Your gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body, and rightly so. It gets you from sitting to standing, keeps you upright, and powers you through your day. If you want an exercise to target this muscle, try barefoot single leg deadlifts. You’ll also be working on balance and core strength.
I’ve included a video below to take you through proper set up and execution of this exercise.
Unweighted
As the name implies, single leg deadlifts are typically performed with weights – dumbbells, kettlebells, or a weighted bar. No matter your fitness level, I encourage you to start by doing this exercise without weights. If you’re already doing single leg deadlifts, try backing up and doing them without weights. It’s a great way to check your form and get more out of the exercise.
Before You Start
Foot and Ankle
Single leg deadlifts require an enormous amount of balance work at the foot and ankle. Get your foot and ankle into optimal position to start. (The video below takes you through this process, step by step.)
- Activate the muscles of the arch of the foot.
- Get even weight bearing under the entire width of the ball of the foot.
- Bear weight through the center of the heel.
You can, of course, do this in shoes. However, barefoot work will allow you to see what’s going on at your foot and ankle and more easily activate those muscles.
Knee and Hip
The knee of the leg you are standing on should be slightly bent and stay slightly bent as you flex forward at the hips to perform your barefoot single leg deadlifts.
Make sure your hips are level. Tighten glute medius (the side of your hip) on your standing leg to prevent sagging to the side.
Upper Body
Lengthen through the spine, pull your shoulders down and back, and draw your belly button in.
Barefoot Single Leg Deadlifts
Once you check your form at the foot, ankle, knee, hip, and upper body, you’re ready to go. Use a chair back, wall, or pole as shown in the video to assist with balance as you start.
The motion for a single leg deadlift is all at the hip of the standing leg. Think of that toy that’s called a dippy bird, sipping bird, or drinking bird. It moves down and up with one point of flexion and extension. Similarly, with this exercise, all the motion is at the hip. There is no other joint that moves – the knee doesn’t flex and extend and neither does the upper body.
As your balance and form improve with this exercise, you can add weights and gradually remove or decrease the amount of stability you get with a chair back or wall. You can also vary your tempo and play around with working more on the eccentric (downward) and concentric (upward) phases of this exercise.
Stay fit!
Related Posts:
(Almost) Perfect Squats and Lunges
Foot Prep for Better Balance Work
The information on this video and linked accounts is provided for education only and is not intended to replace the advice of a physician or an assessment by other wellness professionals.