-Preeti

I’m a relative beginner, but you have gotten me off the machines and I am LOVING lifting free weights.

I’d like to start including deadlifts in my routine…but how much weight should I start with?

To give you reference point: I’ve been squatting the 45lb bar for about a month now. I worked up from 3 X 10 reps (it was so hard to maintain good form all the way to the end at first) to 3 x 15 once or twice/week. I now feel that this is quite easy, but have been continuing with the unloaded bar so that I could focus on form before adding more weight. I’m very happy to say that my form now feels pretty awesome and I’m ready to start adding weight.

How much to add to the squats?

What would be a good starting weight for the deadlift?

This is an outstanding website, well done for putting it together! However, i have a few comments and form pointers on your deadlifts, particularly the straight-leg.

First, the difference between the squat and the deadlift. It’s all about knee vs hip extension. A squat, particularly a front squat, is much more about knee extension – the knee move through maybe 120 degrees, while the hip moves, say 100. In the extreme other end, the straight leg deadlift keeps the knee virtually static and its all hip. The regular deadlift is somewhere between the two, depending on your starting position. In other words, while they both target all of the leg muscles, the squat is essentially a front of body exercise (quads), while the deadlift is a back of body exercise (hams, glutes, lower back).

For this reason, the SL deadlift is super-important, particularly when it comes to preventing knee injuries (e.g. ACL tears), which have been associated with weak hams, particularly in women who are at greater risk of ACL injury. Also, any sport which has a lot of sprinting (e.g. soccer, hockey) requires strong hams to prevent ham injury. (Sorry, I’m very into hams, both my partner and sister have had multiple knee ops!). You don’t get this benefit from leg curls – I might also comment on your leg curl page too when I get a moment!

Form comments:

1. Both variants. Because of the position of the bar cf. the squat, you can and should really drive the hips into the bar at the top of the movement. This should also work the lats and you should feel a powerful thrust at the top – the glutes really kick it, and you have the impression of pulling the bar down and into your thigh.

2. SL. This really shouldn’t be started from the floor as this is an injury risk to both hams and back – far better to start with the bar on a low rack, or pick the bar up using a standard deadlift and start at the top. Then lower the bar and *critically* only go as low as feels comfortable – the limit will either be losing the straight back, or feeling a strong pull in the hams. E.g. your starting position in the photos has already got a slightly rounded back. Because the deadlift is primary working the hip and not the knee, you don’t need to go full range to get the benefit. Always have the knees slightly bend, except at the bottom when you can try to push you knee back a little for a strong stretch, and except at the top when you can fully extend. Remember also, the SL deadlift is an awesome isometric lower back exercise!

3. Both variants. Once you’ve got the form down, it’s actually worth loading up the bar o the deadlift. The reasons is that most people attempt to shrug the bar, particularly at the top, and this is not good for your shoulders. Having a higher weight effectively prevents your shoulders from doing this – they have no hope of shrugging a heavier weight, so they give up! But you need perfect form first.

Finally, it’s worth noting that a *really* good alternative exercise is the hyperextension, either on a swiss ball or hyperextension machine. In fact, it’s probably easier and safer to develop strength on the hyperextension first before progressing to SL deads.

Great site, again!

Regards,

Danny

Your diva deadlifts include bending the knees, whereas the examples on exrx.net (which I had found through your links) keeps the legs totally straight. As I’m doing deadlifts to help out a tweaky lower back, what are your thoughts on bent versus straight (but of course not hyperextended) legs?

Also of note: my gym has Smith machines, but no barbells. That the machines hold a person to such a straight line of movement has proven frustrating (especially with squats, where I find myself struggling not to lean against the bar to push it up.) I’ve explored exrx.net for ideas, and will likely be doing deadlifts and squats with dumbbells in the future. Do you think this is an acceptable swap, or would you recommend just getting used to the Smith machines and making them work?

Thank you so very, very much for the care and knowledge that you put into this site. I’ve been curious about weightlifting for years, but only at recent initiative have I started doing it regularly. Your guides and informative articles have been absolutely invaluable. Thank you so much!

Jamie