What is a dead lift?

Answer:
A dead lift is the cornerstone lift for any

power lifter. The dead lift works the entire back of the body, from the achilles tendon to the base of the neck.

There are two traditional styles of dead lifting for competition, sumo and conventional. In both, the dead lift is performed with a loaded barbell that is sitting on the floor.

In sumo the lifter steps up to the barbell with the shins touching, or nearly touching the bar. The lifter then spreads the feet to about one and a half to two times shoulder width. The lifter then bends at the knees and grasps the bar with an alternating grip with the hands about twelve to eighteen inches apart. The arms are hanging straight down.

Now, keeping the back as straight as possible, the lifter straightens his or her legs until he or she is standing with a straight, locked-out back. The barbell is then lowered to the starting position.

In a conventional lift, the feet are placed about shoulder width apart. The hands go on the outside of the legs. An alternating (one hand palm up and the other palm down) grip is typically used for this style as well. Because the feet are closer together, it is harder to keep the back straight during the lift. Again the lifter lifts the weight until he or she is standing up straight.

Because of the heavy use of the back in this style, many back injuries can arise if a person uses a weight that is too heavy. As with just about any lift, there are variations. My preferred dead lift is known as a snatch grip dead lift. The feet are set wide apart as in sumo, but I place my hands on the bar outside my legs, creating a very wide grip. This keeps the weight closer to my mid section, taking tension off of my lower back. I also incorporate an overhand grip.


	more Q&A sessions like this
	What is power lifting? What is a good back routine? What is a lat pull down? What is definition? What is a good workout for Football Players?