by Cori Lefkowith | May 24, 2018 | Blog, Functional Fitness, Workouts
When we think “rest,” we think about stopping all activity.
But our rest intervals don’t have to mean we completely stop working EVERYTHING and just stand there not moving, watching the TV in the gym.
This also doesn’t mean though that rest isn’t important and that you should simple cut it out as much as possible from your workouts.
It just means that “rest” doesn’t ONLY mean completely stopping all activity.
What is Rest?
Rest is when our body replenishes our energy resources so that we can perform the next set or interval at the desired intensity.
This can influence not only WHERE we get our energy from aka which energy system we are using to fuel our activity but also our INTENSITY.
By including more rest in our workouts, we can usually keep our maximal intensity higher and be able to lift heavier. The longer our rest, usually the higher intensity we can work at because our body has more time to recharge.
How much rest we include, and even the TYPE of rest we use, should be influenced though by our current fitness level, goals and even our workout schedule (AKA if we have less time to spend working out, we probably want to spend as little time purely resting as possible.)
Making Rest “Active”:
While there will be times your rest period should simply be you trying to breathe and bring your heart rate back down, all too often we don’t utilize our rest periods as effectively as we could.
Rest can still be “active” while we allow our bodies to recover.
Ever heard the term “Active Rest?”
Most of us have.
We most often see it implemented as a lower intensity cardio exercise between rounds to allow us to bring our heart rate down as we keep moving.
For example, the walk back after a sprint is “active rest.”
Or even light jumping jacks between intervals of harder moves like burpees.
The point of active rest, in this case, is to allow us to recover enough to go hard the next round while keeping us moving to increase our overall output and calorie burn WITHOUT having to spend longer in the gym.
But that is only ONE way to use active rest so that your body can recover without you “wasting time” standing around (which again, is sometimes ESSENTIAL!)
Active rest can also be:
- Supersets of exercises using opposing muscle groups or different hemispheres (aka lower body supersetted with an upper body move) so that one area rests as the other works. This can allow you to use every minute of the workout time you have. (You could also do a circuit set up too!)
- Isolation work to activate specific muscle groups so that you help establish the mind-body connection during your rest for your compound exercises.
- Mobility and flexibility work to help you strengthen through a full range of motion and get more out of your workout.
- Form review. This can help you make sure to dial in your form and even make corrections as you recover.
All of these uses though help you fit in more to less time by making use of a “rest time” where you could just potentially be standing around.
Rest doesn’t have to mean just taking time off!
Supersets, Circuits and Working Other Muscles For Active Rest:
Not only can you use “easier” or lower intensity moves to recover as you keep moving to get more out of less time, BUT you can also perform active rest by alternating the muscles or areas you are working.
Instead of doing a single heavy lift and then resting, you can create supersets or circuits that combine multiple moves together working different areas or muscles.
For example, you could superset squats with inverted rows. This way you are working multiple large muscle groups during your workouts to build strength and burn more calories, BUT your legs are also getting a rest as your upper body works!
This could save you time on rest because one area rests as the other works.
You could also create a circuit using the same method moving from squats to pull ups to glute bridges to push ups.
This way you are alternating areas that are being worked so that muscles are rested by the time you return to that move.
Of course with this, yes, you are constantly expending energy, BUT at least specific areas or muscles are given time to rest.
You could also vary the intensity and even type of move used (compound vs hybrid vs isolation) to allow your body to rest more or less as you go through the circuit or superset.
Using a more isolated exercise, while it could be used to “burn out” a muscle, could also be used to lower the intensity as you go through the circuit so that you’ve recovered more when you perform the next round.
It can also be used as activation!
Isolation And Activation Moves For Active Rest:
Struggling to feel a muscle contract or work properly?
Feel other muscles starting to compensate?
Is one side weaker and struggling to do it’s part?
Why not use your rest to make sure the correct muscles are activated and working?!
Isolation moves, or activation movements, can help you establish the mind-body connection with underactive muscles. They can also help you correct imbalances between your weak and dominant side.
Too often with our workouts we go through the motions and just try to get them done. We focus on lifting more than we did before, but not always whether or not the right muscles are carrying the load.
But getting more out of our workouts isn’t just about lifting more EVEN with proper form.
It is also about FEELING the right muscles working.
And this can be extremely difficult for some of us to do, even if our form “looks” correct.
That is why performing activation exercises during your rest can be so beneficial.
You can establish the mind-body connection to recruit the correct muscles right before you lift. And you will also allow your body to recover during that time as activation moves aren’t about fatiguing the muscle.
You just want to do low resistance movements to feel the muscle firing.
By doing this during your rest, you allow your body to recover AND can actually help yourself get more out of your working set by lowering your risk for compensation and injury!
Often we don’t want to “waste time” on all of that prehab stuff, like the activation moves.
Which means we don’t do it.
BUT if we can do it during our rest, a time we often want to skip to just get our workout over and done with, we can not only get ourselves to do the prehab we would otherwise skip but actually take the rest we should!
Mobility And Flexibility Work For Active Rest:
This is also the boring prehab stuff, the warm up stuff, we usually like to skip.
BUT it is the stuff that not only helps us move better to prevent injury but can actually help us hit that new workout PR.
Ever notice after a round or two of lifting you seem able to get a bit lower or perform a slightly bigger range of motion more easily?
It’s because your body becomes more mobile as you “warm up” and work through the range of motion.
But why are you wasting potentially great working rounds “warming up?”
Why not A. do a proper warm up, and B. include mobility drills during your rest so you can improve your range of motion for your working rounds?
That is why, like activation exercises, mobility and flexibility work during your active rest can be so beneficial.
Your body can completely recover as you help yourself even move better the next round.
For example, you’re trying to improve your squat depth.
Working on mobilizing tight areas between rounds may help you get lower in your squat AND strengthen through that new range of motion so you keep the mobility you’re working hard toward.
Doing some foam rolling as part of your mobility work may also help you relax overactive muscles that may be causing other muscles to be inhibited.
For example, your hamstrings tend to take over during weighted glute bridges and you want to make sure your glutes fire correctly so you don’t perpetuate your hamstring dominance but instead correct it.
Foam rolling your overactive hamstrings, maybe even paired with a glute activation move, could help you make sure the correct muscles are firing when you then perform the weighted glute bridge.
This mobility work as active rest helps you recover and also get the correct muscles working so you avoid injury and even get more out of your workouts. The benefits go far beyond that single training session.
One thing to remember though, if using mobility and flexibility work as your active rest, is to focus on dynamic stretching, foam rolling and even activation. Static stretches are best left till after your workout as they may reduce power and performance.
Another reason to use mobility and flexibility work as active rest (and even activation exercises) is to personalize group training sessions!
If everyone in class is resting together, this is a perfect time to address UNIQUE imbalances even though each person may be doing the same exercises.
This can help you keep individuals safe and help everyone benefit from the workout!
Form Review For Active Rest:
Form review is another great way to allow your body to fully recover as you make sure to fit in as much as possible to a short gym session or even a group training session.
During your rest, use the time to assess form. Even practicing a few reps with no resistance if needed.
If you’ve taped it, you can review.
Or if you are working with a coach (or you’re the coach working with the client), it is the perfect time to go over cues and discuss ways to dial things in more without feeling the need to focus on other things.
Rest is the perfect time for feedback because you can actually focus on the feedback being given. That way when it is time to work, you’ll be ready to get the most out of it!
Feedback, or demoing moves for a class, during rest is the perfect way to keep group training sessions running smoothly as well!
Using Rest To Benefit You:
There is not one set way to “rest.”
Pick the option that helps you get MORE out of your workouts.
Rest is about recovering so you can keep working at the desired intensity for the desired number of reps or set amount of time. But that doesn’t mean you just have to sit or stand there.
You may make your rest “active” by using lower intensity moves, working other muscles, activating underactive muscles, improving your mobility and flexibility or even dialing in your form.
Just remember rest isn’t something to simply cut out!
It is an important training variable we can use to help us reach our goals more quickly and even get more out of shorter training sessions!
Ready to learn more about designing workouts that work!?
Check out my Training Black Book!
I go over everything from training variables to energy systems to pyramid training and rest-pause technique with actual workout designs and templates!
I provide over 50 done for your workouts and share all of my training techniques. Over 10 hours of content and CEUs for trainers are available!
by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 4, 2018 | Blog, Core
Spot Reduction… When I first started out, I would get asked, “How can I just tone (insert specific area as they grabbed it here)?” I would hear that phrase and roll my eyes. My answer would always be…”You can’t spot reduce an...
by Cori Lefkowith | Mar 16, 2018 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Push Ups
Stop wasting time on bicep curls and isolated tricep extensions. If you want strong, and sexy arms, it’s time you started focusing on HYBRID exercises.
These moves will get you better results in less time because they work more muscles at once, including the larger muscle groups of our upper bodies!
And as much as I love weights, you don’t even need weights to build killer functional upper body strength.
Using your own bodyweight, you can get in a great upper body workout AND even work your core! Try these 5 Hybrid Bodyweight Upper Body Exercises that you’ll be sure to feel the next day!
5 Bodyweight Upper Body Exercise (no equipment needed!)
Below are 5 Hybrid Exercises to work your arms, chest, shoulders and even back. Try including these in your next upper body workout, especially if you need something quick at home!
These are some of my favorite moves from my 6-Week Bodyweight Shred to not only work the upper body, but also the CORE!
Climber Push Ups:
This core-intensive push up variation will work not only your chest, but really target your triceps and shoulders as well!
To do the Climber Push Up, start in a plank from your forearms. You can set your feet wider apart if needed to create a more stable base. Make sure your body is in a nice straight line from your head to your heels and that your shoulders are stacked over your elbows while on your forearms.
Engage your abs and, keeping your body in a nice straight line, climb one hand at a time up to a plank position from your hands. Place your hands right below your shoulders, but outside your chest as you climb up. Try to wiggle your hips as little as possible as you climb and don’t let your butt go up in the air or your hips sag toward the ground as you climb up.
Then at the top perform a push up. Keep your body in a nice straight line as you drop your chest between your hands and down toward the ground. Press all the way back up.Then climb back down, placing your elbows right below your shoulders. Repeat, climbing back up. Make sure to alternate or switch which hand leads the climb at some point.
Beginners can do the whole thing from their knees or even just drop to their knees for the push up.
Push Up Leg Kick:
This Push Up is a great way to work your obliques and really toast your entire core!
To do the Push Up Leg Kick, set up in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and outside your chest and your feet close together. Your body should be in a nice straight line with your abs braced and glutes and quads engaged.
Then lower down to the bottom of the push up, keeping your body in a nice straight line. Press back up and at the top, kick one leg out to the side toward your elbow. Your hips may rotate slightly as you kick, but your butt shouldn’t go up in the air.
Kick your leg up as close to your elbow as you can and then lower it back down and place your foot back on the ground. Once your foot is back down, repeat the push up then kick the other leg out to the side toward your elbow. Keep your leg as straight as you can as you kick it out. Place your foot back and repeat the push up before repeating on the first side.
You can modify the move by doing it from your knees then come up onto your toes for the kick. You can also do it with your hands up on an incline. To advance the move further, perform the kick at the BOTTOM of the push up!
Scapular Wall Hold/Reps:
This move is a must-do if you have a desk job. Whether you perform the isometric or the reps, it is a great way to work your back and open up your chest.
To do the Scapular Wall Hold Reps, stand with your back relaxing against the wall and your feet about six inches away. Bend your arms and drive your elbows back into the wall. With your body in a nice straight line, drive off the wall with your elbows, pressing your chest out and pinching your shoulder blades down and back. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your body moves as one unit.
Relax back into against the wall, keeping your body in a nice straight line from your head to your heels. Do not let your hips drop. Then repeat the press out, driving off your elbows. Do not arch your low back as you press out. Also, make sure not to shrug your shoulders. The further from the wall that you walk your feet out, the harder the move will be.
To do the hold, you would simply hold pressed out. That is a great activation move even before your pull up work!
Row Push Up:
This anti-rotational core move will work not only your abs, but also your chest, back, arms and shoulders. Talk about a move that works EVERYTHING!
To do the Row Push Up, set up in a high plank position with your feet about hip-width apart and your hands outside your chest (beginners can do this from their knees). Then perform a push up, lowering your chest to the ground as your body moves as one unit. Do not let your butt go up in the air or your head jut forward. Also, make sure your arms create an arrow shape (–>) with your body instead of flaring way out.
Press back up, again keeping your body in a nice straight line. At the top of the push up, row one arm up. Lift the hand off the ground as you drive your elbow down and back toward the ceiling. Feel your back work to lift your arm. Bring your hand to about chest height then place it back down and repeat the push up.
At the top of the push up, row the other hand up. Try not to let your body rotate as you row. Also, do not let your butt go up in the air. You want to keep your body square to the ground as fighting the rotation works your core more.
If you have weights and really want to use them, you may also do the Renegade Row Push Up.
Push Up Walk Back:
This push up variation is going to work your arms, shoulders and abs and get your blood pumping. It is also a great way to work on your mobility with the walk back! (Hey a little extra lower body work never hurts!)
To do the Push Up Walk Back, start standing with your feet close together. Then bend your knees and squat down slightly. Rock forward to “dive out” and extend into a push up.
As you dive out and catch yourself, bend your elbows to absorb the shock of landing. You will perform a push up as you catch yourself and lower your chest to the ground. Push back up to a plank position and then, keeping your legs straight, walk your hands back in toward your feet.
Stand all the way back up and then squat down to repeat the dive back out and push up. This is an advanced move. Beginners may need to walk out instead and go down to their knees for the push up.
Ready to build full-body strength as you burn fat WITHOUT using any equipment?
Learn more about my Bodyweight Shred!
by Cori Lefkowith | Jan 23, 2018 | Blog, Functional Fitness
What if I told you longer workouts AREN’T better?
Because…guess what?
They’re NOT!
Length seems to be the main reason why people either feel they DESERVE results OR the reason why they think they’ll never get them
All too often people come to me telling me about all the hours they spend in the gym, wondering why they aren’t getting the results they want.
Or they’ll tell me they just will never be able to get results because they can’t spend hours at the gym.
But guess what?!
Spending hours at the gym IS NOT the secret to success!
Actually SHORTER may often help us achieve BETTER results in less time and it has to do with a term that has become very sexy in fitness – the AFTER BURN.
You know the only reason someone may need to workout longer in my opinion?
They are training for something SPECIFIC…like a marathon where they will have to run for hours.
Other than that…You’ll get way more benefit from focusing on your INTENSITY over the length of your workout.
Because upping your intensity is what gets you better results in less time.
You can get killer results from shorter workouts AND they are way easier to fit into even the busiest of schedules!
But intensity doesn’t just mean rushing through your workout and pushing hard carelessly.
NOPE!
You’ve still got to be SMART with your training.
Turning up your intensity means not only using HIIT or high intensity interval training, but also hybrid exercises WHILE focusing on the right muscles working.
Intensity comes from CHALLENGE yourself during the time you do have to workout.
If you challenge your body to “max out” by doing harder variations, taking less rest, adding more weight…you don’t need to go longer! (I put “max out” in quotes as you want to make sure the right muscles are working to fatigue instead of compensating just to make it through.)
Heck, longer workouts can actually sometimes even work against you.
Long steady state cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and intensity and length are inversely proportional.
If you are working out longer your intensity has to go down OR has to start lower in the first place. The only way to workout for hours and keep your intensity high is with longer rests between.
So not only can longer, steady state cardio be catabolic to muscle tissue but a focus on length means you CAN’T focus on intensity.
Plus, often when we get focused on the length of our workout, we stop focusing on the muscles that should be working and instead focus on “just getting through the workout.”
And let me tell you, you need to make sure the RIGHT muscles are powering the movements or you’ll just end up injured!
When the right muscles are working, you’ll get more out of the exercises you include AND be able to go harder.
As I mentioned before it isn’t just HIIT and hybrid exercises that affect intensity but also focusing on the right muscles working.
You need to get the right muscles working, and THINK about the right muscles working during your workout. It is a key part of upping your intensity so you can spend less time in the gym BUT get better results.
But why is INTENSITY so key? And how can it help you get better results in less time?
Well…intensity helps us get more bang for our buck not only WHILE we are at the gym, building muscle and burning more calories, but also even AFTER we leave the gym.
By focusing on INTENSITY at the gym, we can create more muscle damage to create more muscle growth (which in turn means burning more calories even at rest). AND we can work more muscles at once, using hybrid exercises, to burn more calories in less time!
Upping our intensity can also help us burn more calories for even 24 hours after our workouts are over.
How can upping your intensity do this?
Through what is sexily called the AFTER BURN!
The After Burn is technically called EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.
EPOC is not as sexy sounding as the AFTER BURN hehe…so we will call it the After Burn.
How does it work?
Basically…The harder you workout the more your body has to work to recover or return to homeostasis after. AKA the higher the intensity of our workout, the more energy we have to expend during the recovery process to return to our resting state.
This means we continue to burn calories even AFTER the workout is over. Hence the name AFTER BURN.
And INTENSITY is the secret to the After Burn.
Remember there are a number of ways to increase your intensity…
You can use HIIT to increase your intensity. Go all out for an interval of work (such as 20, 30 even 40 seconds) and follow that intense bout of work with a short, or even ACTIVE rest periods.
You can’t go all out for long, which is why the rest is needed to keep your intensity up. However, by keeping the rest short or “active,” you can get more bang for your buck in less time. Through HIIT, you force your body to use not only anaerobic but aerobic pathways to create energy, increasing your oxygen debt.
You can use Hybrid Exercises. Working more muscle groups, and larger muscles groups at once, you can not only burn more calories during your workout, but create more muscle tissue breakdown. This can not only help you grow stronger, but will also force your body to expend more energy to recover and repair that “damaged” muscle tissue.
You can CHALLENGE yourself with weights, harder exercise variations and even different tempos. You can place a greater demand on your body by challenging yourself with harder weights, more advanced variations or even more time under tension. All can create more muscle tissue breakdown and increase your energy demands!
You can focus on the right muscles working! This seems like a random one, BUT all too often when we start working out harder and trying to go more intense, we start allowing muscles to compensate as we fatigue, which means we start to perform poor movement patterns.
Not only does this put us at risk for injury, but compensations are also our body’s way of not really engaging and working as hard as they should be. AKA we won’t get as much out of the workout as we want!
For example…a common compensation is our low back working INSTEAD of our glutes and abs. When this occurs not only do we risk low back injury, BUT two important muscle groups aren’t getting the workout they should be getting. AND our glutes are a HUGE muscle group that would only help increase our calorie burn IF they were actually working!
By using these techniques and tips, you can up your intensity so you don’t have to spend as long in the gym to get killer results.
And by increasing your intensity you can get the same After Burn as someone spending hours upon hours working out! Heck, with just a 20 minute intense workout you can get better results than your friend chugging along for hours in the gym!
So by upping our intensity we can increase the AFTER BURN while spending LESS TIME at the gym.
Win win…RIGHT!?
Less time. Better results?!
That means you DO have time to get killer results and can even potentially get BETTER results spending less time in the gym if you are EFFICIENT with your workouts.
Remember it is all about developing a routine and getting consistent as you maximize the time you DO HAVE.
Learn more about how 10-minutes may be all you need to kickstart your results!
Can you really get results from 10-minutes?!
by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 5, 2017 | Blog, Butt, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness
I LOVE the deadlift. It is an amazing compound movement to target your posterior chain aka your entire backside.
But it is also a more complicated move than we give it credit for. And there are a ton of variations to choose from.
First let’s discuss WHY you should use the deadlift. Then we’ll review form and breakdown the conventional deadlift before explaining what variations to use and how to use them!
So Why Use The Deadlift In Your Workouts?
Deadlifts are ESSENTIAL to include because they:
- Are a compound move that works numerous muscle groups at once.
- Are a hip hinge exercise to train a functional movement pattern
- Work your backside to reverse the constant flexion we sit in or walk in as we text all day.
- Work on hip extension to strengthen our glutes to help us run faster and lift more.
Because deadlifts are a compound exercise, you work more muscles at once.
This not only helps you build functional strength because muscles have to work together to perform a movement, but it also helps you burn more calories in less time because more muscles are working at once. And compound moves that use the large muscles of our body, also allow us to lift MORE weight!
And on top of being a compound movement, the deadlift is a hip hinge exercise that works our posterior chain AKA our BACKSIDE!
What is a hip hinge?
It is a movement that loads your posterior chain when you hinge, aka flex your hips, to push your butt back then extend your hips to stand tall using your glutes. It is a functional move we need to do every day to reach down to the ground to pick things up…like a DEADLIFT!
The problem with this functional hip hinge exercise?
All too many people do incorrectly.
They simply lean forward without loading their posterior chain. Or they turn it into a squat.
Or they recruit their low back and hamstrings to do work their GLUTES should be doing.
So how do you deadlift properly to get the benefits of the deadlift and really work your backside?
How To Deadlift With Proper Form:
The most important thing you can ask someone is, “Where do you feel working?”
And with the deadlift, they can answer “upper back.” Or “glutes.” Or even “hamstring.” Actually all of the above. Especially their glutes.
However, the one place they shouldn’t feel acting as the prime mover is their low back. Which honestly too often is!
So how do you do the deadlift properly?
There are three things I think are key:
- Think about pushing the ground away with your feet INSTEAD of lifting the bar off the ground.
- Push your butt back to hinge over don’t just lean forward.
- Squeeze your butt hard at the top!
Thinking about these 3 things, here’s how to break down the Conventional Barbell Deadlift or the traditional or main deadlift variation.
To do a Conventional Barbell Deadlift, set a barbell up in front of you. Walk up to the center of the bar with your feet parallel and about hip-width apart. Set up so your shins are right up against the bar. You do not want the bar to drift away from your legs or you risk loading your low back.
Hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back as you reach to grab the bar just outside your shins. Your knees should be soft as you push your butt back to grab the bar, keeping your back flat.
Think about engaging your lats and upper back to keep your spine flat. Traditional form will tell you to keep your head in line with your spine and look out on the ground in front of you. Powerlifting form will often tell you to look up to help you pull up. Choose the one that feels most comfortable without straining anything weird.
With your arms straight and core engaged, put tension on the bar. Then drive through your feet, pushing the ground away to lift the bar up off the ground. Exhale as you lift, “dragging” the bar up your shins to stand up.
At the top, stand tall and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. Don’t lean back at the top or arch your back. Squeeze your butt, then lower back down. Keep the bar close to your body as you lower. Control the decent so you don’t drop the bar, but don’t eccentrically lower.
Once you touch the ground, you can either perform a quick rep without pausing or you can completely release at the bottom and repeat.
The key is really to keep that bar close to your shin, drive the ground away and even use your breathing to engage your core. Do NOT try to squat or simply lean or round over. Keep tension through your upper back and engage your lats. And sit your butt back, hinging at the hips.
Your knees should be soft, but your exact knee bend will be dependent on your mobility. Do NOT actively bend your knees and turn this into a squat though!
So what if you aren’t comfortable with the barbell? What if you’re a beginner? Or what if you want to target different muscles and challenge your body with a new variation?
Check out these deadlift variations below!
Deadlift Variations And When To Use Them:
There are so many great variations of the deadlift you can use to regress and progress the movement and even change up exactly what you’re working or use different tools that you may have available.
Yes, it will always be posterior chain, but you can isolate each glute, add in more adductor or even engage your hamstrings or core more.
Because the deadlift is a more technical move, there are a few ways I like to teach the deadlift and hip hinge movement WITHOUT the barbell.
Three versions of the deadlift I like to use with beginners are:
- The Bodyweight Wall Hinge
- The Band Hinge
- The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift
I’ve found these three deadlift variations to be an easier way to teach and train the hip hinge movement so that people learn to load their glutes and posterior chain instead of just leaning forward or engaging their low backs.
Here’s how to perform each and why each can be a great training tool.
The Bodyweight Wall Hinge – When you are first learning a movement, it is key to start with your own bodyweight. If you can’t do the move without a load, you haven’t earned adding a weight. Remember you need to EARN the weight and more advanced variations. No point in doing something if it won’t be quality. Hard for hard sake won’t get you results!
So the Bodyweight Wall Hinge is great for beginners because it helps them learn the hip hinge and deadlift movement without any weight. This allows them to focus on feeling the right muscles working. And by using the wall as a guide, you can learn to load your glutes and push your butt back.
To do the Bodyweight Wall Hinge, stand in front of a wall facing away. You want to stand between 3-6 inches away from the wall so as you hinge over, you can use the wall as a guide to help you push your butt back. AKA you want to hinge over and touch your butt to the wall. This will prevent you from simply leaning forward.
Stand nice and tall facing away from the wall. Then hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. Keep your knees soft as you hinge over and your back flat. Then drive through your feel to come back up to standing tall. Squeeze your glutes at the top to extend your hips. Don’t lean or arch back though.
Then hinge back over again, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. The wall is a great training tool to teach yourself to push your butt back and load your posterior chain. I even sometimes use it as a reminder with clients as they add a load, especially with Good Mornings.
The Band Hinge – A resistance band is another great training tool to help you remember to load your glutes. And it also adds some resistance to really get those glutes burning. This variation, while a great way to regress for the beginner, is also still an important move for advanced lifters because it really activates those glutes.
It’s great for glute activation, teaching the hip hinge for deadlift and reminding people that, while the Conventional Deadlift means some knee bend, it is NOT a squat! It also teaches you to “push the ground away” to power the hip extension against the band.
To do the Band Hinge, anchor a band or loop behind you and step into the band, bringing it right up below your hips. Walk away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band and stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. The more the band tries to pull you back (aka the further out you walk), the harder the move will be.
Then hinge over, allowing the band to pull your butt back toward the anchor point. Bend your knees slightly as you push your butt back to help load your glutes and keep you from flying back with the band.
Then explosively drive your hips forward to come back up to standing. You may lean slightly forward against the band, but you want to explosively stand up and drive your hips forward against the band, contracting your glutes as you do.
Stand up tall and squeeze your glutes then quickly hinge back over before repeating. This should be a quicker move and you should really focus on loading your glutes as you hinge over and then on quickly driving your hips into extension as you stand back up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top.
Do not lean back or arch your back as you stand up. Also, make sure you don’t lock out your legs OR squat to much as you hinge over. Make sure there is tension in the band even as you hinge over.
The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift – The third deadlift variation I like to use to help teach the deadlift is the single kettlebell Conventional Deadlift. This is a great way to load down the hip hinge, but teach people to really sit their butt back instead of just squatting down.
With the barbell Conventional Deadlift, we can often struggle with keeping the bar back against our shins and legs. And this can cause us to load our low back. Because we can have a tendency to let the bar drift away, it can be a struggle to sit back and load our glutes and even drive the ground away when we are first learning.
This is why I like to often use the kettlebell instead of the barbell when someone is first starting out. The fact that you can place the kettlebell back between your legs and toward your heels can really help ingrain the proper hip hinge movement and proper loading of the glutes.(BONUS: I even find that often the height of the kettlebell can help prevent people from wanting to squat as much.)
To do the Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift, place a kettlebell in between your feet as you stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Your feet should be parallel and the kettlebell should be back by your heels.
Then sit your butt back and hinge at the hips so you can reach and grab the kettlebell handle. Your knees will be soft so you can load your glutes. Engage your lats as you grab the weight and keep your back flat.
Then drive the ground away as you lift the weight up. Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. Then sit your butt back as you hinge at the hips to drop the weight back toward your heels.
Make sure you don’t reach out or lower the weight out in front of you. Really make sure to lower the kettlebell back down toward your heels. You don’t want to just lean over or let your back round. Load your glutes and sit your butt back, bending your knees to allow yourself to load your glutes. Do not lock out your legs.
Along with these three basic variations to really learn the hip hinge movement and even return to basics to make sure your foundation is strong (yes I LOVE using the Band Hinge even with my most advanced lifters), there are a variety of deadlift variations you can use to target your posterior chain in different ways and even work your core and balance.
Single Leg Deadlift – The Single Leg Deadlift is a must-do move for beginners and advanced lifters alike. It is an essential move to include because it will not only work your posterior chain and train the hip hinge, but it will also improve your core stability and balance.
It is also key because it is a unilateral exercise, which means it will work each side individually and help correct any imbalances. Aka if you have a stronger and weaker side, this allows you to make sure both sides are working and strong!
Beginners can start by doing more of a staggered stance deadlift or even a deadlift with one foot down on a slider. Once your balance improves, you’ll want to do the full Single Leg Deadlift.
To do the Single Leg Deadlift, you can use kettlebells, dumbbells or a barbell. You can even unilaterally load the move down to make it even more challenging for your core and your balance.
To do the basic move with bodyweight, start standing on both legs. Lightly touch one toe on the ground as you shift your weight onto the other leg. Begin to then hinge over, lifting your raised leg toward the wall behind you. Push your butt back and even slightly bend the knee of the standing leg to load your glutes.
You do not want to squat, but you want to soften your knee to push your butt back and load your glutes. As you hinge at the hips, don’t let your raised leg swing way open and don’t simply lean forward. Really focus on loading that standing glute as you feel your hamstring as well.
Keep your back flat and hips as square to the ground as possible. Do not worry about straightening the raised leg if it makes your hips rotate open.
Then driving through your standing foot, come back up to standing tall. You may tap your toe at the top, but do not use your other leg to help you come back up to standing. Stand tall and straighten your standing leg as you contract and squeeze your glute at the top. Really feel your hamstring and glute work to help you come back up to standing.
Then hinge back over and repeat. Make sure you don’t round toward the ground. When you add weights, you’ll want to think about dropping the weights down and back toward your standing heel to help you sit back. You’ll also need to engage your lats and upper back to support the weights.
Do not let your low back take over and make sure to brace your core. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Remember if you are starting out and balance is an issue, use a staggered stance, slider or even no weight to start.
Good Mornings and Straight Leg Deadlifts – The Deadlift is a posterior chain exercise and your glutes are definitely the prime mover, HOWEVER, you can make the deadlift focus and work different muscles to different extents. One great Deadlift Variation to really work your hamstrings, is the Straight Leg Deadlift. And when you make it a front-loaded move like the Good Morning, you force your abs and core to work even harder!
To do the Straight Leg Deadlift, you can use barbells, kettlebells, sandbags, dumbbells or even resistance bands. I even like front-loading it down for the Good Morning variation. If you front-load the movement, hold a sandbag up at your chest cradled in your arms. You’ll wrap your arms around the bag and then pull it into your chest engaging your upper back to support it. Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart.
Then, bracing your abs, hinge over at the hips, pushing your butt back as you keep your back flat. Feel your hamstrings and glutes loading as you hinge over. You will want to very slightly bend or soften your knees to help you push your butt back, but do not turn this into a squat.
After hinging over, drive back up to standing, pushing through your feet as you squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not rock forward, but instead drive straight up. Keep your abs engaged and do not round over.
Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes, then hinge back over and repeat. Do not simply lean forward. You will want to keep your legs straighter but NOT lock out your knees.
Sumo – The Sumo Deadlift is another great variation if you want to target your legs a bit more and even get your adductors working. For some, this deadlift variation even allows them to lift heavier weights than the other variations. However, because of the wide stance, you will want to make sure to take care of your hips as the external rotation and wide stance can occasionally be hard on them.
To the Sumo Deadlift, beginners can start with a kettlebell just like they did for the Conventional Deadlift. You can also use a sandbag, dumbbells or even a barbell.
For the Barbell Sumo Deadlift, set your feet wider than shoulder-width with your toes turned out slightly and your shins against the barbell. Reach down and grab the bar between your legs about hip-width apart. Hinge at the hips as you bend your knees to sit your butt back and grab the bar. Keep your back flat and engage your lats and upper back to support the tension on the bar. Make sure your knees are in line with your ankles and hips. You do not want your knees caving in with the wide stance.
Then driving up through your heels, come back up to standing. Think more about pushing the ground away than on picking the bar up. You won’t want to lose tension in your upper body as you initiate the pull so it can help to think about pushing the ground away. This can also help you focus on using your legs and glutes.
Drive all the way up to standing tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. You do not want to lean back, but you do fully want to extend your hips. Then begin to lower the bar back down, siting your butt back as you hinge over to return it to the ground. Stay in control of the bar, but do not turn this into a slow eccentric lower down.
Make sure to keep the bar close to your body the entire time to make sure you are using your posterior chain to lift!
Unilateral Loads – With all of these great deadlift variations, you can also change how you load the move. From making the Conventional Deadlift a bit easier for beginners by using kettlebells to even making moves harder and more core intense by front loading OR even adding a unilateral load.
Unilateral loading is a great way to work on anti-rotational core strength and stability. It allows you to add weight, but make your core work even harder to stay balanced. Because you are adding weight on only one side though, make sure your core is ready for the challenge of fighting your body’s urge to compensate and rotate or you risk injury.
To unilaterally load down any variation, you can simply hold a kettlebell, sandbag or dumbbell in one hand. For the Single Leg Deadlift, you can hold it in the same or the opposite hand from your standing leg and for the conventional, you can hold it like a suitcase outside one side. Just make sure to do reps holding the weight on each side.
All of these moves can be used in your programming to work your posterior chain and strengthen those glutes. Make sure to pick variations that target your specific goals and don’t hesitate to mix things over progressions to not only challenge your body, but even focus on your weaker areas!
For even more coaching cues, tips and variations, check out my Mastery Series – Deadlift Edition!
This way you are alternating areas that are being worked so that muscles are rested by the time you return to that move.
That is why, like activation exercises, mobility and flexibility work during your active rest can be so beneficial.
