How should I lift something off the ground?

What you are asking is "how should I deadlift?"

You can properly lift things by training yourself to lift progressively heavier things off the ground...by practicing deadlifts.

You probably don’t see yourself deadlifting tons of weight, but I will guarantee you this- you’re already doing it. If you are lifting groceries out of the back of your car, lifting children, or doing anything that involves picking things up, you’re doing the deadlift.

The deadlift is where you will grab something off the floor and lift it up to the middle of your thigh.

Since we never workout with the idea of improving our ability to lift things, when we do lift something, we get injured. We’ve simply not trained the muscles to do that.

Deadlifting can be taught very quickly and your skill level can improve relatively quickly. Then you can add weight and begin the process of getting A LOT stronger.

While most exercises have very little application in the real world, the deadlift helps you avoid injury and gain strength for the things you do every day.

Compare the deadlift with leg extensions in the gym. When do we really sit down in a chair and have to raise our leg in real life? Never. Yet when do we have to pick up something from the ground? Almost everyday.

Most “weekend warriors” and weekend injuries are lifting types of injuries. The deadlift can help avoid these.

Many people feel that since lifting causes injuries, that they avoid lifting all together. This is a bad idea because that further causes shrinkage of the muscles and further weakness. When it becomes necessary to lift the simplest of things (a grandchild, a box of laundry soap, children’s socks off the floor, etc) we get injured.

While it is easier to show you how to do it, here are some tips on how to train properly.

Here’s a checklist:

Look up; don’t look down at what you are lifting.

Keep the spine as straight as possible.

Lift using the buttock and thigh muscles, driving the heels into the floor when lifting.

Keep whatever you are lifting close to your body, not outstretched.