Hi lisa ...

The suitcase lift is an old-school strength training exercise that hardly anyone uses anymore because it is so fun to do. Ask Fern. She loves them.

Anyway, here is a brief description of the suitcase lift:

Suitcase lift-

1. Set a barbell in racks at about knee height (you can also use a Smith machine set at the lowest setting ... that's what we do).

2. Adopt a position so you are side on (to the side of the bar), assume a squat position (hips back, butt out), bend your knees, grab the bar, then lift it with one hand, just like a suitcase.

3. Bend your knees as this is not a side bend, more like a short one handed deadlift.

The idea behind the move is to obviously work as a deadlift (works glutes, hams, quads, and hips) ... but since it is a one handed move, your abs will be contracting like mad to stabilize and balance you body since you will have more weight on one side of the body than you will have on the other.

It builds strength in the torso (abs/lower back) this way. Tricky tricky. LOL.