Deadlift Technique

The Deadlift is one of the most productive exercises, one which involves most of the posterior chain muscles. Like the Squat, the Deadlift can evoke a huge anabolic response when performed correctly and with the right loading and tempo. It's also great for developing the core, again if performed correctly and at an appropriate load. I once even used Deadlifts, with lighter weights, to rehabilitate a lower back problem.

It's worth starting your Deadlift practice using the split grip -one hand over and one under. This prevents the bar from rolling at heavier weights.

The start position involves placing your feet under the bar shoulder-width or wider for stability. The bar should be touching your shins and should remain close to, or touching, your legs throughout the range of motion.

Grip the bar, one hand under, one hand over, keep the arms locked out, shrug and try to retract the shoulder blades. Hold your abdomen tight. Ensure that your lumber spine is arched, and that it remains arched when lifting and lowering. The arch involves maintaining, or even slightly exagerrating, the natural curvature of the spine.

Start the lift with the legs by extending the knees (starting to stand up). The arms do not move - think of them as hooks simply holding the bar. As the bar reaches the knees begin to straighten the lower back. Reverse the move to lower.

It's fine to set the bar down in between reps and to take a second to re-set physically and mentally.

A good tempo (if using 6-8 reps, which I think is optimum once you've mastered the technique, but depending on your goals of course) is 3 seconds to lower the weight, 1-2 seconds to lift, with about a second to re-set.

At very heavy weights you will need to create a block - this involves breathing in to fill the lungs and holding the breath during lifting and lowering, making sure you breath at the top and bottom positions. This will increase intra-tohracic pressure and help prevent forward roll and damage to the lower back.

I generally use Deadlifts at the start of my back routine (usually 3 sets of 6-8) as this means I get to hit the quadriceps and hams twice during the week. My legs and back workouts are therefore spaced as far apart as possible each week.

Leg Training

There has been a trend amongst modern body builders for training legs with high reps, thus increasing the time under tension. This protocol may be quite helpful in increasing the muscle substrate systems and may also promote a hormonal growth response through occlusion and/or the increased time under tension. However, I think that to train legs optimally you need to account for their muscle fibre composition: hamstrings and quadriceps are predominantly composed of fast-twitch fibres which contract quickly and respond to heavy loads (low reps).

Think of the leg development of sprinters, for example. Sprinters need to generate phenomenal power and speed over short bursts. The same principle applies to leg training where the goal is hypertrophy, strength, or power.

Bearing this in mind it may be prudent to work in the 6-8 rep range with squats, dead lifts and leg press for a period (I like to change workout protocols roughly every six workouts in order to force the muscles to keep adapting). Rest periods should be 3-5 minutes (larger muscles, and heavier loads, require more rest, particularly as we are interested in challenging the contractile strength of the fibres more than the energy systems).

Experiment with different foot positions and spacing (perhaps every six workouts again) and vary the exercises (back squats, front squats, dead lifts, parallel grip dead lifts, lunges, leg press etc).

Squats, performed correctly, will help to stabilise the knee joint. The squat and the dead lift are unparalleled for the amount of muscles the involve and the anabolic response they elicit.

If you squat to a position where the thighs are parallel to the floor you will involve the hamstrings and glutes to a greater degree. Lunges are also great for working these muscles but you may benefit from additional hamstring work using leg curls and stiff leg dead lifts.

To start with, I would suggest using these big compound moves for about six workouts before reviewing your leg routine. Leg extensions and curls can be added later for specialisation if you need it.

My current leg routine involves five sets of squats (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest); five sets of dead lifts (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest); 3 sets of leg press (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest).

I plan to add lunges at a future date but will probably move to a strength routine of squats and dead lifts for 2-4 reps, five minutes rest, and high numbers of sets after the current phase.