Mainly muscles involved:
- Erector of the spine
- Latissimus dorsi
- Gluteal muscles
- Quadriceps
- Biceps femoris
For whom:
- Advanced
Execution:
- Stand in front of the barbell shoulder-width apart. The barbell should almost touch your tibias.
- Feet parallel or pointing toes slightly outward, knees pointing outward.
- Straighten your back, keep your head in line with your body, look ahead, and pull your chin back.
- Pull your shoulder blades back and down, and push your chest forward.
- Tighten your abdominal and gluteal muscles.
- Perform a half squat and grasp the barbell with both hands, wider than your knees.
- Arms slightly bent at the elbows, facing outward.
- With a dynamic, controlled movement, lift the barbell by performing hip and knee extensions, starting the motion by withdrawing your hips.
- Guide the barbell close to your legs.
- Do not let your back arch during the movement.
- Keep your abdominal muscles and glutes firmly tensed at all times.
- Hold the position for a second, then in a slow, smooth motion, return to the starting position, again starting with the withdrawal of the hips.
- Inhale - while lowering the weight.
- Exhale - while contracting the muscles.
Most often making mistakes:
- Trunk protrusion in the upper phase of the movement
- Jerking the trunk
- Round back
- Insufficiently tight abdominal and gluteal muscles
- Knees pointing inward
My tips
- Focus on maintaining your posture. Secure your lumbar spine by tightly tensing your abdomen and buttocks.
- Focus on your breathing. Perform the exercise slowly and carefully, fully controlling the weight and maintaining balance.
- This is an exercise performed with a heavy load, so improper technique often leads to injury.
- Use an exercise belt for additional protection of the lumbar spine.
- You cen perform the exercise in two ways: putting the barbell down at each repetition, or performing all repetitions without putting the barbell down. For less advanced people, I recommend putting it down - this will help improve posture.
- An easier alternative is to perform this exercise using a Smith crane.
