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workout lateral deadlift

Category: Exercise

Move I Love To Hate — Your next favorite gym exercise

There are always those exercises, the ones that you know you have make time to do, the ones that REALLY make a big difference in your strength, stability, and overall badassness. These are typically the moves that are the hardest and that I procrastinate doing the most! I will find any excuse not to buckle down and do them, but when I do, I know that these are the exercises that are making me the best version of myself.

The trainer that I work with Brad Jones at BProject is the king of creating these exercises. Moves that challenge you physically and mentally and that I truly learn to love to hate.  The move I shared here with ESPNW, the lateral modified deadlift really does make a huge difference in my strength on my snowboard. So I will continue to do it, and continue to hate it, but love it at the same time. :)

Lateral exercises are extremely important for snowboarding, as most of the movements on a snowboard come from a lateral position. I feel like this move specifically targets my snowboard muscles and helps me build endurance and strength in the offseason. This exercise is especially tough because anything that is one-side focused is twice as hard! This is an extra challenge because not only are you focusing on keeping your knee, hip and core engaged and in correct position, you are also balancing the dumbbell and keeping all the weight focused on one leg.

If you need something new in your gym routine, give this a try, its a leg burner and really gets to the point. Perfect for bikini season, because of course…. booty booty booty.

LATERAL MODIFIED DEADLIFT 

EQUIPTMENT NEEDED:

1 – 25 or 45 pound barbell

2 – LARGE plate weights — These are the plates that are the 45 pound weight size but weigh less… they lift the barbell off the ground enough so that you can have a good starting place, but the weights on them start at 10 pounds. Not ALL gyms have them, but most do, take a look around!

** If your gym doesn’t have these big light plates, use the stair steppers to create a bench on each side of you and use normal smaller weight plates. You want your starting position to be at 90 degrees on the leg you are focusing on.

GET TO IT 

Lateral modified deadlift

 

Start out with the leg you are focused on in the center of the dumbbell, hands evenly spaced and gripping the bar on either side. Step the opposite (balancing) leg out to the side, far enough away to take most or all of the pressure off of that foot, but close enough to keep you stable.

Sit back into a squat position so your quad is horizontal to the floor. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, tighten your core and activate your glutes to lift.

With power, stand straight up, keeping the weight over the focused leg and coming up onto the toe of your balance leg.

Tighten your core, squeeze your quad and glutes, and slowly lower back to squat position. Work on a faster more powerful “up” movement, and a slow, resisting “down” movement. The mix of the two really makes sure you are working while moving in both directions.

Repeat 10 to 15 reps, three times.

I work this into my strength-training circuits twice a week, but start with once a week to see how you feel.

Hope that you learn to love to hate this exercise, its a good one!

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  • Jenessa B

    I was just thinking about workouts to get back into snowboarding shape! I will def be trying this at the gym this week, Thanks!

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