5 Deadlift Variations to spice up your workouts

I have hardly seen any gym where you don’t see people doing the deadlift. Along with bench press and squats, the deadlift is a renowned form of powerlifting exercise.

There are three steps to the deadlift: setup, drive, and lockout. Simply, you prepare your posture in setup. You ensure that your muscles are ready to lift the weight.

Drive is about lifting the weight. This step is the toughest one and where most of the muscle activation happen. The last step is the lockdown, this is where you return to the starting position and complete the rep. This is how a regular deadlift looks.

There are variations and we’ll go into them.

Deadlift Variations

Here are 5 variations of the deadlift:

Dumbbell Deadlift

This is a beginner’s deadlift technique as you can start with a very low weight. The only equipment you’ll need is dumbbells. They are easily found and easier to lift.

How to do the Dumbbell Deadlift.

1. Place a dumbbell on the floor vertically
2. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
3. slightly bend your knees and lower yourself down
4. Keep your chest up and back straight as you go down
5. Hold the dumbbell with two hands
6. Follow a similar body posture to start your second rep
7. Repeat until you have completed your reps

You can do with one or two dumbbells. In the case of two dumbbells, you need to put the dumbbells below your hands horizontally on the ground. Then, pick two dumbbells with two hands and follow similar steps.

Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian Deadlift is another variation of the conventional deadlift. It targets mainly your glutes and hamstrings. You’ll need a barbell and weights to perform the exercise.

How to do Romanian Deadlift:

1. Prepare barbell with a suitable weight attached to it
2. Start by holding the barbell in your hands using an overhand grip
3. Bend your knees and start lowering the barbell towards your feet making sure you are not arching your back
4. Once at the bottom, in a controlled motion, bring the weight back to the starting position
5. Repeat until all reps are completed

Conventional Deadlift

The traditional deadlift is one of the most powerful exercises that produce amazing results. The deadlift is a compound exercise that targets the hamstrings, gluteal muscles, quads, lower back, forearms, and traps.

How to do the Deadlift

1. Prepare the barbell by adding weights and standing shoulder-width apart
2. Bend your knees and hips and lower yourself
3. Grab the barbell at approximetly shoulder-width apart.
4. Keeping your back straight, raise the bar until you are standng up right.
5. in a controlled motion while mainting a stright back, return to the starting position.
6. Repeat until all reps are completed

Repeating the same steps will give you more flexibility. We’d suggest you to start with the minimum weight and then gradually increase. Lifting a lot of weight suddenly can create contractions on your back muscles.

Sumo Deadlift

How to do the Sumo Deadlift:

1. Keep the barbell on the ground and ensure that weight has been locked properly before lifting
2. Place your feet in a wide stance, and slowly bend your knees and grab the barbell with your hands closer and between your legs
3. Engage your core and keeping your back straight, drive through your feet and lift the barbell
4. slowly, in a controlled manner, lower the barbell to the starting position.
5. Repeat until all reps are completed.

Double Kettlebell Deadlift

Those who are having a hard time handling dumbbells can try this format. You’ll need 2 Kettlebells for this method.

How to do the Double Kettlebell Deadlift

1. Place your feel straight on the floor wider than your shoulder
2. Keep the Kettlebell beside one another between your feet
3. Bend your knees while keeping your spine straight
4. Grab the grips of Kettlebell with two hands
5. Then in a slow controlled motion, lift the weights, making sure your back is not arched
6. Lower the Kettlebell in a similar format and keep repeating until all reps are complete

Benefits of the Deadlift

Gym trainers and experts agree that deadlifting regularly gives you a better posture and body shape. Besides, there are many other benefits too. Let’s have a deeper look at it and get you motivated.

Entire Body Workout

The deadlift is a compound exercise that activates multiple muscle groups. It incorporates your hamstrings, low back, glutes, upper back, biceps, core and many more.

Regular deadlifting also enhances metabolism functions in your body. You’ll also start to lose fat gradually.

Posture Development

We need regular exercise to ensure that our spinal cord and muscles remain properly functional. While deadlifting, you work several muscle groups that help maintain your posture. Regular deadlifting develops the habit of upright walking and proper sitting. It also offers you better posture.

Saves Time

There are several exercises for each muscle group and you can work each one separately with isolation exercises. However, the deadlift is a compound exercise that work several muscle groups at once.