(dramatic music)
- What's up, adidas?
My name is Erin Moss,
and I'm a volleyball athlete here at Georgia Tech.
Today, we're going to be going over how to do a deadlift
plus a few other variations that you can try.
So let's get to work.
The weight amount you choose is totally up to you.
I'm going to use a barbell
to demonstrate a standard deadlift,
but if you're a beginner,
we suggest using dumbbells instead.
Step up to the bar,
and make sure your feet are shoulder-width apart.
Your shins should be very close to the bar,
and your hands should be right outside of your legs.
Push your butt back, hinge at your waist,
and bend your knees to grasp the bar.
Grab the bar with both hands using an overhand grip.
Keep your core engaged and your neck neutral.
Take a deep breath and hold it in.
Drive your feet through the floor and pull the bar up.
Keep the bar close to your body as you lift.
Core tight, shoulders back, chest open. One fluid motion.
Squeeze your glutes at the top,
being careful not to arch your back.
Hold that position for a moment,
and exhale, then hinge your torso back towards the ground.
Send your hips back, bend your knees,
and place the weight on the ground.
When doing a standard deadlift,
make sure you keep the bend in your knees.
Your knees should bend simultaneously with your hinge.
Hinge at the hip.
Make sure you're hinging, not squatting.
All your motion should be coming from your hips
and not your spine.
Hold your breath as you lift.
This will give you stability throughout your core,
which is where the majority of your power comes from
when doing this deadlift.
Conventional deadlifts are a great exercise,
because they're efficient
working the most muscle groups in the least amount of time.
We suggest doing anywhere from three to five working sets
with two to five reps in each.
Now we're going to get into different variations
of the deadlift.
First up is the Romanian deadlift, commonly called the RDL.
We are using dumbbells for this exercise,
but feel free to use kettlebells, a barbell,
or the straight bar.
Stand hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.
Hold your weight at your thighs.
Hinge your hips, bending slightly at your knees.
Push your butt back and keep your back flat.
Your torso should be almost parallel to the floor,
and the dumbbells should reach your shins.
In one motion, tighten your core,
and push through your heels to push your hips forward
and stand up straight.
Keep the weights close to your shins as you pull up.
Pause at the top and squeeze your glutes.
Relax and then reset for your next rep.
When doing the Romanian deadlift,
make sure you keep your back straight.
You can do this by bringing your shoulders back
and engaging your core before you descend.
Focus your eyes downwards throughout this move,
and keep your chin tucked towards your chest.
Looking up with your head and neck
can cause misalignment in your spine.
To master the hip hinge,
think of your torso as one strong unit moving at once,
pushing your hips back.
This will help keep your core supported
and avoid strain on your shoulders and back.
RDLs are a great exercise
to improve the strength of your lower back,
glutes, and hamstrings.
We suggest doing three to five sets of three to eight reps.
Next up is a single-leg deadlift.
We're going to switch it up
and use a kettlebell for this deadlift variation.
You can use one or two kettlebells for this move.
I'm going to use one.
Stand with your feet together,
holding your kettlebell in your right hand,
and in front of your legs.
Shift your weight to your left leg,
keeping a slight bend in your standing knee.
Push through the floor with all four corners of your foot.
Raise your right leg straight behind your body,
hinging at your hips
to bring your torso parallel to the floor.
Lower the weight towards the floor,
keeping it a few inches off the ground.
Push through your standing heel and begin to stand up,
pulling the weight with a straight arm
back up to the starting position.
Bring your right leg back down to meet your left,
keeping most of the weight in your standing foot.
When doing a single-leg RDL,
make sure you keep your hips facing forward.
A lot of people open their hips up when doing this exercise.
Make sure you keep a slight bend in your knee.
This helps engage the glute of the standing leg.
Don't lift your raised leg too high.
This can throw off your balance.
Ideally, you want your torso and raised leg
to be parallel to the floor.
The single-leg deadlift is an effective strength exercise,
because it simultaneously strengthens and tones your glutes
while also improving your balance.
We suggest doing three to four sets of five to 15 reps.
Be sure to do multiple reps on one leg
before moving over to the next.
Last up is the sumo deadlift,
and we're going to use a barbell again for this variation.
With the barbell on the ground,
start in a wide stance that is comfortable for you
with your toes pointed outward and aligned with your knees
and your shins grazing the bar.
Hinge at the hips to lower your torso to grab the bar.
Your hands should be shoulder-width apart
inside of your legs, your chest up, and your back straight.
As you lift, push your feet down and out,
as if you're spreading the ground apart.
Keep your core tight
and the bar close to your body as you stand.
Pause at the top,
squeeze your glutes without arching backwards.
To lower the weight, hinge your torso,
send your glutes back,
and bend your knees to bring the weight to the ground.
When doing a sumo deadlift,
make sure your hands are placed on the barbell
straight down from your shoulders.
If your hands are too close or too far apart,
it will lead to an imbalance holding the weight.
Your knees should be right on top of your ankles.
If your knees are too far apart, they may cave in,
and make it difficult for you to get a full range of motion.
Remember to simultaneously push the floor away
as you lift up,
while also spreading the floor apart with your feet.
This will allow for maximum side glute activation.
Sumo deadlifts are great,
because they build strength in the posterior chain,
which includes the back, glutes, and hamstrings,
while also activating the quadriceps and adductor muscles.
We suggest doing three to five working sets
of two to five reps.
My advice that I would give to beginner deadlifters
is to just go at your pace.
There's no pressure to do anything really heavy
or to go super hard.
Just focus on having really good technique
and be consistent with your movement.
- It's a process.
So be patient, it will come.
As long as you're consistent with it, it will come.
- Impossible is nothing means that I'm limitless.
I can do anything that I set my mind to
as long as I can visualize it,
and set an intention behind it, I can do it.