I hope the name of this exercise doesn’t scare you off! I LOVE deadlifts, especially straight-leg ones! They really tone up the rear end, hamstrings and lower back. I do them with both legs on the floor and even with one leg to really increase the intensity. I put this combination together so I could work the upper body as well.
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Take 2 weights with a regular (overhand) grip and bend over from the waist. Your knees are “soft” and I want you to stick your rear end out. Do NOT change the bend in your knees. Once you get your back parallel with the floor (or close to it) then draw yourself back up. Tighten the core as you come up and think of initiating from the hamstrings.
Once you are back up, turn the hands to where the wrists are now facing out. Draw both arms back as you squeeze. Imagine that you are keeping an envelope in the armpits as you draw back. Do 2 rows and then go back to the deadlift. *BE sure to CHANGE the grip of the weights for the deadlift (wrists now face the body)
To make this harder, lift one leg for the deadlift and keep it lifted for the reverse grip lat row!
Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 deadlifts (which would give you 20-24 lat rows). Make sure your weight is heavy enough to feel the intensity!
cool! I’ve been needing to exercise my back š
I love your blog it is very helpful. I was wondering if you could do a post on how much you workout in a week and what type of exercises/cardio you do. I guess I’m looking for a plan to follow.
Hi Tifney! I do need to get more of that up there. I just wrote up a post last week of what I actually did that day in the gym. That’s a start, and I will definitely get more of this up there! http://peak313.com/featured/my-real-life-workout-today-42312/
That looks like a great exercise for the areas I would like to tone. Can you suggest cardio that is easy on the knees? I pretty much use the eliptical machine at every visit to the gym. Thank you for your blog, I love all your tips and exercises.
Did you see the new elliptical workout I posted for RooMag last week? That will help change up your elliptical routine.
I also did an “Easy on the Knees” workout which has small bursts of cardio in it. You can check that out.
http://peak313.com/featured/31-3-jump-week-3/
Other than that, work on strengthening and stretching the muscles surrounding the knee (hamstrings, quads) and start introducing a little bit bit more of plyometric moves–which would incorporate jumps etc. (Unless you have been told by Dr. Not to do this)