How's your rear view? Wide-lane roads, a flat and plain Florida's Turnpike, or a rocky mountain road?

If you long instead for gentle curves in your rear view, the bent-knee dead lift is for you.

Bending your knees while doing dead lifts is really helpful if you have a low back that gives you trouble, or a lack of flexibility in your hamstrings. Even if you can do it straight-legged, you may like the way the bent-knee dead lift targets your butt even better.

Using a straight bar or a pair of dumbbells, with hands hip-width apart, stand with your feet together. Bend your knees so that they are "soft,'' not locked out straight.

Your abdominal and lower back muscles should be contracted to provide a braced, or supported, feeling for your body. Hips and shoulders should be squared and level, and your spine elongated.

Keep the bar or dumbbells in front of your thighs.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together, which will naturally pull your shoulders back. This will help you to hold onto the straight bar without breaking form in your back -- and you keep a long spine while you lower down instead of rounding the shoulders and back because of the weight.

Lower the bar toward the floor, bending your knees slightly more, until your torso is parallel with the floor. Squeeze your glutes to pull your body back upward to standing position.

Maintain that abdominal and lower back brace at all times. Think of your body as being able to bend only at your hips. It should not bend anywhere in the back, so there is no rounding of the spine or arching of the lower back.


Try three sets of 10-15 reps.