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The barbell deadlift is the king of the jungle when it comes to pulling exercises. It’s a primary movement with the potential to move the most weight. Plus, it’s a competition lift in powerlifting, along with the back squat and bench press. The classic deadlift will always be popular.

But if you’re looking for a deadlift variation that’s easier on the spine, builds muscle in your upper and lower body, improves posture, and helps to boost your barbell deadlift, trade the bar for a pair of dumbbells. 

The dumbbell deadlift is an overlooked exercise that can increase muscle and strength while providing less compressive load on your spine. It allows you to train the same movement pattern with reduced lower back strain compared to the barbell exercise.

Here’s a closer look at the dumbbell deadlift including how and why it’s done, what not to do, programming tips, and more. mistakes to avoid. It’s time to be reminded why “the deadlift” is not all about the barbell.

• How to Do the Dumbbell Deadlift
• Dumbbell Deadlift Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Progress the Dumbbell Deadlift
• Benefits of the Dumbbell Deadlift
• Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Deadlift
• How to Program the Dumbbell Deadlift
• Dumbbell Deadlift Variations
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Dumbbell Deadlift

Here’s a step-by-step guide for performing the dumbbell deadlift with safe and effective technique. This movement is performed “suitcase-style” with a pair of dumbbells by your sides.

Step 1 — Nail the Setup

Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand, facing your hips with your arms down by your sides. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears, puff your chest up, and firmly grip the weights. Begin with your legs straight but not fully locked out and grip the floor with your feet to create tension in your glutes.

Form Tip: Starting this exercise with good posture is vital. Pinch your shoulder blades together to open your chest and create a neutral spine. Stand “tall” looking straight ahead.

Step 2 — Control the Descent

Push your glutes toward the wall behind you and hinge at your hips. Keep your arms straight and allow the weights to “slide” alongside your legs. Keep your shoulders back and down — don’t allow the weights to pull your arms out of position.

Focus on feeling your hamstrings stretch as you lower the weights. As the weights approach your knees, bend your legs to reach a lower position. Don’t force your way to the bottom or sacrifice form, but if you can touch the weights to the ground without losing your posture, that’s an excellent goal.

Form Tip: The barbell deadlift has no significant eccentric contraction (lowering phase), but the dumbbell deadlift is all about the eccentric. Feeling tension in your hamstrings is critical because, if you are not, it means the movement isn’t coming from the target muscles.

Step 3 — Pull and Lockout

Push your feet through the floor to reverse the movement. Drive your hips forward and keep your shoulders pulled back to “un-hinge.” Ensure you finish at the top by squeezing your glutes, not your lower back. The dumbbells should remain near the sides of your legs throughout the repetition.

Form Tip: When returning upright, avoid simply “standing up” like a squat. Imagine squeezing your armpits together to ensure a neutral spine and to prevent your hips from shooting up too quickly.

Dumbbell Deadlift Mistakes to Avoid

The main thing to remember with the dumbbell deadlift is performing a hinge, not a squat. This requires using your glutes and hamstrings as intended, and keeping your body in the proper position. Lifting out of position creates most problems.

Squatting the Weight

There is nothing “wrong” with doing a dumbbell squat, unless you actually intended to do a dumbbell deadlift and performed a squat accidentally. You end up changing the exercise focus and not achieving your goal.

Some lifters tend to move the weight by squatting with a deep knee bend and an upright torso. Instead, you should be hinging at the hips and getting your torso nearly parallel to the ground while keeping their knees only slightly bent. When the dumbbell deadlift is performed correctly, it’s a glute and hamstring exercise. When it’s performed incorrectly, with a squat, it becomes an exercise for the quadriceps.

Avoid it: Pay attention to the muscles you feel stretching and contracting during each repetition. Your hamstrings and glutes should be doing much more work than the quads on the front of your thighs. Performing this exercise sideways to a mirror, or recording a video of your training, may also help you determine whether you’re squatting and not hinging.

Losing Tension

Maintaining muscular tension is the key with most strength exercises, and the dumbbell deadlift is no different. Keeping your upper back engaged, maintaining a neutral spine, and feeling your feet screwed into the floor are keys to a properly performed dumbbell deadlift.

As you lower and lift the weight, the entire back side of your body should feel tense — from your feet up through your hamstrings and glutes, to your abs, lower back, and shoulders.

Avoid it: Squeeze your arms to your sides, like you’re bringing your armpits together through your body. This will engage your upper back and lats, which helps to keep your upper body in a strong position. Trying to grip the floor with your feet, even when you’re wearing shoes, will also help to provide a stable base with good total-body position.

How to Progress the Dumbbell Deadlift

The key to the dumbbell deadlift and most other strength exercises is adding more muscle-building tension and providing progressive overload (gradually challenging yourself by doing more work). Here are a few ways to progress other than adding weight or doing extra reps.

Bodyweight Hip Hinge

If you have yet to master the hinge movement, go back to bodyweight training before adding the dumbbell deadlift. Using a wall as a reference point is a good way to learn how to lead with your hips.

This simple-looking drill will help teach your body the difference between a true hinge movement and a squat. Focus on pushing your hips back and keeping your hands sliding along your legs while keeping your spine stiff.

Tempo Dumbbell Deadlift

Every repetition of an exercise has four components: the eccentric or lowering portion, the stretched position, the concentric or lifting portion, and the lockout. Manipulating how long each component takes is called tempo lifting, and it can be an effective training method when the dumbbells at your gym only go so high. 

For example, perform a dumbbell deadlift with a 4-3-3-1 tempo. You take four seconds to lower the weight, hold the bottom position for a three-second pause, take three seconds to stand upright, and pause for one second. This puts your glutes and hamstrings through a longer time under tension which can increase muscle growth. (1)

Single-Arm Suitcase Deadlift

Holding the weight in one hand does two things. First, you must train each side independently, which means more opportunities to strengthen any imbalances between sides and, hopefully, add more overall muscle and strength.

Second, you add an anti-rotation, anti-lateral flexion component to the exercise because the single-sided load with try to pull, rotate, and shift your core toward the weight. Resisting this pull and maintaining a stable torso can improve core stability and strength.

B-Stance Dumbbell Deadlift

Single-leg deadlifts are challenging because you must have great balance to perform them well. Enter the B-stance dumbbell deadlift, which helps your stability and balance while still putting more focus on the front working leg.

This modified stance delivers all the benefits of a single-leg deadlift without having to worry about losing your balance. Focusing the work on each leg separately will also help to address any strength or muscle discrepancies between sides.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Deadlift

The dumbbell deadlift can deliver some big benefits when the exercise is performed as a consistent part of your training program. Here are some reasons to grab the dumbbells instead of the barbell.

Better Hinge Technique

The dumbbell deadlift helps develop the hinge technique using relatively lighter weights because some lifters struggle to maintain a neutral spine once the load gets heavy. Dumbbell deadlifts can make you more aware of any form deviations, like when the dumbbells’ path may change.

The dumbbells act independently as opposed to the barbell deadlift, which keeps you more aware of your body’s position throughout the lift. This develops better total-body awareness and control.

Increased Upper Back Engagement

The dumbbell deadlift requires rock-solid upper back strength because the dumbbells can swing and cause you to lose position. Locking in your upper back and shoulder muscles can prevent this.

The dumbbell position, with a neutral-grip alongside your legs, can make you aware of your shoulder and back position compared to a barbell. Ultimately, this leads to a stronger back and better, safer deadlift technique.

Better Grip Strength

Performing dumbbell deadlifts, especially for higher reps, can deliver gains in grip strength. Your grip strength is challenged by holding onto individual dumbbells, rather than so your stronger hand can’t pick up the slack to perform each rep.

Decreased Joint Strain

Holding dumbbells with a neutral-grip at your sides, instead of holding a barbell with a palm-down grip in front of your body, puts your shoulders and upper body in a more stabilized position.

This decreases the strain on your lower back by reducing the compression and shearing forces. This is a similar benefit of the trap bar deadlift, but can be accomplished much easier with dumbbells since not all gyms provide a trap bar.

Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Deadlift

There is almost no a muscle untouched when performing the deadlift movement, but there are a few primary muscles emphasized with the dumbbell deadlift in particular.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings assist your glutes with hip extension (straightening your legs and standing up straight) during the lifting and lockout portion of the dumbbell deadlift, and their eccentric strength allows you to control the weight’s descent. Feeling your hamstrings stretch and contract is the exact feedback needed to know you are performing the exercise correctly.

Glutes

Your glutes are primarily responsible for extending your hips during the deadlift, bringing your lower body straight in-line with your upper body. They significantly engage and contract during in the upper portion of the movement, as you approach a complete lockout.

The glutes work together with the hamstrings, and the upper and lower back, to ensure good hip hinge technique. Driving your hips back and “pushing” them through are important steps for activating the glutes.

Upper Back

Your upper back — which includes the rhomboids, trapezius, and parts of the latissimus dorsi, among other smaller muscles — is trained almost as a single unit while performing the dumbbell deadlift.

The primary function of the upper back is to keep a safe and strong neutral spine by maintaining a stable thoracic position. The upper back also helps to control your shoulder blades and keeps them pulled back when controlling the weight.

Lower Back

The erector spinae, a.k.a. “the lower back,” is actually a long column of muscles along the full length of your back. This powerful muscles works together with your glutes, hamstrings, and upper back for strength and stability during the dumbbell deadlift.

The lower back muscles’ primary responsibility is stabilizing your spine, supporting torso, and resisting spinal flexion (bending) under load. If you deadlift with a rounded back, you limit the strength and stability of these important muscles and expose them to significant (and potentially dangerous) direct stress.

How to Program the Dumbbell Deadlift

How you program the dumbbell deadlift depends on your actual goal. Below are some goal-specific set and rep schemes to incorporate the movement into your training program.

To Improve Hinge Technique and Deadlift Form

When you want to improve your deadlift form, it pays to spend more time drilling the hinge position. With its reduced load compared to the barbell, the dumbbell deadlift is helpful for beginners looking to improve general technique and strength the movement-related muscles. Perform three to five sets of six to 10 repetitions, using a controlled eccentric and focusing on good posture.

For Hypertrophy

Because it’s not well-suited to moving hundreds of pounds, the dumbbell deadlift is best used to build muscle size. This exercise can be performed for more reps and, potentially, through a longer range of motion than a barbell because the diameter of the dumbbells is smaller than barbell weight plates.

Increased training volume and a greater range of motion leads to more time under tension for hypertrophy gains. Start by performing three to four sets of eight to 16 reps, using a moderate-to-heavy weight and taking each set close to technical failure — the point at which you can’t perform another rep with good form, as opposed to muscular failure when the target muscles cannot control the weight.

For Muscular Endurance

To improve muscular endurance in the legs, back, and core, training in the higher rep ranges for fewer sets and shorter rest periods is the name of the game. Two to three sets of 15-20 repetitions with less than one minute between sets will have you feeling the burn.

Dumbbell Deadlift Variations

Adding variety to your training keeps you more engaged, reduces the likelihood of picking up an overuse injury, and gives you ways to progress when you can no longer increase the load. These three variations of the dumbbell deadlift will keep you guessing and progressing.

Single-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift

The single-leg dumbbell deadlift is one of the more challenging leg exercises, requiring total-body strength, stability, and coordination. If, or when, you can perform these with good form, you can end up with performance benefits ranging from addressed muscle imbalances, better balance, and improved glute hypertrophy. (2)

You may need to work on B-stance dumbbell deadlifts, explained above, as an intermediary step toward this difficult exercises. The time and effort is well worth it.

Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift

The dumbbell sumo deadlift is a wide-stance deadlift that focuses a little more on your quadriceps, along with your glutes and hamstrings, and without as much lower back stress because you are not as bent-over or hinged forward compared to other deadlifts.

The movement can be performed with a dumbbell in each hand or holding a single dumbbell with both hands.

Dumbbell Stiff-Legged Deadlift

The dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift minimizes knee flexion and focuses almost entirely on hip flexion to put the hamstring and glutes under a little more tension. This is an ideal exercise for lifters looking to emphasize the back halves of their legs.

This simple variation is also effective for lifters who have “outgrown” the dumbbell deadlift in terms of potential load but want to keep progressing.

FAQs

References

1. Burd, N. A., et al. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of Physiology, 590(Pt 2), 351-362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
2. Diamant, W., Geisler, S., Havers, T., & Knicker, A. (2021). Comparison of EMG Activity between Single-Leg Deadlift and Conventional Bilateral Deadlift in Trained Amateur Athletes – An Empirical Analysis. International journal of exercise science, 14(1), 187–201.

Featured Image: YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV / Shutterstock

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Some powerlifters seemingly have a great passion and energy for displaying their strength under a big spotlight. German athlete Sonja Stefanie Krüger might be one of them. Krüger is just 22 years old, but has already had over 60 competitive powerlifting appearances since her debut in June 2014. Krüger’s latest stellar performance is a yet another example of top-level lifting.

During the 2022 IPF Equipped World Championships on Nov. 16, 2022, in Viborg, Denmark, Krüger successfully locked out an equipped World Record squat of 280.5 kilograms (618.4 pounds) in the 76-kilogram weight class. (Note: At the time of this article’s publication, the competition is still underway, making it unclear where Krüger has finished in her category.)

The video of Krüger’s astonishing squat isn’t only noteworthy for its showcase of dynamic leg strength on an international lifting platform. As soon as Krüger finished her rep, she stepped away from her loaded barbell, clearly overjoyed as she proceeded to jump around in place in excitement.

Somewhat unlike other competitors at the 2022 IPF Equipped Worlds, a glance at Krüger’s resume on Open Powerlifting will denote she mainly competes while equipped. Of those mentioned 60-plus competitive appearances, Krüger wasn’t equipped in just 18 of them.

Here’s an overview of some of the more notable results from Krüger’s official powerlifting ledger:

Sonja Stefanie Krüger | Notable Career Results

• 2014 Bundesverband Deutscher Kraftdreikämpfer (BVDK) Hessiche Meisterschaft im Kreuzheben (Youth/Raw) — First place | First career victory
• 2014 Global Powerlifting Committee (GPC) World Championships (Youth/Wraps) — First place
• 2015-2016, 2018-2019 IPF World Bench Press Championships (Sub-Juniors/Equipped; Juniors/Equipped) — First place
• 2015-2016 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships (Sub-Juniors/Raw) — First place
• 2016 European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) European Classic Powerlifting Championships (Sub-Juniors/Raw) — First place
• 2019 EPF European Equipped Powerlifting Championships (Juniors/Equipped) — First place
• 2021 IPF World Powerlifting Championships (Open/Equipped) — Second place
• 2022 EPF Equipped European Powerlifting Championships (Open/Equipped) — First place

Krüger is no stranger to record lifts. The athlete is now the equipped IPF squat World Record holder in the 69-kilogram (260 kilograms/573.2 pounds), 76-kilogram (280.5 kilograms/618.4 pounds), and 84-kilogram (275 kilograms/507 pounds) divisions. She also possesses the equipped IPF World Record bench press (182.5 kilograms/402.3 pounds) in the 69-kilogram division, which doubles as the equipped Single Bench Press IPF World Record.

Here’s a rundown of Krüger’s all-time equipped competition bests:

Sonja Stefanie Krüger | Equipped All-Time Competition Bests

• Squat — 280.5 kilograms (618.4 pounds) | IPF World Record
• Bench Press — 210 kilograms (462.9 pounds)
• Deadlift — 205.5 kilograms (453 pounds)
• Total — 685 kilograms (1,510.1 pounds)

Even as the 2022 IPF Equipped Worlds start to close on Nov. 20, 2022, there’s little doubt Krüger’s squat record will be one of the contest’s highlights when all’s said and done.

Featured image: theipf on Instagram

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Research of the Week

Time-restricted eating combined with low-carb dieting is more potent than either alone for reducing visceral fat and metabolic syndrome.

Creatine monohydrate is still the best form of creatine.

Worse air pollution, worse COVID.

How stress increases junk food consumption in the brain.

Athletes may sleep (and perform) better with nighttime protein and carbs.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: The Ever Evolving Coach with Bryce Henson

Media, Schmedia

30-year waitlist for Japanese Kobe beef croquettes.

Octopuses grow their brains in much the same way as vertebrates do.

Interesting Blog Posts

There is growing commercial demand for unvaccinated blood banks.

Social Notes

On protein poisoning.

Does this break my fast?

Everything Else

The link between murder rate and state history.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting concept: The “anti-Promethean backlash.”

Interesting study: Muscle endurance training combined with walking appears to be the best training for older people looking to improve their sleep.

Important nuance: You can gain strength while dieting, but probably not lean mass.

Another interesting study: Listening speaks to our intuition while reading promotes analysis.

Relevant for trained lifters: To make more progress, you might want to lift to failure.

Question I’m Asking

How do you exert mastery over the physical world?

Recipe Corner

• Roundup of paleo Thanksgiving recipes.
• Gelatinous pumpkin pudding.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Nov 12 – Nov 18)

• How to Tell Friends About the Primal Lifestyle—How to do it.
• Maintaining Bone Density as You Age—It’s not just about the muscles.

Comment of the Week

“The best training regimen is the one you will actually follow consistently.

A single, weekly game of beer-league hockey or ultimate frisbee or golf is nowhere near as effective as a Starting Strength NLP (or any other scientifically-grounded program) combined with a weekly game … but the perfect truly is the enemy of the good.

‘Fun’ is a great motivator, but it’s just a subset of ‘passion.’ Passions vary, but every successful exerciser has the passion to do whatever disparate training they choose with adequate depth and consistency.”

–Absolutely.

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Gregory Johnson has been a relative mainstay at the annual International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Equipped Open Powerlifting Championships for a little while now. Since 2015, the powerlifter has participated in three of these respective equipped IPF contests (2015, 2017, 2021), notching his best-ever result of sixth place at the 2021 iteration. After rewriting the record books at the latest edition, he may have lifted his arguable strength magnum opus.

During the 2022 IPF Equipped World Championships on Nov. 16, 2022, in Viborg, Denmark, Johnson captured an equipped World Record deadlift of 371.5 kilograms (819 pounds) in the 93-kilogram weight class. (Note: As the competition is still underway at the time of this writing, it is unclear where Johnson finished in his division.)

As the clip of his feat shows, Johnson’s joy was palpable. The moment he successfully completed his lockout, a beaming smile appeared across Johnson’s face. After dropping his massive barbell, he proceeded to do a short dance before dropping to his knees, then exploding in clear elation before standing up to hug two of the first people he saw on the lifting platform.

An experienced powerlifter who has competed in some capacity since February 2010, Johnson could be considered a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to lifting set-ups. According to Open Powerlifting, the athlete has participated in sanctioned lifting contests while competing raw, with wraps, and equipped at least once in his 12-plus-year career — most notably focusing on his raw and equipped exploits.

Here’s an overview of some of the more notable results from Johnson’s extended career:

Gregory Johnson | Notable Competitive Results

• 2011 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Panhandle Power Games (College/Raw) — First place | First career victory
• 2012-2013 USAPL Aggie Showdown (Open/Raw and College/Equipped) — First place
• 2013 IPF Classic World Powerlifting Championships (Juniors/Raw) — Third place
• 2014 USAPL Raw Nationals (Juniors/Raw) — First place
• 2015 USAPL Men’s and Women’s Nationals (Open/Equipped) — Second place
• 2016 USAPL Winter Games of Texas (Open/Raw) — First place
• 2017 USAPL 35th Annual Open National Championship (Open/Equipped) — Second place
• 2018 USAPL Texas Strength Classic (Open/Raw) — First place
• 2018 USAPL Open Nationals (Open/Equipped) — First place
• 2021 USAPL Equipped Nationals (Open/Equipped) — Third place
• 2021 IPF World Powerlifting Championships (Open/Equipped) — Sixth place

Here’s a rundown of Johnson’s all-time equipped competition bests:

Gregory Johnson | All-Time Equipped Competition Bests

• Squat — 365 kilograms (804.7 pounds)
• Bench Press — 225 kilograms (496 pounds)
• Deadlift — 372.5 kilograms (821.2 pounds)
• Total — 947.5 kilograms (2,088.8 pounds)

Johnson’s record pull might be one of many stellar achievements and moments of unfiltered joy from the 2022 Equipped Worlds. The competition will officially end on Nov. 20, 2022.

Featured image: maroonroo on Instagram

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With two International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World titles (2017, 2019), Heather Connor has a diverse powerlifting resume outside of her usual prolific deadlifting. Even still, this superstar has undoubtedly developed her household name-worthy reputation in large part thanks to the massive amounts of weight she can pull.

On Nov. 17, 2022, Heather Connor shared an Instagram clip of herself capturing a raw 202.5-kilogram (446-pound) deadlift during a training session. According to the caption of her post, the earth-shattering pull is a personal record (PR) for the athlete. It’s also her heaviest-ever deadlift (in training or competition), finally surpassing her previous training PR, a 200-kilogram (440-pound) pull from December 2020. The competitor wore a lifting belt to help her with her strength achievement.

Per Open Powerlifting, while unofficial because it didn’t occur during a sanctioned lifting contest, Connor’s deadlift exceeds her own all-time raw World Record of 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds) in the 47-kilogram weight class by 9.8 kilograms (21.6 pounds). Connor achieved that record mark at the 2021 USAPL Raw Nationals.

Not that it’s particularly surprising based on her consistency, but it’s generally been a steady year of excellence for Connor across the board.

The 47-kilogram powerlifter participated in three major contests — the 2022 Powerlifting America (AMP) Classic Open Nationals Presented By SBD , the 2022 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, and the 2022 Fédération Française de Force (FFForce) Girl Power. She captured a victory in two of the contests (the AMP Nationals and the FFForce Girl Power) while still finishing in second during the IPF Worlds to potential new competitive rival Tiffany Chapon. That same competition saw Connor set the 47-kilogram division’s IPF World Record deadlift of 185 kilograms (407.8 pounds).

On purely a training basis, it’s seemingly been nothing but raw milestone after raw milestone for Connor.

In May 2022, Connor deadlifted 195 kilograms (429 pounds) — 4.3 times her body weight of 45 kilograms (99 pounds) at the time of the accomplishment and two kilograms (4.6 pounds) above her current World Record. Then, in August 2022, the athlete showed off her leg power on the squat, notching a 152.5-kilogram (336-pound) PR. That mark eclipsed her official raw all-time competition best of 143 kilograms (315.2 pounds) from the 2021 USAPL Raw Nationals. Finally, in September 2022, Connor achieved a 190-kilogram (418.9-pound) deadlift for a double PR; a mark also five kilograms (11 pounds) more than her IPF World Record.

At the time of this writing, Connor doesn’t appear to have any plans for a powerlifting competition before the close of the 2022 calendar year. Connor’s probably earned the right to bask before her next potential wave of strength glory.

Featured image: heather.e.connor on Instagram

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Big basic exercises like the bench press, pull-up, and barbell row are great for building your back, chest, and even shoulders, but they might not suffice to fill your sleeves and build an impressive set of guns.

Training your biceps directly will not only contribute to specific muscle growth, but also joint health and performance. Traditional exercises like the barbell curl can usually target your biceps just fine, but if you want to take things to the next level and really focus on your upper arms, consider including the spider curl in your training regimen. (1)

Among the many curl variations that exist, the spider curl takes advantage of gravity, leverage, and arm position to emphasize the short head of the biceps and provide a unique stimulus, leading to more growth and bigger arms. (2) Here’s why and how you should use this special exercise.

• How to Do the Spider Curl
• Spider Curl Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Progress the Spider Curl
• Benefits of the Spider Curl
• Muscles Worked by Spider Curl
• How to Program the Spider Curl
• Spider Curl Variations 
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Spider Curl

The spider curl, sometimes called the reverse incline curl, gets its more visual name because the position in which you perform the exercise resembles the arachnid dangling from its thread. Indeed, the weight will be dangling from your arms, and you’ll use gravity and positioning to provide a unique biceps stimulus.

Step 1 — Set Your Bench and Get Into Position

Set an adjustable bench at approximately 45-degrees, similar to an incline bench press. Grab a barbell with a palms-up grip and lie chest-down on the bench. Have your head  and neck protrude over the top of bench and let your arms hang straight toward the ground. 

Retract and depress your scapulae (pull your shoulder blades together and down) and maintain this position for the duration of the lift.

Form tip: Find a secure foot position so that you’re comfortable and stable on the bench, allowing you to fully focus on working your arms. This will depend slightly on your height, leg and torso length, and individual bench model. You may feel more balanced with a relatively wide stance or with your feet close together.

Step 2 — Curl the Weight Up

Keep your upper arms vertical as you curl the weight up as far as possible without moving at your shoulder. In the top position, squeeze your biceps as hard as you can for a second. Keep your elbows pointing toward the ground the whole time.

Keep your wrists straight or bent slightly backward to maintain maximum tension on your biceps and prevent your forearms from taking over the workload.

Form tip: If your elbow shifts forward, you’ll reduce tension from the biceps by using assistance from your front deltoids (shoulders). You’ll also diminish the effective range of motion. The mechanics of the exercise already make it a relatively short motion, as there is limited tension at the bottom of the movement. If you start moving your elbows, you will lose even more tension at the top.

Step 3 — Lower With Control

Slowly let the weight come down to the initial position. Controlling the eccentric (lowering) portion of the movement will prevent you from bouncing or cheating, which would make the exercise less effective.

By moving with control, you’re keeping tension on the desired muscle, leading to better results. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions to complete a set.

Form tip: If your wrists or elbows are prone to tendonitis or pain, consider using an EZ-curl bar, as the slightly angled grip can be easier on the joints.

Spider Curl Mistakes to Avoid

Biceps exercises are often butchered for the sake of ego, leading to suboptimal results. Isolation exercises are technically easier than more complex multi-joint exercises, but that doesn’t mean you can just wing it carelessly. Avoid these common blunders if you want the biggest arms possible. 

Going Too Heavy

There are big compound (multi-joints) exercises recruiting several muscle groups to move heavy weights. Then there are isolation (single-joint) exercises which focus on a single muscle group, typically with moderate weights to maintain targeted tension. Then, there are hyper-specific isolation exercises that focus on a particular “part” of a muscle group.

These laser-precision exercises are really not meant for moving heavy weight, but are instead best used to bring up a very specific muscle part or emphasize a particular head of a muscle. The spider curl is one of these detail-oriented exercises, as it focuses on the short head of the biceps.

Using heavy weights will defeat the purpose of the exercise because you will undoubtedly shift the workload to other body parts and encourage cheating.

Avoid it: Keep the weights relatively lighter and the sets relatively longer with more reps and a greater focus on squeezing your biceps. If you feel strong contractions someplace other than your biceps, consider using a lighter load.

Using Momentum

Because of your arms’ position relative to gravity, there’s very little tension on the biceps in the bottom portion of the lift. The effective range of motion is already relatively short, primarily the upper half to three-quarters of the curl. If you reduce the range even further by swinging the weight, you lose a lot of time under tension and skip one of the key elements to muscle growth. (3)

Moreover, if you swing your arms around to use more weight, you exceed your biceps muscular strength. This means that the additional pounds being lifted are stressing your connective tissues and joints more than your muscles, and you risk injuries just for the sake of ego. 

Avoid it: Practice using a controlled tempo and, if necessary, an especially slower lowering speed. If you can’t perform the desired amount of repetitions without resorting to momentum, reduce the weight.

How to Progress the Spider Curl

The fact that your arms are hanging in the air during the spider curl might prove difficult for inexperienced lifters to coordinate at first. On the other hand, some hardcore gym-goers will crave a more difficult challenge for building their arms. Try these progressions exercises if you belong in either category.

Preacher Curl

The preacher bench is specifically designed for isolated biceps training. It mimics the spider curl mechanics by setting your arm at an angle and it focuses on the short head as well, but offer the advantage of a secured and supported position from the bench pad.

With this equipment, there’s not much cheating possible. Use it to train with perfect your form and build a mind-muscle connection before trying the spider curl. Start with the more commonly used 45-degree pad and progress to using the vertical pad, just like the unsupported spider curl.

Spider Concentration Curl

If you’ve already mastered the barbell spider curl, you can try this upgraded dumbbell progression, also called incline concentration curl. For a nasty biceps pump, perform it like a standard two-dumbbell spider curl, but press the pinky-side plates of the dumbbells together and squeeze them as hard as you can the whole duration of the lift.

The short head of the biceps also contributes to bringing the arms together, so the isometric adduction (inward movement) will recruit this part of your biceps even further.

Spider Curl Benefits

You can count on arm-obsessed lifters to invent a myriad of biceps exercises, but they aren’t the product of vanity — each has distinct goals and benefits. The spider curl is specifically designed for aesthetic purposes with a laser-like precision, but that doesn’t mean only those with physique goals should include this movement.

Pure Biceps Training

The unique shoulder and arm position induced by this exercise is highly effective for developing a mind-muscle connection and isolating the biceps for hypertrophy. (4) If you recruit other muscles, your arms will start to sway and the mechanics will change. Also, you cannot cheat by swinging your body as much as with some other biceps exercises. 

If you have lagging upper arms, this is a great way for you to accumulate quality volume without recruiting or fatiguing other muscle groups. (5) Isolation exercises are excellent for developing symmetry and an aesthetic physique.

Focuses on the Short Head of the Biceps

If you feel you’re lacking in the inner part of your biceps, give this exercise a go. Focusing on the short head of the biceps will increase the “width” of your arm and give the appearance of a fuller-looking muscle.

The spider curl will target this head more because of the arm’s position, in front of the shoulders. The short head of the biceps attaches at the front of your shoulder joint and can perform a stronger contraction when your shoulder is “relaxed” in the stretched position.

Joint Health and Strength

This exercise can be beneficial for athletes competing in strength sports, such as powerlifting or strongman/strongwoman by directly contributing to overall pulling strength. It may also help with elbow and shoulder joint health by reducing repetitive use strain from performing a limited number of biceps exercises.

Switching to the spider curl will provide variety and a different stimulus, resulting in less stress on your joints and efficient training with lower overall weight used. This can have restorative benefits, especially when performed for higher reps.

Muscles Worked by the Spider Curl

The spider curl has one primary goal: to increase your arm size. Let’s see how it contributes to this sought-after goal.

Biceps Brachii

The biceps is the biggest and most visible anterior arm muscle. It flexes the arm, supinates the wrist (rotates the palm upwards), and slightly contributes to various shoulder movements and stability.

This muscle is composed of two heads, both attached to the radius (forearm bone). The long head runs on the outer side of the arms and is attached to the shoulder blade. The short head is on the inner side of your arm and also attaches to the shoulder blade, but directly from the front of the shoulder. 

The spider curl emphasizes the short head because of the hanging arm position. The long head is in a “shortened” position and its involvement is limited in the stretched position.

Brachialis

This deeper muscle is located under the biceps brachii. It is the primary elbow flexor, being significantly stronger than the biceps itself and not involved in supinating or rotating your wrists. As such, it is recruited during any curl exercise. Increasing its size will result in a fuller arm and will also “push” your biceps upwards, making it appear even bigger.

Forearms

Several forearm muscles contribute to elbow flexion, notably the strongest of them — the brachioradialis. The spider curl will also make your forearms bigger, which can visually help to make up for a genetically “shorter” biceps with long tendons near the elbow. Training these muscles can also improve your elbow and wrist health and performance.

How to Program the Spider Curl

This exercise is not suited to heavy weights, so programming is quite straightforward. Get the most out of the spider curl using these repetition schemes.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetitions

This time-tested approach will yield a ton of results. It has been bodybuilders’ favorite for decades for a reason. Do three to four sets of eight to 12 repetitions for maximal muscle gains. This will provide training volume in the most effective hypertrophy range, driving muscle growth.

Light Weight, High Repetitions

Studies have shown that as long as you’re using 40% of your one-rep maximum and are taking muscles close to failure, you’ll reap effective muscle gains, so do not be afraid of going lighter sometimes. (6) Two to three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions will provide a great stimulus, and an intense burn, ideal for a finisher while also being easier on the joints.

Spider Curl Variations

Variety is the spice of life, and that also applies to training. If you don’t have a barbell or if you wish to provide your biceps a different training stimulus, try these variations.

Dumbbell Spider Curl

Using a pair of dumbbells instead of a bar can address imbalances between each arm. Because each arm is moving independently, you can’t use your stronger side to compensate for your weaker one.

This is the perfect variation if you have a blatantly weaker side or if you want the most symmetrical physique possible. It will, however, take a but more coordination and concentration to move the weights at the same time.

Cable Spider Curl

The spider curl is a great exercise to target the short head of the biceps, but it’s doing a poor job of training the lengthened position of the muscle because of gravity’s limited effective in the bottom position. Using a cable pulley is the solution.

Set up a bench at a low cable station to provide muscular tension for the duration of the lift. This boosts the muscle’s time under tension and increases the need for a controlled eccentric. You can also feel a greater stretch in your biceps.

Concentration Curl

This old school exercise uses the same general mechanics as the spider curl, with your working arm extended down, but you don’t need an angled bench. Grab a dumbbell and train one arm at a time. Lean forward and curl while being as strict as possible — don’t start swinging your torso.

This is a harder variation as you have to stabilize your body and really concentrate on your biceps. Some lifters claim it emphasizes the alleged biceps “peak,” but it will mostly provide good, focused work while isolate your biceps as much as possible.

FAQs

The spider curl is probably not the first exercise that pops in your mind when you think about biceps training, so that’s fine if you have some questions about this lesser known lift.

References

1. Wiesinger, H. P., Kösters, A., Müller, E., & Seynnes, O. R. (2015). Effects of Increased Loading on In Vivo Tendon Properties: A Systematic Review. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 47(9), 1885–1895. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000603
2. Kassiano, Witalo1; Nunes, João Pedro1; Costa, Bruna1; Ribeiro, Alex S.1,2; Schoenfeld, Brad J.3; Cyrino, Edilson S.1. Does Varying Resistance Exercises Promote Superior Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains? A Systematic Review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: June 2022 – Volume 36 – Issue 6 – p 1753-1762 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004258
3. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, Little JP, Cochran AJ, Hector AJ, Cashaback JG, Gibala MJ, Potvin JR, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012 Jan 15;590(2):351-62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200. Epub 2011 Nov 21. PMID: 22106173; PMCID: PMC3285070.
4. Calatayud J, Vinstrup J, Jakobsen MD, Sundstrup E, Brandt M, Jay K, Colado JC, Andersen LL. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016 Mar;116(3):527-33. doi: 10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7. Epub 2015 Dec 23. PMID: 26700744.
5. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, Grgic J, Delcastillo K, Belliard R, Alto A. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Jan;51(1):94-103. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764. PMID: 30153194; PMCID: PMC6303131.
6. Thiago Lasevicius, Carlos Ugrinowitsch, Brad Jon Schoenfeld, Hamilton Roschel, Lucas Duarte Tavares, Eduardo Oliveira De Souza, Gilberto Laurentino & Valmor Tricoli (2018) Effects of different intensities of resistance training with equated volume load on muscle strength and hypertrophy, European Journal of Sport Science, 18:6, 772-780, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1450898

Featured Image: Sean Nalewanyj / YouTube

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Some strength athletes are seemingly just born to lift incredible amounts of weight. In the sport of powerlifting, superstar Kristy Hawkins might be one of them. This multifaceted competitor, who also owns a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has competed on bodybuilding’s Ms. Olympia stage, can count on yet another impressive feat in the gym.

On Nov. 16, 2022, Hawkins shared an Instagram clip of herself squatting 265 kilograms (584 pounds) for a two-rep personal record (PR) during a training session. She wasn’t done. As Hawkins wrote in the caption of her post, she “felt like it was a good time” to go for broke and try and break the 272.5-kilogram (600-pound) squat barrier. The athlete hit said milestone with ease for another PR. Hawkins wore a lifting belt and knee sleeves for both of the massive squats.

While unofficial because it didn’t occur on a sanctioned lifting platform, Hawkins’ squat portends the athlete potentially making history the next time she competes. As the current squat World Record holder (262.5 kilograms/578.7 pounds) in the 75-kilogram division, Hawkins could extend her record mark and become the first Women’s competitor in her category to squat at least 600 pounds in an official contest.

Not by coincidence, Hawkins is preparing for a competition in December 2022, but at the time of this writing she hasn’t clarified precisely when or what that contest will be. She may well distinguish once more with her leg strength at said event. Considering she’s also the 75-kilogram deadlift World Record holder (275 kilograms/606.2 pounds) and has been smashing that pulling mark in other training sessions earlier in 2022, there could be a reality where she’s seeing more than one record falling very soon.

Dating back to mid-April 2017, Hawkins has won 11 straight powerlifting competitions. With the sorts of numbers and lifts she regularly shares on her social media, that kind of consistent excellence probably shouldn’t be a surprise.

Here’s an overview of Hawkins’ all-time raw competition bests:

Kristy Hawkins (75KG) | All-Time Raw Competition Bests

• Squat — 262.5 kilograms (578.7 pounds) | World Record
• Bench Press — 155 kilograms (341.7 pounds) | Second-Heaviest All-Time
• Deadlift — 275 kilograms (606.2 pounds) | World Record
• Total — 685 kilograms (1,510.1 pounds) | World Record

As has usually been the case for Hawkins throughout most of her career, 2022 has been productive in a training and competitive sense. With one more contest on the horizon, it certainly feels like Hawkins might be saving her best for last.

Featured image: kristy_hawkins on Instagram

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For over 16 years, Nick Best was a fixture on the competitive strongman circuit. As a simultaneous powerlifter for much of that time, he developed a reputation for being one of the more versatile strength sports athletes of his era. In at least one competitive avenue, the 54-year-old athlete is formally drawing the curtains.

After finishing in second place to Mark Felix in the Masters (50-plus) World’s Strongest Man competition during the 2022 Official Strongman Games (OSG) in Daytona Beach, FL, on Nov. 13, 2022, Best did something a little out of the ordinary. He left his performance shoes behind, revealing he would be retiring from strongman competition.

In a post-competition interview from the livestream, Best was understandably emotional over the weight of his decision. He had nothing but kind words for a rewarding endeavor of which he had dedicated himself to for years.

“Thank you all so much,” Best said. “I love this sport with all my heart, and it’s been a wonderful ride.”

The 2022 OSG was Best’s first strongman contest since an appearance at the 2020 World’s Strongest Man (WSM). After an unfortunate lat muscle tear in April 2021 that temporarily derailed much of his training and competitive plans — a second-place result in his strongman swan song roughly just a year and a half later is commendable.

According to BarBend, while Best is retiring from full-time strongman contests, he did not rule out featuring as a professional powerlifter or any future singular attempts at breaking a strongman record. One-off short strongman events aren’t out of the question either, depending on what is detailed. Best noted he will be participating in an undisclosed full powerlifting meet in May where he wants to become the oldest man ever to record a 1000-kilogram (2,204-pound) total.

Given the extended time he spent as a competitive strongman, Best can count on plenty of highlights on his strongman resume.

Among the potentially more notable achievements, Best won the 2009 Jesse Marunde Memorial Invitational, as well as the 2016 Masters (40-plus) World’s Strongest Man and the 2016 Giants Live North American Open contests. From 2010-2020, he was a mainstay at the flagship WSM, notching his best-ever result of sixth place in 2010 and once again finished in the top 10 in 2017.

While Best refocuses his energies outside of major strongman contests, this likely won’t be the last anyone in the strength sports community hears of the icon. For a dedicated and experienced athlete like him, it might just be the beginning of the next promising phase of his overall competitive career.

Featured image: nickbeststrongman / Instagram

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Shaun Clarida had a fascinating conundrum heading into the 2022 Mr. Olympia. By winning the 212 Olympia title in 2020, the athlete has a permanent berth to compete in that respective division at the prestigious event every year should he so choose. However, with a Men’s Open win at the 2021 Legion Sports Fest, he could’ve theoretically made the shift to compete in the Open next month. He has now officially put all questions to rest about where he’ll feature on Dec. 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

On Nov. 16, 2022, Clarida revealed he would stay in the 212 division at the 2022 Mr. Olympia in a video on his YouTube channel.

According to Clarida, the main reason he will return to the 212 division is that he wants to earn a second 212 Olympia title. The athlete maintained that his loss to Derek Lunsford in 2021 (who has since, ironically, transitioned to the Men’s Open division) afforded him the appropriate “motivation” to return and potentially re-earn his place at the top of the 212 mountain.

As he would further outline in a Nov. 16, 2022, Instagram post, Clarida wrote he “would have loved to battle it out with the big boys in the Open” but that he has “unfinished business” in the 212 division first.

With Lunsford officially out of the 212 competitive category in 2022, a friendly rival Clarida may have to overcome instead is Kamal Elgargni. The 50-year-old Elgargni is another former 212 champion (2019) and, per NPC News Online, has never finished outside of the top three in the division at the Olympia. He will likewise be trying to reclaim his former 212 glory in December.

That said, with a showcase of some high-level arm workouts and other training sessions from his off-season, along with a polished physique update where the 5’2″ bodybuilder showed off his heaviest-ever bodyweight of 211 pounds in Summer 2022, Clarida is still one of the clear 212 favorites. As a star and expected top finisher, he now just has to live up to those high expectations.

All around, the 2022 Mr. Olympia is shaping up to be a doozy of a contest across various divisions. While Clarida will face a tall order to finish his journey back up to the 212 summit, he can rest assured he likely won’t be the only bodybuilding star battling through a gauntlet of talented peers. Perhaps bowling through a gifted field will make finally completing the “unfinished business” even more gratifying for him.

Featured image: shaunclarida on Instagram

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Morning is a sacred time for me. When our kids were still living with us, morning was the only time I had totally to myself. It allowed me to get the day started on my terms, set the tempo for the rest of the day. The kids are out on their own now, it’s just me and my wife, but the morning remains crucial to the rest of the day. Every morning is a blank slate. Every morning you get to start over, the promise and potential of the near future filled to bursting.

And so my early morning routine is the foundation of my day. Without it, the day just doesn’t “take.”

If you want to be “agile” and “intuitive” in your life, a morning routine helps. You need the foundation from which to leverage your talents and express your intuition and dynamic capacity. If your mornings are slapdash and all over the place, you’ll have trouble venturing out into the world and conquering your goals. A child needs security to grow. You need a morning routine to excel.

Here’s my early morning routine.

Go to bed between 10 and 11.

A morning routine starts with your nighttime routine. As I’ve said many times before, getting to bed at a good time—around 10, but no later than 11—while maintaining proper sleep hygiene practices so that you get enough sleep and wake up with energy and vitality is essential for a good morning. So your morning routine begins the night before. You have to get a good night’s sleep if your early morning routine is going to help you.

Wake up at around 7.

I wake up around the same time every day—mostly because I’m so religious about getting to bed at a good time. Seven o’clock is my typical wake up time. This allows me to get to bed between 10 and 11 and still get all the sleep I need. I’m in bed by 10, and usually earlier, but I’ll read in bed. Sometimes I go out fast, other times I stay up and keep reading. A 7 AM wakeup gives me breathing room at night.

Waking up at the same time every day is essential. For one, you don’t need an alarm. You just wake up because your body knows, and it’s much easier this way. Two, waking up is the start of your routine. Everything hinges on wakeup occurring at the same time. If you wake up at 5 one day and 8:30 another, it’s difficult to plan any kind of consistent morning routine.

Get sun in my eyes.

Sun exposure early in the morning—sunrise, ideally—helps your circadian rhythm hew to the rhythm of the day. It “tells” your internal clocks that it’s morning, that it’s time to get moving, that it’s time to build and go.

I’ve always made it a point in my adult life to live in places that get ample sunlight year round. Earlier in my health journey, this wasn’t a conscious decision. I didn’t know about the intricacies of circadian rhythm and natural light exposure, but I knew I liked sunlight, liked being warm, and liked spending time outside. So before I even knew what it was doing for my health, I was getting sunlight every single morning.

This doesn’t mean stare into the sun. Don’t do that. It means be outside with your face directed toward the sun, indirect light piercing your eyes and acting as a circadian zeitgeber that sets your clock. Also, you don’t have to have visible sunlight. The clouds can be out. It can be raining or even snowing, and the sunlight will still get through to your circadian clock. The point is getting outside to get full natural light.

Have coffee, heavy cream, and a spoonful of sugar.

Then I brew my coffee. Always in a stainless steel French press using fresh ground beans, always with heavy cream and a spoonful of sugar. Yes, plain white sugar, to cut the bitterness. Often I’ll take my coffee outside in the sunlight.

Do Sudoku, the NY Times crossword, and read the paper.

Although the science on “training the brain” with crossword puzzles and math games like sudoku is inconclusive, I don’t care. I notice a big difference when I do the games and when I don’t. There’s something missing when I don’t do it. A fluidity, a sharpness of thought. My writing and creativity are all worse on days I don’t get to the puzzles.

I also read the paper. Yes, the physical newspaper made of paper. Everything about the newspaper experience—the crinkle, the way you have to *pop* it to straighten it out—is soothing and it’s still my favorite medium to read the news. “Don’t believe everything you read” goes without saying, of course. I consider this an essential part of my morning routine.

Engage in a little friendly competition.

The latest addition to my morning routine is a friend and I started a competition about six months ago. We do it every day. Every morning, we play the word games World, Quordle, and Sedecordle.

We do all three each day and score them to see who gets the lowest score. The base score is arrived at by adding up the numbers in Quordle. Then, you get to subtract or add points based on your scores in Sedecordle and Wordle. In Wordle, you subtract however many guesses you have left. So, one point for every guess remaining. With Sedecordle you get to subtract three points for every guess remaining, or you add one point back for every word left on the board. You have to understand the games, but it is pretty challenging.

At this point in my life, it is counterproductive to compete on a physical level with anything significant at stake. This is the new challenge. This is the new competition. It’s a great way to begin the day.

Eat breakfast, or not.

Most days, I fast til 1 PM (after my late morning workout). On days I don’t fast, I’ll have something light. Lately it’s been soft boiled eggs or scrambled eggs with kale in butter. I eat breakfast if I’m hungry and feel like eating, usually while doing the mental games. I fast if I’m going deep into work mode and really trying to hit flow state.

Get “easy” work wins.

I’ll do the nuts and bolts stuff for a half hour to an hour: answering emails, taking or making calls, checking social media to see if I need to respond to anything. These are things that don’t take much active brainpower. You simply have to “do them.”  I’ll often do a quick scan of Twitter or Instagram to get a “bird’s eye view” of what might be transpiring in the world, what people are worried about, what fitness or nutrition developments are coming to a head.

Getting these easy wins out of the way sets a good tone for the rest of the day.

Take a 15 minute movement break.

After emails and calls, I step outside for a quick movement break. This is to get the blood flowing to the brain, warm up my body, lubricate my joints, and prepare for the real work to come.

• Sometimes it’s a quick jog down to the beach for a plunge and swim.
• Sometimes it’s a quick jog down to the beach for a few short sprints.
• Sometimes it’s 15 minutes on the slack line.
• Sometimes it’s just a few sets of trap bar deadlifts, push-ups, and pull-ups.

The point is to get some light physical movement, preferably outside, before the real mental work commences.

Deep creative work.

When I write articles, I’ve already done the research the day before or days previous. I have a mental skeleton of the post erected in my mind, with tabs and links open to all the supporting evidence, so all I have to do is write. Flesh it out. Thus, it becomes an exercise in creativity that I can flow through, rather than having to stop every five minutes to check my work and read studies. Of course, if the situation calls for it I’ll stop and read research, but I do my best to avoid that so I can focus on the writing itself.

If I don’t have to write any finished pieces, I may go for a walk with my phone and bang out a rough draft using voice to text. Voice to text is invaluable for me—great way to jot down thoughts and ideas, which walking often stimulates. I’ve “written” entire posts and Sundays with Sisson newsletters on walks. I’ve come up with business ideas that turned into business realities. I keep working as long as it keeps flowing. It might be two hours. Might be one. Might be four. But it usually lasts at least two hours.

Movement, training, and play.

Usually I’ll go to the gym, both for training and socializing. Get a quick, hard, efficient 30-45 minute strength training session, hang out with the regulars, banter a bit, catch up. It’s a good atmosphere to push yourself while keeping things light and fun. I’m not doing any PRs (personal records) at this point. I’m just getting in to hit my muscles, strengthen my bones, and gird my connective tissue so I can keep playing and staying active doing the things I truly enjoy. Anti-aging.

The social aspect is just as important as the physical aspect. I spend so much time on devices that I need that face time (not FaceTime).

If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll go for a paddling session or hit the fat tire bike on the beach. I’ll often do this with my wife or a buddy, again getting that social time. Whatever I do, the block of time after my deep work time is for staying active—both physically and socially.

After that, I break the (usual) fast with lunch and get on with the rest of my day, which often looks very different day to day. But that AM morning routine leading up to lunch is non-negotiable and rarely changes.

What does your early morning routine look like?

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