7 Ways To Improve Your Deadlift Immediately

Hey Guys and Girls,

Here is a great video with 7 very simple solutions to improve your deadlift immediately. The list could easily be longer but I would say these are 7 very common problems that I experience with my clients or fellow gym members.

I view the deadlift as one of the most effective exercises you can do whatever your goals are. If you can master this then you're on to good things.

Many seem to believe that the deadlift places a lot of stress on your back and has a high injury risk. That's a load of rubbish as any exercise performed badly has a high risk of injury. If done correctly and effectively, this is a risk free exercise that will simply change the way you train and I'm sure this video will help you to do just that.

7 reasons why you're not getting the results you want from your deadlift.

1. Going too heavy too soon:
   It's a great feeling ripping a huge amount of weight from the floor in one explosive movement but dont get carried away. Take your time and perfect your tecnique before you start piling the weight on the bar.
   At the moment, I personally work on (example) the 5 sets of 5 reps system with 3 minutes rest between sets. I'm focusing on strength training for the time being. I do 3 progressively heavier warm up sets followed by 2 working sets. I then aim to perform 3 working sets on this poundage. Once I have done so, I increase the weight and again aim for 2 working sets with a view of increasing to 3 etc. I also throw in some 1 rep max lifts or 5 sets of 3 reps to keep my body guessing and hitting heavier poundages. By all means though taiolor the rep and set range to your goals.
   
   
2. Stance:
   This can be a crucial decider in the efficiency of your lift although it often is a matter of personal preference which is why it's important to play around with different stances and discover which works best for you. I persoanlly know some seriously strong dudes that have quite a narrow stance but I also know some guys who lift a crazy weight with what I would say was quite a wide stance, to each to their own. I personally prefer about shoulder width with my toes angled out very slightly.
   
   
3. Your bum is too high:
   Getting my butt down, personally added some serious weight to my lift. Although my back was straight, by keeping my hips so high I was not engaging my legs enough in the lift which meant my poundages were limited. It was fine when I was working to a higher rep range, say 8-10 reps but to lift big you need to get your arse down.
   
   
4. The bar is not close enough to your shins:
   The path of the bar on the deadlift should be as straight as possible and if you start with the bar too far from the shins you have immediately created problems for yourself. In order to maintain a smooth lift, the bar should be touching the shins at the bottom and almost graze the shins and the quads to the top of the movement. I often come away from a deadlift session with bloodied shins which is a sign of just how close I maintain the bar to my legs. You also compromise your lower back when the bar is too far from the shins, as you know this is never a good thing.
   
   
5. Not engaging the lats:
   When at the bottom of the lift, retract the shoulders by engaging the lats to ensure a solid start to the lift. Now I must say that when you start to move some seriously heavy weights, let's use ex world record holder Andy Bolton as an example, it becomes increasingly harder to maintain such a position. However if the muscle's intent is there and the other muscles in the lift are firing as they should it will not cause any problems. If you stay too relaxed in the upper back and lats, this can allow the weight of the bar to round your shoulders forward which often has a knock on effect and causes a curve in the spine.
   
   
6. You're not engaging your midsection:
   Believe me, doing crunches will never improve your deadlift however ensuring you engage your mid section is invaluable to your lift. When in the bottom position, before you show that bar who's boss, take a deep breath as deep as you can into your stomach, this will create the tension required in the midsection to support the spine and remove any softness from the lift. Your breathing alone could make a huge difference.
   
   
7. Too much slack in your arms:
   What I'm referring to here is those who start their lift with bent arms. This is an injury risk and will do nothing for your deadlift. Eliminate slack from the bar and the arms. If the bar can make that rattling sound when in your grip that means their is too much slack. Get rid of it and I assure you will instantly feel the lift so much more in all the right places.

The video goes in to greater detail on these points so please have a look and implement these tips today. I promise you will feel an immediate difference.



I have been performing the deadlift for years and I'm always looking for different techniques and teaching points. As much as I have discovered that different people have different techniques that suit them better, I believe as a rule of thumb the above changes will see nothing but improvement. I personally used to keep my hips way too high and this really prevented me from getting to a substantial weight as I simply was not using my legs enough. As soon as I got my arse down, I added 15kg to my lift straight away, this is no lie.

Now, I'm no deadlift expert and I'm certainly not lifting a super human poundage but I do have experience in this exercise and it's a movement I take very seriously and remain to seek improved techniques, program design and rep range structure in order to take it too the next level. I ensure I always feel it in the right places whether I'm smashing multiple sets of singles or going for 4 sets of 8 reps. Anyone who stands up after a lift clutching their lower back in pain (I'm sure you have all seen it) needs to asses their technique.

So remember this:

1. Step up to the bar with a shouder width stance, and toes angled out slightly with the bar touching your shins.
2. Drop the hips down to fully engage the legs and glutes.
3. Pack the shoulders back by engaging the lats.
   
4. Remove every once of slack out the bar and the arms
5. Take a huge breath in to the stomach to brace the midsection and support the spine.
6. Then rip that bar from the floor driving through your heels.
7. Reverse the movement and repeat.
   

I'm sure you can relate to some if not all of the above points and I hope it can add as much value to your training as it has mine.

Happy lifting,

Matt Whitmore

My Wild Physique Unleashed: Part 3

Last time I left you with my journey through school, getting well into my training regime and maintaining my hench status :-) Doing everything a teenager did just with a huge passion to train.

I went through the rest of my school years like this until I hit my college years. This is where things took a drastic turn...........

I had a well established routine going on that I stuck to religiously. I hated missing a training session but didn't lose any sleep if I did. I was 15 years old and started investing in fitness mags such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Flex, Muscle and Development, the list is endless. I was amazed by the guys I saw in these mags, so big and ripped, just how I wanted to be.

The thing that caught my eye that I had never before even thought about was nutrition and in this instance, meal plans to get big and lean. I looked at them only to be shocked as they were nothing like what I was eating. For me it was Frosties for breakast, fish & chips for lunch, chocolate and Dr Pepper, not to mention my post workout meal of deep fried chicken and chips from the Chicken Cottage across the road from the gym. I still have memories of my bus journey home and being that pumped and tired from my workouts that even holding up my chicken leg to eat it was hard work :-)

I knew instantly that I needed to change my diet and also the mags were screaming and shouting about protein shakes amongst other supplements. Of course I had to get me some of that.

Things changed, I started having eggs or porridge for breakfast, drinking water instead of Dr Pepper, wholegrain sandwiches instead of chocolate. I introduced protein shakes post workout, in fact my immediate post workout meal was a protein shake and a banana and honey sandwich. I used to look forward to this about half way through my workout. It was amazing.

I may have been young but it was not long until I really noticed a difference in my physical appearance and I was getting heavier and most drastically stronger.

On my next visit to the gym I was informed on arrival that system indicated I was due for a review of my workout and a body stat analysis. A body stat measures your body fat, lean mass and water etc I thought why not. So the instructor linked the leads up to me entered the relevant data........"Wow you're 5.2% body fat", he said, "Is that good", I replied. Apparently it put me in the same category as an elite athlete, so you could say I left the gym that evening feeling pretty good about myself.

Dun dun dun............the juicy bit

I thought - I had gotten bigger, stronger and leaner and now been told I was like an elite athlete. It had to be the new eating regime I was on I thought. But I couldn't help but feel that I wanted to get to 4% body fat. And if only I reduced even more fat in my diet I would get even more gains.

All of a sudden, I stopped adding sugar to my porridge, I didn't put butter in my sandwiches and I refused to add tomato ketchup to anything (looking back this was crazy as ketchup was my favourite thing in the world and was added to everything I ate) but it was full of sugar and I decided it had to go. I became obsessed with reading the calorie and fat content on everything I ate and if the fat was high or it had a lot of calories, I didnt touch it with a barge pole.

Slowly my portions got smaller, my food became bland and boring as in my head nothing that tasted any good could possibly be healthy. My post workout chicken and chips was a distant memory and to be honest I was obsessed.

I would refuse to eat a sandwich that had butter or mayo, I would turn away desserts put in front of me, nor would I eat chocolate. And I'm talking never, not even a little bit. I became gaunt and ridiculously lean to the point where my family were worried about me.

I felt abnormal, whilst all my friends were eating burgers and chips, chocolate and ice cream, all things I was so desperate to eat but felt overwhelmed with guilt just by thinking about it. It was clear I had developed an eating problem, one that actually took over my life for almost a year......seriously. I was miserable, didn't eat out with friends, I felt depressed and felt like a weirdo but I honestly felt as though there was nothing I could do about it. The months went by and the more miserable I became, my training became a chore that was purely just another part of my obsession with being lean, strong and big.

Men's Health saved my life:

Now, as much as I don't rate the magazine nowadays, back then I believed everything I read. I remember this issue very well, it was the summer holidays and they had a six week, bigger and stronger training regime by some top sports coach. This seemed perfect as I had 6 weeks off until college. It covered training over a 6 week period and also had a diet plan to follow. The regime was split into 2 halves, the first part was targetted towards getting big and the second was all about getting strong. Now the thing that struck me about this pull out was the guy featured in it. He was huge and was completey ripped and was lifting what appeared to be huge weights. I wanted to look just like that. I was so excited at the thought of going back to college and being the man mountain that was on every page of this pull out.

But then I got to the diet part..........

It was here I was left somewhat confused. As I was back where I was the previous year in that everything it said I should be doing was the complete opposite to what I was actually doing. Now I was on the right track in terms of what I was eating but more so just how little I was consuming. I will never forget the words "To get big you need to lift big and eat big".

I was told to eat healthy fats, get plenty of carbs and lean protein in my diet. Pasta, bread, cheeses, chicken and tonnes of vegetables. I felt low, like I had been wasting my time for a year although I was only doing what i thought best. I believed it all being the naive kid I was. I went out with my grand parents that very day with a shopping list.

Oily fish, nuts and seeds and oils all very calorific and high in fat (good fat) foods which before would have been avoided like the plague were piled up in my shopping basket. Peanut butter, pasta and brown bread were also present. I also stopped off at holland and barrat on the way back to get a big tub of protien.

I figured if i wanted to look like this guy in the mag, I had to do exactly what the strength coach said. I followed the routine and eating plan to a T. It was just what I needed, I was enjoying my food again guilt free, I was getting stronger, bigger and I just felt so excited about every training session. I got my mojo back and it felt great.

Like I said, Men's Health is not something I follow now but back then it really did save my life, I don't know what I would have done had I not found that pull out.

I went back to my first college year with my new found focus and still managed to maintain my hench status :-) Even my PE teacher Mr Lloyd who was 6ft 7 and built like a brick sh*t house was impressed.

I maintained this similar body split routine and eating guideline throughout my first college year. My passion for training was through the roof, I loved it and no one ever got in the way of my training. This frustrated my girlfriends but I was set in my ways and it was just something they had to deal with.

My first year of college was over and to be honest I hated it. Instead of studying I spent most of my time planning my workouts, reading training articles and watching training videos. I was so bored at college and dreaded most days. I was so excited when the bell went and it was time for my pre workout meal.

It was the middle of the following summer holidays and I was doing my summer job as an ice cream man (such a great job). I was averaging about 5 ice creams a day, a great mass gainer ;-) And it hit me - I wanted to become a personal trainer.

The summer holidays were over I went back to college with a letter stating that I was leaving for my own reasons which was that I was ready to start a career as a personal trainer. The headmaster thought I was mad and told me I would never make a decent leaving without any A levels but I didn't care, I knew what I wanted to do.

I left that day and booked straight on to a 2 week intensive level 2 fitness instructor qualification. I have never looked back since.

So to recap, I developed an obsession which led to an eating disorder and a lack of motivation and illness, I rediscovered my focus and my passion was back, I meant business again and I was on the path to fulfilling my dream to become a personal trainer.

In the next part, I will share with you how I evolved from my body split training routine and how I all of a sudden was on a level with all the guys at the gym who once upon a time were so far ahead of me, infact guys who I thought I could never possibly compete with.

Train smart, eat well and sleep peacefully,

Matt Whitmore

The Importance of Personal Bests.

Everyone loves achieving a personal best (PB). Be it shaving seconds off their 10k run, adding 5kg to their bench press or getting out an extra pull up than last week.

Personal bests make you feel good, they inject confidence and provide you with the satisfaction of knowing that the hard work your putting in is paying off.

Here's a perfect example of how a personal best changed my day...

Last Friday was just one of those days - Low on energy, busy week and just felt pretty sh*tty and unmotivated to be honest. Anyway, I had already agreed to train with a friend of mine so there was no getting out of it.
However, I dug deep and to my surprise I managed to pull off a 5 rep max personal best on my deadlift. All of a sudden my workout had a whole new meaning. I then went on to PB on my 5 rep max double arm kettlebell shoulder press. I was on fire, I was buzzing and I felt awesome.

I was now shaking with adrenaline, eager to take on the heaviest weights I could. My mood had done a 180 and I was ready to take on the busy day I had ahead of me. I suppose I was thinking that whatever happens today really won't get to me as I just shifted a sh*tload of weight off the floor. More weight than ever before. It's a great feeling.

So what's the point of this blog post?

Well firstly, to give myself a bit of a shout out, because everybody loves a shout out :-)

Secondly, because it surprises me just how many people just go through the motions with their training. They don't write anything down, they don't monitor their progress. If someone can't even remember what they were lifting last week how can they possibly expect to improve on it this week?

I write all my workouts down to a T. Reps, sets, rest, time of day. I'm not saying I improve week on week, truth is, some weeks my performance or poundages decline. Luckily though, I have a record of what I have been doing so I can see why this may be. Was I still fatigued from my last workout? Did I train at a different time? Had I got enough sleep? Sometimes just having an extra day off can be responsible for a 5-10kg increase in poundage.....seriously

In order to achieve a PB you need to know what your current one is. So as soon as you finish reading this blog, go get yourself a little notebook and a pen and write all your workouts down. Then give yourself some targets and achieve them.

I'm sure you have seen it on facebook. "I lifted 220kg on my deadlift today", "I just nailed a PB on my snatch". People shout about it because they feel good about it. And so they should.

However,

PB's don't just happen overnight, they don't come thick and fast, you have to work hard for them. This is what makes them so satisfying. Remember a PB is personal to you, it doesn't matter if your friend shifts 30kg more than you on Deadlifts. What's important is that you have lifted the heaviest weight ever in your life, you're the strongest you have ever been on that particular exercise.

Don't let other peoples PBs take anything away from yours, simply use them to fuel your next PB.

Here is another great example:

A few months ago, I was doing a photoshoot with a friend of mine CJ Swaby. I know I mention this guy quite often, but he deserves it as he's a great dude and incredibly knowledgeable. However I want to make it very clear that we are just friends and fellow strength enthusiasts. He wants it to be a deeper and more meaningful relationship at times but he really is just not my type ;-)

Just kidding.

On this particular photoshoot for an upcoming project, we were performing various lifts including kettlebells, barbells and bodyweight drills.
We finally got to the deadlift. The idea was we were only going to load the bar up with about 150kg, bang out a few reps and that was that. Anyway, the bar gradually started getting heavier and we were both feeling pretty good. At this point CJ said "f@&*# it, I'm gonna go for a PB", I then as a man with an ego replied "f@&*# it, if you are then I am". So my PB prior to this day was 200kg, I loaded the bar with 215kg. I knew thus was a big jump but I felt good and I had some great encouragement from CJ and the photographer Brian. I took my stance, took some deep breaths, after hearing the CJ yell "rip that bar off the floor" I knew that was my cue to do just that. I proceeded to rip that bar off the floor with far greater ease than I expected. I felt on top of the world, it was a great end to a great day.

Up next was CJ's set. The photoshoot had some how evolved from a light hearted shoot to a testosterone fuelled training session. CJ loaded an awesome 240kg to the bar, I believe 10kg heavier than his previous best. BOOM, he ripped that bar off the floor with ease. From where I was standing it looked like he could have done 250kg.

So, after giving each other the congratulating hand shake we were both buzzing from our feats. And rightly so, we smashed our PBs.

I want to highlight that although CJ shifted a substantial 25kg more than I did, I didn't care as I knew I was now the strongest I have ever been on my deadlifts. And of course I was happy for CJ and not bitter at all, even if he did cheat ;-), like I said I'm not bitter.

So remember, your PB is yours, don't let anyone else take that away from you. Just be sure you then aim for your next one, dont be content in your achievment. Dig deep and pull your next one out of the bag.

Anyway, I'm waffling now but you get the picture.

Create goals, log your progress, achieve PBs and repeat the cycle. It won't always be a smooth ride but as long you write things down at least you will have an explanation as to why this may be.

Anyway, I'm about to go eat a 50oz steak, that's 20oz more than my previous best. Wish me luck.

Have a great day and look forward to your response.

Matt

Radiators and drains.

Radiators and drains:

Throughout life you meet all kinds of people who are different in many ways, however they all fall in to two very important catergories........"Radiators and Drains".

Think about it, we surround ourselves with so many different people, some make us feel great and we love being around them, others tend to zap us of all things positive and wish to bang on about how their life is so miserable because they had to stay in the office for an extra 30mins.

What are radiators?

Radiators are people who give off warm and comforting vibes, that are a joy to be around, are genuine and ooooooze positivity (not too much mind, as that's just annoying :-) They make us feel great, inspire us and we look forward to seeing them. Radiators don't bombard us with poor me comments and require constant reassurance. Radiators motivate us to succeed in our goals, provide us with the drive and support us on our chosen journey. Radiators are happy when we are happy, they congratulate us on our success. Radiators are simply AWESOME.

These are the people we should spend as much time with as possible. Surrounding ourselves with radiators will make us happier, healthier and allow us to lead a positive, energetic and successful existence.

What are drains?

Drains are the kind of people that always respond negativly. "hello mate, great to see you, how are you? Bloody awful, I'm working overtime, not getting any sleep and on top of that I had no clean underpants to put on this morning". Drains are never happy for your success, instead respond with something like "oh its alright for you with your cushty job" (cheers mate). Drains need constant reassurance "oh my god i am so effin fat" (yet 3 days later you see a pic on facebook of them off their tits holding a jug of pimms in one hand and a sausage roll in the other) my heart goes out to you. Drains oooze negativity, jump to the down sides and dismiss the up sides. Drains lack self belief therefore lack belief in you. Drains are are, well, draining to be around, they lack enthusiasm and question yours. Drains are needy yet ignore your positive incentives when provided........you get the picture. Drains are those who no matter how much of a radiator you are to them, they are not interested, their life is already over....apparently.

These are the people that quite simply, you do not need in your life. These people will drag you down into their negative pit. Zap you of your confidence, positivity, motivation and warm energy. Dont let this happen.

Now, don't get me wrong. I know we all have our moments and our friends do too. It's these times where we need a radiator to get us out of that rut, not a drain to make us feel even worse and believe there is no way out.

My point is we all need great family and friends. People who love us and want to see us smile and and live a long and happy life, succeeding in what we set out to do and who provide the encouragement we need to take risks and come out better off. Life is not always this straight forward I know, but believe me if their were more radiators in the world it would be a far warmer place to be (see what i did there?)

You know who they are, surround those drains with warmth, love, positivity and motivation. If it they don't want it, move on. Because they will only "drain" you.

Much love, poached eggs and bacon,

Matt