This modified deadlift will make you crazy strong, and put less stress on your back than the traditional version. – By Jason Sumner
The dumbbell deadlift—which closely replicates the biomechanics of pedaling—is coach Jacques DeVore’s number one strength exercise in his five-part Maximum Overload program. Lifting heavy weights from a dead stop makes you crazy strong, and it eliminates the rubber-band effect (in squats and other exercises) that helps you bounce back up. This variation of the deadlift works your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and lower back, and causes less stress on your back because you don’t have to clear your knees as you would with a straight bar (a hex bar works too, though an unweighted one is 27kg, so you won’t use it until you can deadlift that much with proper form).