Kettlebell One-Legged Deadlift

Starting position:

Choose the appropriate kettlebell weight matching your fitness level. Grab the kettlebell with one hand (starting with the right hand) and move to an upright standing posture with the weight alongside your right leg with the left leg extended slightly backwards. Fix your body core and do not over bend your spine at the waist.

Exercise:

From the starting position move your pelvis backwards by flexing your hip joints but do not change the bend of the spine. Make a deep bow forward as you move your pelvis backwards to bring the firmed up spine parallel to the floor. Keep the kettlebell as close as you can to your standing leg all the time. Complete the movement by standing up straight by pushing your pelvis forward without changing the bend of your spine and keeping your pelvis in a neutral position. Inhale as you leave the starting position then hold your breath throughout the entire movement, fixing your body core, and then exhale when in the starting position and inhale again as you start the next repetition. Do the required number of repetitions and then switch legs and hands. Always hold the kettlebell parallel with your standing leg.

Note:

Make sure you use the correct body posture, with fixed body core and pelvis in a neutral position. Your shoulder blades point downwards and towards each other. Keep your knee positioned in the direction of your toes throughout the entire movement and make sure it does not swing in or out when you are overcoming the resistance. Do not overestimate your abilities when choosing the kettlebell weight. Do not involve the upper trapezius muscles becauseonly your hand is used to grab the weight. The free arm follows the route of the hand holding the kettlebell to help fix the body core and shoulder blades. Perform the exercise while taking notice of your breathing as this is not a dynamic exercise.

Recommendation:

Stand with your side to a mirror and watch to see if your technique is correct. When choosing the weight, put much emphasis on being able to master perfect technique. If the exercise is done incorrectly, lower back injuries may occur and that is why it is very important to use a correctly-activated internal stabilization system.

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You can use one or two kettlebells for this exercise. Kettlebell One-Legged Deadlift offers three advantages over regular deadlift:

1. It will teach you to improve your balance skills
2. It will ensure that you develop both sides of the involved muscles (right hamstring, left hamstring, right part of the lower back, left part of lower back etc.) symmetrically.
3. It doesn’t require you to use very heavy loads because you are only using one side of your body.

All in all this is a very good body-core exercise involving hamstrings, glutes, lower back plus several internal muscles. As with every type of deadlift, the back must be kept straight through the whole movement.