Deadlifts have become one of the most popular exercises in the gym. You've probably noticed more and more people spending a significant amount of time working out with Olympic weights in recent years, but, more specifically doing deadlifts.  There's a good reason for this; for such a primitive and simplistic exercise, it carries numerous benefits which can help nearly anybody, no matter what their fitness goals.

The simplicity of a deadlift is perfectly described in the exercises' name; it's literally the action of lifting dead-weight up off of the floor, usually with a long bar and weights on either side.  Traditionally, you would have seen deadlifts done in one form of competition or another; maybe in a strongman contest or Crossfit type of setting where the goal is to lift as much weight as possible at one time or as many times as possible.

But, deadlifts don't always need to always consist of lifting one's maximum amount of weight.  In fact, that can be the most detrimental mistake when performing the exercise. The term quality over quantity is the best rule of thumb in the case of both an average person in the gym or anyone training with a specific purpose; focus on a quality form and technique versus the quantity of weight lifted.

While lifting a dead weight off of the floor seems like a simple task, performing a deadlift with proper technique is another story and is essential for 2 reasons. First of all, no matter the amount of weight you're trying to lift, if you're doing it with improper form you will, at some point, injure yourself.  Second, there are numerous benefits to performing a deadlift correctly so you want to make sure it's being done efficiently and effectively.

A Fitness Focus Trainer would definitely the best recommendation to learn how to deadlift for efficiency and effectiveness; but let's dig more into why you should incorporate deadlifting into your workout and what benefits you can expect to see.

Posture

Some general aches and pains we deal with in our normal day to day life can be related directly to our posture.  Tight chest muscles and ribs, lower back soreness; even stiffness in the knees all tie directly to our posture while we're walking, standing or even sitting.  Adding proper deadlifts consistently into your routine can activate and develop and strengthen the muscles around these areas and helps improve posture, ultimately alleviating these common aches and pains.

Reducing the possibility of Injuries

Legs and back have the most and largest muscles out of every body part.  They are also the body parts which are used the most for a majority of your day to day functions such as going up and down stairs carrying objects and balancing.  Weaker muscles in your legs and back means there's a higher likelihood of an injury accompanied by a longer recovery process.    Developing and conditioning the muscles in and around your legs and back are your best bet for avoiding injuries in the first place.

Use More Muscle Groups

Deadlifts use more muscles than any other exercise. Core muscles including abs, obliques and lower back are engaged through the entire exercise.  Grip strength improves through the use of hand and forearms.  Upper back and trapezius muscles which tie into the neck. So, if you were only allowed to use one exercise for the rest of your life, your best choice is a deadlift; it incorporates all the major muscles groups which mean less need to target many of the secondary muscles.

If you're convinced about the power of the deadlift, and you want to learn how or to improve your technique on this or any other exercise in and out of the gym contact a trainer trainer today.

After 2 years; our Black Friday sale is back!  One Year Memberships for 2 people for $599.

Once you break it down, sharing it with a friend, it's only $298.50 each for all of our major amenities.

The offer's available until the end of Tuesday November 29th.

 Individual Biweekly Memberships are available at regular pricing with zero sign-up fee. (Save $30.00)

• Black Friday price applies to paid term memberships only
• Black Friday deal open to any new or existing members
• Sale ends Tuesday November 29 at 11pm

Childcare available as an add-on for $24/month
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*Tanning only available to members over 18

Take a minute to learn why our Trainers are so unique and among the best in Saskatoon. Team Wawryk Trainers are passionate for wellness, living a healthy lifestyle, have a drive for personal improvement and the desire to help their clients discover and reach their goals. 

Team Wawryk Trainer - JESS FRIESEN

Hard work, perseverance, motivation and determination are just a few of the traits that have fueled her passions throughout her life. From a very early age, she discovered her athletic abilities and excelled at many sports including volleyball, basketball, swimming, track and hockey. After high school however, the demands of post secondary education forced Jess to lose focus on sports and a healthy lifestyle and soon came face to face with the reality of not only being uncomfortably overweight and out of shape, but also dealing with an unhealthy relationship with food. Once realizing that she allowed herself to lose sight of something that she had been so passionate about for so long, she decided to embark on a journey down the path of health and fitness and has never wanted to look back. Her own experiences battling weight issues, self image and emotional eating, she understands the effort, energy and support that it takes to get the desired results. Jess' ultimate goal as a personal trainer is to motivate inspire and educate others about the benefits of exercising and living a healthy lifestyle. Results do not come over night, but with patience, persistence, and consistency anyone can achieve realistic goals.

Team Wawryk Trainer - DENISE KOMINETSKY

She completed the CanFit Pro Fitness Instructor Specialist Course (FIS) in 2013, and the Personal Training Specialist Course (PTS) in 2016. Denise has been a Figure Competitor with the Saskatchewan Amateur Bodybuilding Association since 2011. She placed well in each competition and qualified for nationals after only her first year competing.

Members' workout requirements are always changing, which means we need to add new equipment to the gym. A must-have was a third Squat Rack, the Atlantis Half Rack. More people are starting to incorporate functional (and fundamental) exercises like deadlifts, lunges and squats into their training which necessitated us to add another Squat Rack into the weight room. In the past people would stay clear of exercises like squats because were under the impression they were only beneficial in a competition setting with the sole purpose of lifting a maximum amount of weight.  Now people are starting to realize that squats are the perfect exercise for both shaping the legs and glutes while complimenting a variety of other body parts. It's great to see people are now challenging themselves with these types of exercises.

 The leg platform is a very diverse piece of equipment.  It looks very simple as it's just an adjustable step; but it would take more than your 2 hands to count the amount of exercises you can do with it. Step ups, lunges, reverse lunges, box jumps, box squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, incline push-ups, and the list goes on.  Get creative with the leg platform, it's durable and build for a serious workout.

Most machines work front-to-back. The Helix turns tradition on its side— literally. With lateral (or side-to-side) movement, you use more muscles, which means you burn more fat than during a traditional workout– in the same amount of time.  Plus Helix’s patented motion tones your butt, core and inner/outer thighs better than old-fashioned cardio machines.

Common Misconceptions about the weight room

So many people that are both new to the weight room or long time users become deterred from the gym because they haven’t achieved the results they had expected from their weight routine.  There are many common misconceptions about lifting weights that cause people to start on the wrong track and are then left feeling discouraged.

Lifting weights will make you big and bulky; false.  The primary benefit of lifting weights is increased lean muscles, but increased lean muscles doesn’t mean enormous muscles.  For men it is a lot easier to get big muscles, but still takes years of heavy training.  In the case of women, they just are not genetically programmed to build thick and bulky muscles.  Other benefits of weight lifting include increasing metabolism and lower body fat, a greater resistance to injury and improved overall health.  So don’t ignore the weight room, embrace weight training and use it to build the body you want.

Doing Ab exercises everyday will result in a flat stomach and well-defined 6-pack Abs; false.  Abdominal (Ab) exercises are resistance training and like weight training, are used to develop the targeted muscles.  We need to remember that muscles and body fat are two completely different things, so once we develop our Abdominal muscles it does not change the fact that there still might be some fat lying on top of them.  Spending a majority of a workout everyday training Abs will become very repetitive and boring; dedicating some time twice a week Ab exercises is lots. 

It is possible to spot reduce fat from one area of the body; false.  Repeating an exercise over and over will do nothing more than condition that particular muscles to perform that exercise.  To reduce body fat, we need to adjust what we eat so that the calories we ingest are slightly lower than the calories we burn, signalling the body to start burning fat for energy.  On the extreme end of this, when we begin to starve ourselves our body goes into survival mode and will begin to store fat in the body for future requirements.  We have no control over what area the body fat will accumulate; it is all genetically predetermined.  For some people it is in the stomach, for others it’s the hips or butt.  Just as we have no control over where it will end up, we have no control over where it will come off.  

The key to success in health and fitness is the understanding that it takes patience in the process and the willingness to always learn, to change old habits and adapt.