens to me when I lapse mentally and dont concentrate, sometimes on warmup sets. I notice, mentally slap myself, and keep my hips down on the heavy sets. You can get away with it a little bit once your back is strong, but its very dangerous starting out. Id agree that its a good idea to do very high rep training to start off, as you need to get the movement learned, and get a good mental groove.

When Im doing a deadlift session, I would always use an alternating grip. That will get you using the most weight. The only time I would consider using straps was if I was running a serious grip training regime (say 3 days a week) that meant my hands were too fatigued to hold on to the weight. I would keep double overhand for specific grip training sessions.

Sorry, I have to chime in on any deadlift related post.

Paul Eggleton

For me its more of a safety thing. It may happen once in a blue moon but if one hand lets go at a slightly different time it could cause twisting which may lead to an injury.

dexterc

Thats a fair point, and like I said I dont drop the weight either, unless I physically cannot hold on to it. Although Ive never seen an Oly lifter injured by dropping weight from overhead, so I dont know how likely it is to happen. Better safe than sorry though, I guess.