NIFS Healthy Living Blog

In the age of social media, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information that is thrown at you each day. Put aside what you know about glute training for the time being and let's focus on two major keys to making progress in a specific area of the body:

• The function of the muscles.
• The exercises that target the muscle the best.

In part 1 of this blog, you will learn the anatomy and function of the glutes. In part 2 I will discuss proper programming to achieve the best results.

The Gluteal Muscles

The gluteal muscles are a group of four muscles: the glute maximus, the glute medius, the glute minimus, and the tensor fasciae latae. Although all animals have glute muscles, large, developed glute muscles are a characteristic of humans that has adapted from a two-legged locomotion. The primary function of the glute muscles is to abduct (to move away from the midline) and extend (kick back) the thigh at the hip joint. This group of muscles also assists in adduction (to move toward the midline), and external and internal rotation.

Glute Minimus

Starting with the smallest of the muscles, the glute minimus is the deepest of the four muscles. It acts in synergy with the glute medius to abduct and internally rotate the thigh at the hip joint. The glute minimus also helps stabilize the pelvis.

Glute Medius

The glute medius is deep to the glute maximus, but superficial to the glute minimus. The glute medius can be seen as a superficial muscle. Therefore, it is important to work the muscle actions of the medius to build well-rounded glute muscles. The glute medius abducts and internally rotates the thigh at the hip joint. It also stabilizes the pelvis and trunk during gait.

Glute Maximus

The glute max is the largest and most superficial of the glute muscles. This is the main muscle that provides the majority of the shape. Its function is to extend and abduct the thigh at the hip joint. The glute max also assists external rotation and adduction.

Tensor Fasciae Latae

The tensor fasciae latae is a fusiform muscle and is located on the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. It has a similar function to the glute medius, in that it abducts the thigh at the hip. It also plays a role in externally rotating the lower leg at the knee. Because it connects to the knee and hip joint, it assists in stabilizing the knee and hip.

Looking Ahead

Now that we have looked at what muscles we will be training, and what their functions are, we can choose exercises that specifically target those specific muscle actions. Our movements will primarily be ones that extend and abduct the thigh at the hip. In part 2 I will list the NIFS trainers’ favorite glute exercises, as well as how to organize them in your training for the best results.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

In this blog series, I have discussed four movement patterns that training should fit into. I then went on to talk about scheduling a training plan using the four movement patterns, as well as going over the pushing movement pattern. In this blog I will discuss the next upper-body movement pattern on the list, the pulling movement pattern.

Pulling Movement Pattern

This movement pattern works the muscles of the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, posterior deltoid, and biceps. These muscles are all responsible for pulling objects toward our upper body. These muscle groups are essential for those of you who sit at a desk for the majority of your day job. Strengthening the muscles of your back will aid in maintaining an upright posture. 

Similar to the push pattern, the pulling movement pattern can be broken up further into a horizontal and vertical pull. A horizontal pull is one in which you are pulling the weight toward your torso (for example, rows); whereas a vertical pull is one in which you are pulling the weight down from overhead (for example, pulldowns).

Pulling Movements

Lats—Horizontal

• Seated Cable Row
• One-arm Cable Row
• Bent-over Barbell Row
• One-arm DB Bent-over Row
• Chest-supported Row
• TRX or Ring Rows
• Upright Rows

Lats—Vertical

• Pullup
• Chin-up
• Lat Pulldown
• One-arm Kneeling Lat Pulldown

Trap/Posterior Deltoid

• Facepulls
• Pullaparts
• Rear Deltoid Flys

Biceps

• Barbell Curl
• DB Curl
• Cable Curl
• Preacher Curl
• Overhand Curl

Structure Your Training Program

For more information on how to properly progress and structure a training program, visit our staff at the track desk to schedule a private session. We are more than happy to help at any time, and as part of your membership here at NIFS, you receive complimentary workout programs. Our health fitness professionals tailor all programs to your fitness goals.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

In a previous blog I discussed the importance of training within the movement categories. Those categories are upper body push and pull, squat, and hinge. To break it down even further within the categories, there are exercises that give you more bang for the buck than others. In this blog I differentiate between compound and isolation exercises. For those of you who are on a time crunch when you are in the gym, these exercises are crucial to get the most out of your training.

What Is the Difference?

A compound exercise is also known as a multi-joint exercise. This is an exercise in which more than one joint is required to move through the exercise. An example of a compound exercise would be a squat. To complete the squat pattern, three joints must move: the ankle, knee, and hip. Examples of compound exercises for the upper body are the bench press and overhead press. Both movements require the function of the shoulder and elbow. The reason that compound lifts have more payoff is that they work multiple muscle groups as well. A bench press uses the pectoralis muscles, deltoids, and triceps. This requires more energy to be expended than if you used only one of those muscle groups on a single joint exercise. Exercises that isolate a single muscle group are called isolation exercises. Examples of an isolation movement would be a bicep curl, triceps extension, leg extension, or a leg curl. The difference between a compound exercise and an isolation exercise is the number of joints that move.

Which Type of Exercise Should You Do?

Compound lifts are more challenging but less time consuming than performing multiple different isolation exercises. If you short on time while in the gym, a full-body workout full of compound movements will give you the most from your workout. I have written blogs about how to structure those types of workouts. If you want to sculpt your body in a particular way, and are focused on correcting muscle imbalances or injury rehabilitation, each may require the use of specific isolation movements to build up specific muscle groups. So, the question is, what are your goals? Once you define your goals, you can design your workout program.

Structuring a Workout

The most efficient way to structure a workout utilizing both methods is to perform a compound movement first in your workout followed by isolation movements to complement the muscles used in the compound movement. A quick example using the bench press would be bench pressing first, followed by isolation movements to isolate the chest and triceps. You want to save the most amount of energy for your compound exercises, which is why you should perform this one first. Fatiguing the triceps before a heavy bench workout will not yield the best results for bench press. This is why isolation exercises are best performed at the end of your workout.

For more information or guidance on how to structure your workouts, visit our training staff at the track desk in the fitness center. For nonmembers looking for help on your fitness journey, feel free to give us a call to set up a guest fitness assessment.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Olympic weightlifting is one of the oldest sports that is still around to this day in the Olympics. Over time the sport has evolved to what it is today, and there are more participants at the national-level events here in the US than ever before. With the help of CrossFit, the weightlifting community has grown substantially in the last decade. Still, however, not many people know of Olympic weightlifting and how to get started in the sport.

Who Should Olympic Lift?

Everyone! Olympic weightlifting is for everyone. In a previous blog post, I wrote about the benefits of learning and practicing the Olympic lifts. To sum it up, the benefits are learning a new skill, strengthening the muscles, having goals to work toward, and competing in a fun and welcoming environment. If you are a former athlete and have been missing that competition feeling, weightlifting might be for you. In America, you have the opportunity to lift in small local meets, state meets, larger national meets, and even international competitions if you have what it takes to qualify. The weightlifting community is full of fun, positive, and energetic people who are all there for the same reason. Once you commit to learning the lifts, the next step is to find a coach.

Why You Need a Coach

One of the most important things you can do when starting to learn the Olympic lifts is to find an educated and certified weightlifting coach. Weightlifting has one of the lowest injury rates of all the Olympic sports. However, if you don’t learn proper technique early on, you are more likely to injure yourself. Looking into the future, after proper technique teachings, a coach will give proper programming. A well-thought-out and structured weightlifting program will increase the length of your weightlifting career and ensure proper progressions.

If your goal is to compete in Olympic weightlifting, finding a coach will be crucial to your success not only as you prepare for the competition, but also at the competition. Competitions are fast paced and require more thought than just lifting the weight when it is your turn. There is a lot of planning that happens for competitions, from timing your warmups to counting the number of attempts until you must be on the platform. Having a coach makes the whole experience less stressful for the athlete and makes it go a lot more smoothly. A coach who knows their athletes will be able to motivate and push you to levels you did not know you could reach.

How to Find a Coach

Weightlifting gyms and coaches can be found on USA Weightlifting’s website. You can also do a quick Google search for barbell clubs in your area. You will most likely come across some CrossFit boxes as well. Make sure you find a coach that is certified through USA Weightlifting to ensure you that your coach has gone through the necessary trainings for technique and safety. Just like any other sport, you can be a self-taught lifter. However, learning proper techniques from the beginning will extend your career in the sport.

What Now?

After you have found a certified and experienced weightlifting coach that you trust, it is time to put in the work. Olympic weightlifting is not a sport that you will pick up overnight. It takes hours and hours of intentional practice to master this sport. The athletes at the very top have been training since they were young kids. You should set your goals accordingly and never compare yourself to the athletes that are competing at the highest level. If you trust the process and work hard, you will see progress and become the best version of yourself.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

How many times have you or someone you know needed help because they were unable to open the pickle jar? Now, how many times have you heard someone get mad because the pickle jar was too easy to open. I’m guessing you haven’t. Nobody has ever complained about being too strong—a statement I like to tell people when they ask why they should start strength training. There are many benefits of strength training. As we age we lose the physical ability to carry out certain activities. Tasks that were once easy are now difficult to do alone or not at all. These are our activities of daily living. 

Activities of Daily Living

Your activities of daily living (ADLs) are your everyday activities that are essential to get you through the day: walking, getting up from chairs, carrying groceries, bringing in the bag of dog food, and so on. As a person ages, these activities get harder and harder to carry out. According to Harvard Health, it is estimated that after the age of 30, a person will begin to lose 3–5% of their muscle mass per decade. Loss of muscle mass will result in the loss of your ability to carry out your ADLs. Additionally, with loss of muscle comes the loss of muscular power, or the ability to produce force quickly. The loss of muscular power is the main contributor to the increase of fall risk as we age.

The loss of muscle mass as we age is termed sarcopenia. Age-related loss of muscle is, of course, preventable. With the correct diet, exercise plan, and regulation of hormones, a person can not only maintain but also increase their muscle mass as they age. This will ensure that you are able to maintain your ability to perform those ADLs with no trouble. Things such as yard work and playing outside with kids or grandkids are activities that should never be lost.

Athletics

Switching gears now to a different population. All aspects of strength are required to excel in a particular sport. From field sports to court sports to endurance running events, being strong will help everyone. The primary benefit that all athletes gain from strength training is an increase in joint stability. A well-structured resistance training plan will not only make the muscles stronger, but will also progress in a way to allow time to increase tendon strength at the same time. A more structurally sound joint is less likely to get injured.

Force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. Force is how we walk, jog, run, jump, change direction, and everything else we do in sport. There are two components that go into force, mass and acceleration. From a training aspect, we can manipulate these two components to match our needs. How this translates to the weight room is, we can move a light weight fast, or move as much weight as we can. Both forms of training will increase force production in their own way. Each athlete will need to train at different ends of the force curve depending on their sporting event and their biology. It is up to the strength and conditioning coach to make a plan for the individual’s needs and sport.

But I Don’t Want to Be “Bulky”

The common misconception is that resistance training will make you “bulky.” I only have one response to this question every time I get asked. I tell people to look at how track athletes and wrestlers train. These athletes are at peak performance but must maintain, and even in some cases lose, body weight. They do this by resistance training with very heavy loads for very low repetitions. This type of training increases muscular strength without increasing muscular hypertrophy (muscle size). If your goals are to increase strength and maintain your muscle mass, training with heavy loads and low volume is the route to take. This approach is also how powerlifters train. Their goal is to increase the amount they lift at a competition, but they must stay within their weight class. They cannot gain excess weight or else they will have to compete in a higher weight category.

The bodybuilders that you see at the very top level spend years and years building up their bodies to look the way they do. They train daily on individual muscle groups to sculpt their body to look perfect for the judges at a competition. Bodybuilders work in a higher-volume rep and set range than that of a strength athlete. Over an extended period of time, with the right diet, recovery habits, and in some cases the use of performance enhancers, bodybuilders are able to look the way they do when they step on stage. However, strength training two to four days a week to improve your health will not make you look like a “bulky” bodybuilder.

Strength Training Is for Everyone

Being strong is never a quality that someone wishes they did not have. A simple strength training regimen will not make you bulky, or weigh you down for everyday tasks. It will make you stronger and healthier. It will give you confidence to do new things, or things that you have been unable to do or wish you could do. Strength training will give you the ability to play with your kids, and then your grandkids after that in the same way. Not everyone wants to be a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, but everyone wants to feel good in their own skin. After all, nobody has ever complained about being too strong. 

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Have you ever started an exercise program and for whatever reason were not able to stick with it? There are many reasons that you may not be able to stick with an exercise program. It might be too hard, and you are not able to maintain the amount of work that is required. Maybe your workouts take too much time, and you are not able to fit it into your schedule. Or maybe you are not seeing the results you want. Whatever the reason that you were not able to find sustainability within your exercise program, there is always a solution. The best way I have found to find sustainability in exercise is to figure out your goals, then pick your programming, and lastly find consistency in your exercise.

Figure Out Your Goals

If you are just starting your fitness journey, choose SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. Whether your goals are for weight loss, strength, endurance, or overall well-being, make sure that you are choosing goals that follow the SMART principle. In my opinion, the most import part of your goal is that it is Achievable. If you are not setting realistic goals for yourself, you will never be satisfied, and will be more likely to give up in the long run. If you do make long-term goals, make sure you are setting short-term goals that help you reach those long-term goals. Think of your short-term goals as rest stops on your way to your final destination.

Pick a Program

After you determine your fitness goals, the next step is to find a program that fits those goals. The best way to do this is to find a certified fitness professional to help you. There are plenty of online options, but the safest option is to find a trusted trainer that you can meet with in person. A trainer that you can meet with in person will enable you to get a program that fits your needs the best.

Lastly, one of the most important aspects of picking programming is finding what you enjoy. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, you will not stick with it for the long haul. That could mean finding a group atmosphere or a personal trainer who can keep you accountable. Whatever it is, if you enjoy it, you are more likely to return.

Stick with the Program

The worst thing you can do for yourself is to be a “program hopper.” A program hopper is someone who starts a new program and runs it for a few weeks, then switches programs. There are variety of reasons you might want to hop around from program to program. However, you will not get anything out of the program if you do not finish it. Results do not come overnight. Fitness is not short-term. Your physical fitness and health are something that you will be working on for the rest of your life. So if you are not seeing the results you want, as fast as you want, chances are you need to be patient and trust the process. If you can trust your coach or trainer, be patient and run the system all the way through.

Finding a program that you enjoy is by far the easiest way to stick with the program. Just like with anything in life, if you do not enjoy what you are doing, you are less likely to return. There are a wide variety of routes you can go in the fitness industry, including large group classes, small group personal training, and personal training. Any of these routes can be effective if it works for you!

***

Finding sustainability in your exercise program is not very complicated. However, it will be challenging at first if you are venturing into something new. To find a program that works for you, first figure out your goals. Then pick a program that matches your goals the best. If you can match your preferences to a trainer, group, or program, you will be set up for success in the long run. For guidance on finding the right program for you, contact the NIFS track desk at any time to talk to a licensed professional today to help you get started!

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

The first thought that comes into most people’s heads when they hear the word weightlifting is, more times than not, “bulky.” The perception is that heavy weightlifting will cause an undesired large gain of muscle mass. This is true; weightlifting will cause you to put on muscle mass, but it will take a lot more than just lifting weights to be “bulky.” Please do not let your goals steer you away from certain exercises.

What Is Olympic Weightlifting?

The sport of Olympic weightlifting is comprised of the snatch, and clean and jerk. The snatch is a lift in which you take the bar from the floor to overhead in one swift movement. The clean and jerk is a lift in which you take the bar from the bar to the shoulder in one swift movement, and then take it from the shoulder to overhead in a second movement. The Olympic lifts are full-body, explosive movements that require the use of every muscle group in the body.

Take a look at any high-level athlete who competes in events such as track or wrestling. They have to get as strong as they can without putting on extra weight. They achieve this by lifting heavy loads for lower rep schemes as fast as they can. This is one reason why you will see athletes in these sports utilizing the Olympic lifts in the weight room. In the off season if they need to put on size, they will move to the higher rep ranges.

Benefits of Olympic Weightlifting

There are many benefits to learning and performing the Olympic lifts within your exercise routine. The lifts can be programmed in many different ways depending on your specific goals. These are my top five benefits of learning the lifts from a certified coach:

1. Body composition: The snatch and clean and jerk are full-body lifts that use the legs, glutes, back, abs, shoulders, and arms. Performing the lifts burns more calories in a shorter period of time compared to performing isolation/single-joint movements. The lifts and accessory lifts can be used to put on lean tissue, increase strength, and ultimately decrease body fat.
2. Muscular power and strength: Muscular power is how fast you can move a load. Decrease in muscular power over time is the main cause of falls in older adults. In Olympic weightlifting, nothing is done slowly. All loads are moved at max velocity, therefore increasing power. If your goal is to run faster and jump higher, power is the key ingredient.
3. Coordination: The Olympic lifts require precise coordination, rhythm, and timing. Improving body awareness and coordination is great for the activities of daily living. Learning new things also increases cognitive abilities in old age.
4. Range of motion: Most people associate heavy lifting with being stiff and bulky. The Olympic lifts, however, require the lifter to control a load through a full range of motion in the knees, ankles, hips, and shoulders. If the range of motion is not there now, or at the start of your lifting journey, over time training through a full range of motion will increase flexibility more effectively than static stretching one time per week.
5. Work capacity: Depending on how the lifts are programmed, they can be used to cause a range of positive changes to your body. One way to increase work capacity is by limiting the amount of rest time in between sets. Over time you will be able to recover faster from higher-intensity training.

The Olympic lifts should be performed under the eyes of a certified, experienced coach. Learning the lifts on your own can be done, but will take much longer and will not produce the results you are seeking. If you are interested in learning the Olympic lifts, visit our Master Class here at NIFS, which is free to members. If you are looking for one-on-one or more personal coaching, you can visit us at the track desk and one of our staff will get you going in the right direction.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

As a young trainer, I struggled to find my training style. I spent the first few months trying to make my clients happy, trying to make every session as hard as I could with no real connection between workouts. Our training had no direction; they were individual workouts according to what my clients wanted to work on that day. More times than not, this turned into working out one muscle group for the entire 30 minutes. I did a good job at working one muscle group, but that did not benefit them in the long term. As I grew in my education and as a trainer, I learned that there was a better approach to training: the full-body training split

The Full-Body Split

The full-body training schedule reduces the amount of time you need to spend inside the gym while still working the different muscle groups more than once per week. A typical bro split is push, pull, leg. On that schedule, if you miss one day, you more than likely will not train that muscle group for another week. Now you have gone at least 14 days without training a specific muscle group. By training full-body in each training session, you will never miss hitting your lower or upper body within a week.

Putting It All Together

Using the movement patterns discussed in my previous blog, along with your weekly schedule, you can put together your weekly training schedule. There are a few different ways to schedule your week to make the full-body routine.

Three Days per Week

On a three-day-per-week schedule, your training days should be at least 48 hours apart. An example of an ideal schedule would be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With this schedule you will hit each movement pattern with at least one exercise per category. There is room, depending on how much time you have, to add more isolation movements at the end. A very basic week would look like this:

Day 1–3: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• Bench press
• Pull-up
• Back squat
• Kettlebell deadlift

Four Days per Week

For the four-day-per-week program, you will do a full-body push day and a full-body pull day. The full-body push day will consist of an upper-body press and a lower-body squat pattern. The full-body pull day will consist of an upper-body pull and a lower-body hinge pattern. The workouts can be done back to back at least 24 hours apart. An example of an ideal schedule would be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. A basic four-day-per-week schedule would look like this:

Days 1 and 3: Monday and Thursday

• Barbell bench
• Back squat
• DB incline bench
• Split squat

Days 2 and 4: Tuesday and Friday

• Deadlift
• Pull-up
• RDL
• Rows

Five and Six Days per Week

This is a more advanced version of the four-day-per-week schedule. You use the same full-body push/ pull split, but with not as many rest days. A five-day-per-week schedule cycles through each week, alternating between push and pull days. Week 1 has three push days and two pull days. Week 2 then starts with a pull day, giving you three pull days and two push days. After a four-week cycle, you will come out with the same amount of push and pull days. A six-day-per-week cycle is much easier to make, with alternating three push days and three pull days. A basic five- or six-day-per-week schedule looks like this:

Days 1, 3, and 5: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• Barbell bench
• Back squat
• DB incline bench
• Split squat

Days 2, 4, and optional 6: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

• Deadlift
• Pull-up
• RDL
• Row

Get Help Structuring Your Program at NIFS

For more information on how to properly progress and structure a training program, visit us at the track desk to set up a session. We are more than happy to help at any time, and as a part of your membership here at NIFS, you can receive as many free workout programs as you would like. All programs are tailored to your fitness goals by our health fitness professionals.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

In my previous blogs I discussed the four movement patterns that all training fits into. I then went on to talk about scheduling a training plan using the four movement patterns. In this post I will discuss one of the more popular patterns: the pushing movement pattern.

What the Pushing Movement Pattern Does

The first thing we must discuss is what muscles the pushing pattern works and why we should incorporate it into your training plan. This movement pattern works the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps. These muscles are all responsible for pushing objects away with your upper body. These muscle groups are the primary movers for activities of daily living: lifting items over your head, holding your kids, or pushing other shoppers out of the way on Black Friday.

Training the pattern instead of individual muscle groups is useful because of time efficiency. For gym-goers who don’t have two hours to spend at the gym seven days per week, it doesn’t make sense to train one muscle group per day. That would not be the best use of your time. Training one to two movement patterns will ensure that you hit multiple muscle groups with fewer exercises. The reason for this is that correctly chosen exercises can work multiple muscle groups at the same time.

Exercises for Pushing Movements

The following exercises, organized by muscle group, help you work the pushing movement pattern.

Chest

• Pushups
• Bench Press
• Incline Bench Press
• Decline Bench Press
• Dumbbell Variation of all the movements
• Machine Variations of all the movements
• Pec Fly

Shoulders

• Barbell, Dumbbell, or Kettlebell Overhead Press
• Military Press
• Push Press
• Olympic Push and Split Jerk
• Arnolds Press
• Machine Overhead Press
• Lateral and Frontal Raises
• Rear Delt Fly

Triceps

• Close Grip Bench
• Skull Crushers
• Dumbbell Kickbacks
• Triceps Extension
• Dips (bench, assisted, and bodyweight)
• JM Press

Movements That Work More Than One Muscle Group

As I stated before, there is also some overlap in muscle groups with some movements. Unless it is a complete isolation move, there will be some muscle recruitment across the whole upper body. For example, the barbell bench press is primarily a chest movement; however, the lockout of the arms is dominated by the triceps. The role of the chest is to push the bar off the chest, but once it reaches a certain height, the triceps take over. The same can be said for any overhead pressing as well. This is what makes training within muscle groups so time efficient. Isolation movements are best left for the end of the workout.

For more information on how to properly progress and structure a training program, visit us at the track desk to set up a session. We are more than happy to help at any time, and as a part of your membership here at NIFS, you can receive as many free workout programs as you would like. Our health fitness professionals tailor all programs to your fitness goals.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

With the sport of powerlifting taking off in the last couple of years, more and more people are taking up the sport as a hobby and to improve their overall fitness levels. Training to improve strength in the squat, bench, and deadlift is a great way to improve total body strength and improve body composition.

Some may argue that lifting heavy is unsafe and should be saved for the athletes. The common myth is that lifting heavy may lead to injuries. The movement most argued against is the deadlift. When performed too heavy with poor form, this may be true. However, when performed with the proper progressions, and the proper technique, the deadlift is the best total-body movement to improve strength, power, and body composition.

Why the Deadlift?

There are three main benefits to performing the barbell deadlift:

• First off, it is a whole-body movement. The deadlift works multiple muscle groups at the same time, offering more bang for your buck compared to isolation exercises.
• Secondly, the deadlift improves strength and stability. Because it is a compound exercise, working more than one joint, this lift can be performed with heavier loads, leading to greater increases in strength.
• Lastly, deadlifts can help improve posture. The muscles used while maintaining a flat back in the deadlift are the same muscles that help with sitting and standing up straight. The deadlift strengthens these muscles, leading to improved posture over time.

Now that we have gone over the benefits, let’s talk technique.

The Deadlift Setup

Follow these steps:

1. Foot position: With your feet hip-width apart, the barbell should be placed over the center of your foot. An easy way to get the best foot placement is to look down, and move forward and backward until your shoelaces are directly under the bar.
2. Grip: Without bending your knees or moving the barbell, bend over and grip the bar right outside of your legs. It is important that you do not move the barbell.
3. Shins to the bar: Once you have your grip established, bend your knees and bring your shins to the bar. Do not over-bend them and push the bar away from you.
4. Chest up and back flat: Without dropping your hips any further, puff up your chest and squeeze your shoulder blades together. By doing this, you will naturally flatten out your back.
5. Drag: Take a big belly breath, hold it, and drag the bar up your shins. Keep your back muscles engaged and keep the bar close to your body the entire movement. When you let the bar get away from you, you have to compensate with your lower back, and this can lead to injury.

Keys to Success

Now that you have a safe setup, here are a couple of things to think about while performing the movement.

1. On the last step of your setup, look out ahead of you. You do not want to overextend your neck, and you also do not want to be staring at the ground the entire time. Keeping your head in line with your spine will allow you to keep a neutral spine throughout the whole movement.
2. When standing up with the barbell, your hips and shoulders should rise at the same time. If you allow your hips to come up first, the bar will get out in front of you, and like I mentioned earlier, you will have to compensate by pulling with your low back.
3. Lastly, take a deep belly breath. A belly breath does not mean air all the way in your stomach, but what it does mean is filling your lungs all the way to the bottom to pressurize your core. A pressurized core equals engaged abdominals. When performing any lift, you want to create a solid core to help stay upright.

If you are new to lifting and don’t know where to get started, come visit us at the Track Desk in the Fitness Center.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.