Monday, January 31, 2011

How To Do Dumbbell Deadlifts


Strong Legs For A Strong Chest

by

healthy_blogging

This is the third installment in a series of articles discussing dumbbell exercises that indirectly affect the development of the muscles in the upper body. Last week I talked about dumbbell squats, this time I'm going to discuss dumbbell deadlifts. Deadlifts are key to core strength which means that they also play a role in your ability to do chest building exercises like the bench press, dips, push ups, etc. If you're not doing them, you're cheating yourself out of a valuable muscle and strength building source.

Some benefits of the dumbbell deadlift

  • strong back
  • strong legs
  • strong core muscles
  • stimulates production of growth hormones


How To Do the Dumbbell Deadlift Exercise

There are many different types of deadlifts exercises including the Romanian, sumo, box, and lock out. In this article you're going to learn about the standard dumbbell deadlift. You'll need access to a pair of dumbbells. Hold one dumbbell in each hand. Slowly bend your knees as you lower yourself to the floor. You need good alignment, do not arch your back. Now, using your hip and gluteus muscles, push yourself to a fully upright position. Hold for three seconds then lower yourself to the floor again. That's one repetition. Repeat this until you've completed ten reps. Now stop. That was your warm up set.

Now, select heavier dumbbells because you're going to do them again. In order to stimulate muscle growth, you need to lift heavier weights, so choose dumbbells that are heavy enough that you would not be able to get in more than six reps during one set. If you're only able to do one or two reps, right after selecting heavier dumbbells, it means that you're lifting more than your body can handle. You'll have to test until you come up with the right amount of weight for you. The goal is to perform enough sets to give your muscles a workout without training them to fatigue. If you're lifting sufficiently heavy, you'll begin to notice it after a few sets. After you've finished three or four sets of dumbbell deadlifts, you can move on to another exercise. You should increase the weight by ten to fifteen pounds per week.

The deadlift is a compound exercise that primarily works muscles in the lower body, so you can add more weight per week than if you were training the chest or triceps because the lower body is naturally stronger (since we use those muscles more often e.g. walking, standing up from a seated position, etc.). When you reach the point that you can perform one set of ten or more heavy weight dumbbell deadlifts without difficulty, it's time to use another variation or move to barbell deadlifts.

If you perform the dumbbell deadlift on a regular basis, it won't be long before you experience a boost to your upper body strength. You should be able to bench press much more weight than if you were only exercising your upper body which makes the dumbbell deadlift a great chest workout, too.

Okay, that's all for the dumbbell deadlift exercise. The only way to get any use out of them is to add them to your workout routine. So go do them. Now.

"Great Chest Workouts: How To Do Dumbbell Deadlifts - Strong Legs For A Strong Chest" copyright 2011 Great Chest Workouts. All Rights Reserved.