One of the lovely things about getting older is realising there\u2019s always something more you should be doing to look after your body. Did I say lovely? Obviously I meant tedious. But how you feel about it doesn\u2019t change the facts. If you take the slightest interest in your health, and want to stay strong, mobile and pain-free in your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond, you\u2019ll have to pay attention to the exercises that many of us avoid in our 20s, 30s and 40s. Or, in my case, until you\u2019re 61\u00be.<\/p>\n
The Guardian\u2019s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.\u00a0Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n Like deadlifts, which help with one of life\u2019s most basic tasks \u2013 bending over and picking stuff up. Training these also involves bending over and picking stuff up \u2013 usually a barbell, but sometimes a kettlebell or pair of dumbbells. \u201cHere\u2019s a few things deadlifts help with,\u201d says Laura Kummerle<\/a>, a Georgia-based physiotherapist and personal trainer (PT). \u201cLifting your grocery bags off the ground on to the counter, lifting your laundry basket off the ground, lifting your kid\/grandkid (especially out of their crib when you can\u2019t squat), lifting a piece of furniture or a heavy rock for landscaping \u2026 They work the hip hinge, which is a fundamental movement pattern for strength training, but more importantly for daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Start with a little hinge and push your bum back\u2019 \u2026 Joseph coaches Daoust at Fantastic Creatures gym in Walthamstow, east London. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cIf I could only do one exercise in the gym ever again, deadlifts are the one I would do,\u201d says Cali Joseph<\/a>, a PT based in Walthamstow, east London. \u201cThey\u2019re the pinnacle of weight training.\u201d That\u2019s because even though you\u2019re lifting the weight no higher than your thighs, the way you hinge rather than squat means they work everything from your hamstrings, quads, glutes and back to your core, shoulders and arms.<\/p>\n They also make a lot of people very happy, and not just because of some kind of lifter\u2019s high. Mira Taylor<\/a>, a personal trainer based in north Wales, began focusing on deadlifts five years ago and is now a British and European deadlift-only champion. \u201cI think it\u2019s pathological for me at this point,\u201d she says. \u201cObviously the sense of progression and hitting or chasing personal bests is intoxicating, but it\u2019s also the fact that you have to clear your mind completely when you\u2019re lifting a heavy barbell. That\u2019s very therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n Some people will tell you deadlifts are risky, especially if you\u2019re getting on a bit, but then some people will tell you running is risky, or cycling, or picking up anything more substantial than a golf club. \u201cAnything can be dangerous,\u201d says Kummerle. \u201cDrinking too much water can be dangerous; stepping off a kerb can be dangerous. Everything we do has risk, but the benefits outweigh the risks of deadlifts, for sure. I\u2019m not saying everyone should be maxing out their deadlift, but loading the movement with what feels like a light to moderate weight can reduce the risk of injury in daily life. That way when you go and pick up your kid or help a friend move house, your body is used to that stimulus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018You have to clear your mind completely\u2019 \u2026 Mira Taylor celebrates a record lift at the British Single Lift Championships, May 2024. Photograph: Shots Like Sumo<\/p>\n It\u2019s also useful for rehab. \u201cDeadlifts are good for any injury to build back general strength once you\u2019re able to do the hip hinge pattern safely,\u201d says Kummerle. \u201cThey can be particularly helpful for knees, hips and backs, but I can also see them being useful for ankles, shoulders and even necks.\u201d<\/p>\n My own physio\u2019s definitely a fan. I\u2019m recovering from a knee injury, and she had me deadlifting less than two months after surgery for my torn meniscus.<\/p>\n Even as a beginner, and one who\u2019s careful to take things slowly, I\u2019ve been deadlifting 50kg \u2013 more than half my own weight. More experienced lifters might aim to shift double or even treble their bodyweight. Taylor, who competes in the under-60kg category (based on what competitors weigh, not their barbells), lifted 170kg at last November\u2019s World Powerlifting Congress World Championships.<\/p>\n But the heavier you lift, the more form matters. \u201cThe problem with a deadlift is that you can brute-force it,\u201d says Joseph, who has agreed to help me with mine. \u201cIf you\u2019re strong, you can just get the bar off the ground and stand up \u2013 but that\u2019s how you ended up getting injured.\u201d She\u2019s speaking from personal experience.<\/p>\n So off to the bar we go \u2013 all 7ft and 20kg of it. Bars come in various lengths and weights, some more suitable for home workouts, but it\u2019s this \u201cOlympic\u201d size that you\u2019ll find in most gyms. When people talk about how much they lift, that includes the bar, so if you\u2019re lifting 30kg, that means you\u2019ve stuck a 5kg \u201cplate\u201d on either end of yours.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important that you set up correctly, Joseph says \u2013 the first step being to make sure you\u2019re in the dead centre of the bar, hands evenly spaced and about shoulder width apart. There should be markings to help with this. This may sound basic, but it\u2019s surprisingly easy to pick up a bar off-centre, especially if you\u2019re taking it from a rack rather than the ground, as we are today.<\/p>\n \u2018Every time you deadlift, give it your all\u2019 \u2026 Joseph checks Daoust\u2019s form. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n If you\u2019re new to the game, or need to warm up for a session, you\u2019ll probably want to try a few lifts with just the bar. It\u2019s still 20kg, remember.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve already warmed up, though, and this is not quite my first rodeo, so we start with two 10kg plates, making a total weight of 40kg. The bottom of the plates is just resting on the ground, but this lifts the bar enough that I don\u2019t have to bend too much to get my hands around it in an overhand grip. If I had longer legs, or shorter arms, I might have had to raise it off the ground a little. I\u2019ll be holding it barehanded as the weight is light and I have a strong grip, but if needed I could dust my hands with chalk, or use lifting straps. There\u2019s no shame in giving your grip some help if it\u2019s all that\u2019s standing between you and a personal best.<\/p>\n Take your time over your set-up. Wherever you feel your hips should be, raise them a couple of inches<\/p><\/blockquote>\n First, though, my feet need to be in the right position. For conventional deadlifts \u2013 which is what we\u2019re focusing on today \u2013 that\u2019s pointing forward (it\u2019s OK for them to be turned out a little) and roughly shoulder width apart. But only roughly. \u201cI always say you should be in your \u2018power stance\u2019,\u201d Joseph tells me. \u201cIf I said to you, \u2018Phil, for a million quid I want you to jump as high as you can\u2019, that\u2019s how your feet should be. You shouldn\u2019t be too wide and you shouldn\u2019t be too narrow, but the precise position will be different for different people.\u201d<\/p>\n You also want to be close to the bar. \u201cFeet in your power stance, laces underneath the bar. You want your shins to be almost touching it. We want the bar, the weight, to travel the shortest path \u2013 straight up and straight down. It\u2019s us that gets in the way or out of the way. The closer it is to us, the more easily we can control it, the more we can harness that power.<\/p>\n \u201cNow,\u201d Joseph says, getting into position to demonstrate, \u201cyou start with a little hinge and push your bum back. Then you bend your knees as much as you need to reach the bar. For me, that\u2019s quite a lot \u2013 I\u2019ve got short arms and short legs. At this point, your shins might touch the bar, but that\u2019s OK. As long as you\u2019re comfortable with that, that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, when we\u2019re here, we need to build tremendous tension in our body.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018If I could only do one exercise in the gym ever again, deadlifts are the one I would do\u2019 \u2026 Cali Joseph. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n And how do we do that? \u201cFirst of all I\u2019m going to bring my shoulders towards the ceiling and lock out my arms as much as I can. Then it\u2019s chest up, shoulders back. And now my last little cue: elbows in. I internally rotate my elbows to take out the last bit of slack that I may have in my body.\u201d This rotation has the effect of engaging your lats, or latissimus dorsi muscles, which sit below your shoulder blades and cover most of your back.<\/p>\n That back, by the way, should be flat during your lift, or at least flattish. \u201cDon\u2019t get too hung up on the perfect-looking deadlift,\u201d says Taylor. \u201cI used to spend hours poring over my videos trying to have a perfectly flat back. Now I\u2019m a round-back puller. Deadlifts look different for everyone, depending on proportions.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean all the rules can go out the window, though. \u201cTake your time over your set-up,\u201d Taylor says, \u201cand wherever you feel your hips should be, raise them a couple of inches. A lot of people seem to want to start too low.\u201d<\/p>\n And now you\u2019re finally ready for the lift. \u201cThe only difference between when we\u2019re set up and when we\u2019re actually lifting the weight,\u201d says Joseph, \u201cis the little push that we give to the ground to shift it.\u201d<\/p>\n The little push? Aren\u2019t we actually pulling the weight up? It might seem that way, but the conventional deadlift is a push <\/a>and<\/a> pull movement<\/a>. It\u2019s a push from your quads that straightens your knees and gets the bar moving past them; then comes the pull, as you thrust your hips forward and your hamstrings, glutes, back and arms come into play.<\/p>\n That hip thrust is a vital part of the deadlift, and the one that most clearly distinguishes it from the squat. But you can only thrust your hips forward on the way up if you have first thrust them back on the way down. One cue that PTs sometimes give, Kummerle says, is: \u201cPretend your booty hole is a flashlight and shine it backward.\u201d You\u2019ll also hear: \u201cPretend you\u2019re pushing a car door shut with your bum.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no getting away from bums with the deadlift. From set-up to finish, Joseph sums it up like this: \u201cBum back, bend knees, arms long, chest up, shoulders back. Then push into the ground. Push, push, push, push, drive hips forward \u2013 and that\u2019s the pull.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time you deadlift,\u201d she adds, \u201cyou give it your all. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s your warm-up sets, or it\u2019s your heaviest: we lift with intent.\u201d That\u2019s even the case when you\u2019re deadlifting a person, as she demonstrates when she picks me up for the sake of these photographs. As her human barbell, I can only say I\u2019m glad she takes it seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I have to have a mental battle to be in the right frame of mind to attack the bar,\u201d says Taylor, though let\u2019s not forget that sometimes she\u2019s lifting almost three times her bodyweight. \u201cIf you\u2019re not 100% committed to making it move, it won\u2019t. In case of emergency, banging music can help.\u201d<\/p>\n Wider stance \u2026 Daoust tries a sumo deadlift. Photograph: Alicia Canter\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Once the barbell is up, you can either reverse the movement to lower it, or just drop it. If you\u2019re in a gym, you will almost certainly be using weights that are designed to be dropped.<\/p>\n When the time comes for me to show how much I\u2019ve taken in, the answer is: not as much as I should have. \u201cGet a bit closer to the bar,\u201d Joseph tells me. And: \u201cHip hinge \u2026 bum back, bum back!\u201d And: \u201cBend your knees, bend your knees, bend some more, bend, bend, bend!\u201d And even: \u201cTuck your chin!\u201d<\/p>\n At least, I think it\u2019s \u201ctuck\u201d she says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like whack-a-mole \u2013 no sooner have I ironed out one fault than another pops up. The one that survives longest is shrugging my shoulders at the top of the lift \u2013 but even that succumbs when Joseph gets me to engage my lats properly. Apparently I need to imagine someone\u2019s trying to tickle me.<\/p>\n Eventually I\u2019m looking solid enough to play around with sumo deadlifts, where your legs go much wider and your arms go between your knees, rather than either side of them. It\u2019s enjoyable enough, but I feel I\u2019m getting distracted from the conventionals just as I\u2019m beginning to get the hang of them. So back we go to my \u201cpower stance\u201d and Joseph increases the weight to 80kg.<\/p>\n This feels significant, as it\u2019s what I weigh, give or take a kilo. And as I struggle to lift the barbell, I get a glimpse of why this exercise means so much to so many people. As Taylor puts it: \u201cHeavy lifts feel like they take two minutes \u2013 and then you watch them back on video and it\u2019s about half a second.\u201d However long the lift really lasts, this weird slowing-down gives you time to feel the strain, think about giving up as you push, push, push and pull, pull, pull, and decide to persevere. You have to commit and stay committed, so that when the lift works out it means something.<\/p>\n I recently asked a few people why deadlifts matter so much to them. \u201cThey make me feel like I own the world,\u201d one woman told me. \u201cThey\u2019re the first time I\u2019ve ever felt strong,\u201d said another. I think I know what they mean.<\/p>\n