Dead lifts

Livestrong Youtube

Dead lifts are good.  They are good for strengthening many things; your back, hamstrings, butt and more.  It is one of the things that you can do to help a bad back.  Of course if your back is really bad you will want to visit your Dr. before even considering doing light dead lifts.  Many consider dead lifts as those things that the monster lifters do.  They scream and yell and look like they are about to explode while doing them.  Yes, they do dead lifts but they do crazy weight dead lifts.  You can start doing dead lifts with light weight dumbells and move up if you want, or not. 

I do not do heavy dead lifts; my lower back gives me issues every now and again so I am working my way up.  I doubt that I'll ever get the "heavy" ones because even the light ones give you amazing results. 

Huff Post article on Dead Lifts

Dead lifts are a very natural movement for humans.  Bending over to pick something up is what we use to do all the time.  Now of course there isn't a whole lot of need for this and we spend way too much time sitting down.  Back problems is a big issue because of this lack of bending and strengthening the back.  Right now I am using 35lb dumbells for my dead lifts.  I like dumbells because I can move them around the gym more easily than a barbell.  But I sometime use a barbell if the gym is not too crowded.  You can start out with 5 lb dumbells so that you strengthen and don't hurt your back.  Believe me when I say, your butt will thank you for doing dead lifts. 

I do the straight leg (slighty bent) lifts:

Stand with your legs shoulder width apart or together, I do both.

Grab your dumbells and hold them in front of your legs, straight down.

Bend your legs ever so slightly.

With your back very straight, bend over so the weights just hit the ground but do not rest there.

Start slow, maybe 2 sets of 6 reps. 

Work up to at least 3 sets of 10 reps before moving your weight up. 

This is an amazing way to strengthen your back so that you aren't one of those people with a bad back.  Plus it helps to build those rear end muscles that may have gotten flabby or flat.  Again, you can do this at home with anything.  Kettle bells are great for this.  If you want a badunk, dead lift.