Strength-training exercises are quite possibly the most important type of exercise to keep you fit. The older you are, the more important they become because without them your muscle tone and strength will decrease with each passing year.

    Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans over the age of 45 (75 percent) do not engage in any strength-training exercises at all, which puts you at an increased risk of weakened bones (osteoporosis), age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia), limited range of motion, loss of functional movement, aches, and pains.   

    If you’re like most people, you want to stay strong and agile… and you certainly want to continue to live independently, doing things you might now take for granted (like shopping for groceries and climbing the stairs) even when you’re in your 80s and beyond.

    So I have a simple (albeit challenging) exercise for you to try: deadlifts. Like squats and lunges, deadlifts are a functional exercise that should be a regular part of your workouts. Remember, strength training isn’t just for your upper body, it’s important for your lower body, too, and deadlifts offer a phenomenal lower-body workout.

Deadlifts Improve Your Ability to Perform Dynamic Movements

    A recent study examined the effects of 10 weeks of barbell deadlift training. The exercise was done just twice a week and lead to significant improvements in torque capacities in both the knee extensors and flexors.¹

    This, in turn, was associated with improvements in vertical jump height, which suggests the deadlifts helped participants gain more speed and power while performing explosive movements.²

    This is useful if you’re active in sports or do plyometric exercises, like box jumps, but it’s also important for maintaining your body’s capacity for functional movement.

    The study’s lead author, Matt Stock of Texas Tech University, noted that deadlifts help you to work the series of muscles that include your low back, your glutes, your hamstrings, and even your calf muscles (known as the posterior chain), which are often overlooked:

        “It [deadlifting] is particularly useful because it relies heavily on our often forgotten about muscles of the ‘posterior chain’—the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors. Ignoring these muscles within an exercise program has potentially dangerous consequences, particularly as we age and for knee health during sports.”