When working out one can choose many exercises that will strengthen muscle and burn fat. The IDEA website has many videos that will provide exercises to define and build muscles for yourself or those you may coach. The exercise I chose is the wide reverse grip barbell deadlift. This exercise has many benefits including fat burning; it is one of the safest exercises. So many multiple muscles are stimulated in the process, and you will obtain better posture, and it increases hormones for growth in your body. This exercise gives more benefits than a squat or a hamstring curl, which are both exercises that work the lower body like this deadlift except this one targets more muscles.

Now let’s take a deeper look at what makes the deadlift an effective exercise. The deadlift starts with the torso erect, and the legs opened to the width of your shoulders. You want to keep all of the vertebral segments of your back column aligned. One useful way to achieve this is to look forward while you are going down to pick up the barbell. Then you want to keep the barbell as close to your legs as possible during the downward phase of this movement. As you begin the to pick up the barbell, this is the upward concentric phase. As you start the eccentric downward phase while flexing your trunk you want to inhale deeply and keep the inhaled air within the lungs until half of the upward concentric phase has been completed again. To visualize the movement think as you are going up with the barbell you are concentric and as you release and lengthen the muscles going down it is eccentric. In terms of mechanics, the preparatory phase is at the beginning when you are aligning yourself to approach the barbell and to position yourself to pick it up. The power phase mainly during the concentric movement of lifting the barbell and your body back to the upright position.

There are many muscle interventions in this exercise with the main ones involved being the posterior leg muscles (calves), the posterior thigh muscles (hamstrings), gluteus, and the lumbar muscles of the back. The order of the muscles here is the muscle groups that is disposed to the weight. And the order in which they are recruited and required to lift the weight from the concentric phase upward back down the eccentric phase of lowering the barbell. Therefore, the calves are initially the muscles that start the concentric motion and tightening of the muscles with the lumbar being the last as you bring the weight up before slowly entering the eccentric phase.

The deadlift has many benefits that will help someone in a program build lower body and lower back strength. I would incorporate it in the middle of a program, to increase the amount of hormones going in an individual. To work all the muscles in the lower part of the body, increase posture and to also burn some fat. This exercise is one that is safe and effective for many age types and will benefit your body tremendously long-term.