Wanna get really strong?

I mean really really strong? Then you gotta deadlift. I'm not talking about getting perfectly sculpted biceps that peek like mountains when flexed, I'm talking about "dad strength," as in "Dad, you're strong! You can lift THAT?" If you wanna get "dad strong," then DEADLIFT.

I'm not much of a physical specimen, to tell you the truth. And I've always felt kind of weak... weak grip, can't lift much, just not strong. So, for the past few months I've been lifting some weights in the basement a couple times a week. A few weeks ago, I added the deadlift into my routine, and I love it. Today was "get the air conditioner units out of the windows day," which is traditionally the weekend before Yom Kippur, or thereabouts. Four air conditioners, one of them an oversized beast. Well, guess what -- piece of cake. I could have picked them up over my head and tossed them. And why? The deadlift.

The beauty of the deadlift is that this one exercise works virtually the entire body. Here's how to do the standard deadlift:


A variation that I do, since I don't have room or equipment to safely do the other exercise that works virtually every body part (the squat), is the sumo deadlift, where your legs go on the outside of your arms, and you end up squating like a sumo wrestler.

My routine, consisting mostly of compound exercises, now looks something like this (with a warmup set before each exercise):

Deadlifts (with shoulder shrugs) 6-8 reps, two sets.

Sumo deadlifts 6-8 reps, two sets

Flat Bench Press 6-8, two sets

Bent over dumbell rows, 6-8 two sets

Dumbell shoulder presses (I'm awful at these, and hate them... still playing with # of reps and sets).

Pull downs, 6-8 two sets.

I finish with one set of pushups to failure, and some crunches to failure.

I know, it's not a big long routine with tons of sets, but the average joe don't need tons of sets to get big a strong. Besides, I also go to Karate class twice a week, and have a job, a wife, and seven kids, so I have to squeeze as much as I can into a short time for a couple times a week.

Did I mention that I'm really diggin' the deadlift?