Unless you are using lifting straps, the deadlift will develop enormous crushing and pinching grip strength. Your forearms and hands grow in strength and size to accommodate the weights that the rest of your body is handling. This improved grip strength is valuable not only for other weight-training exercises, but for any sport in which you grab, hold, or throw objects or other competitors. Because your hands are the tools for transferring power from the rest of your body to another object, your grip can make or break your overall strength.

4. The Deadlift Mimics Real-Life and Sport Situations

While people are quick to toss around the term "functional strength" with little real meaning, it surely applies to the deadlift. The foremost example of this application to real-life scenarios is in picking things up off the ground, especially heavy objects that require a strong back and grip. Furthermore, nearly every contact sport contains situations such as checking, tackling, and jumping that involve a large, quick transference of energy from the lower body to the upper body or another object.

5. A Great Workout for Your Abs

Just as with any exercise that strongly involves the lower back, the deadlift heavily taxes the abdominals and obliques, as well. These muscles tense and tighten during the movement to help keep the lower back contracted in an arched position. If you have never deadlifted before, your first few sessions may very well leave your abs more sore than any targeted abdominal workout you have ever done.

To conclude, every weight trainee should be performing the deadlift regularly. It is one of the best movements for building overall strength and muscle mass, as well as for improving everyday and sport-specific performance. If you are not performing this movement, you are not realizing your full muscle building potential.

About the Author:
David LaMartina is a competitive powerlifter who currently sits at a solid 250 pounds and has achieved a 590 squat, 315 bench, and 635 deadlift. If you found his muscle-building tips helpful, visit this site. If you would like to learn more about how to gain muscle through smart, intense training and quality nutrition, click here.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Five Reasons Why You Should Deadlift