Place a barbell on the floor and stand with toes under the bar, feet hip-width apart and arms extended at sides. Bend knees slightly and keep back flat as you bend forward from hips and grasp the bar. Let go of the bar and rise up to starting position.

Lie faceup on a mat with knees bent and feet hip-width apart on the floor. Extend arms at your sides with palms on the floor. Lift hips until body forms a line from knees to chest, then lower hips to starting position. (When it&rsquo;s easy to perform 10 reps of this exercise through a full range of motion, try move 2.)

Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold a dowel lengthwise behind you, one hand behind neck and one behind lower back. Your head, upper back, and butt should be touching the dowel. Bend knees slightly and keep back flat as you bend forward from your hips until back is nearly parallel to floor. Rise up to starting position. (When you can perform 10 reps of this move&mdash;while keeping your head, upper back, and butt touching the dowel&mdash;try move 3.)

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, heels six to 12 inches away from a wall. Hold a ViPR just under your chin. Bend knees slightly and keep back flat as you bend forward from your hips, touching butt to the wall. Rise up to starting position. (When you can do 10 reps of this exercise through a full range of motion, try move 4.)

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and a box between them. Hold a kettlebell in front of hips with both hands. Bend knees and keep back flat as you hinge forward from hips, lowering kettlebell to the box. Rise up to starting position. (When you can do 10 reps of this exercise through a full range of motion, try move 5 or 6.)

Stand with feet wide, toes turned slightly out, and hold the center of a barbell with hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing thighs. Bend knees slightly and keep back straight as you bend forward from hips until back is nearly parallel to the floor, lowering bar toward the floor. Rise up to starting position.

Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold the center of a barbell with hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing thighs. Bend knees slightly and keep back straight as you bend forward from hips until back is nearly parallel to the floor, lowering bar toward the floor. Rise up to starting position.

Every time you bend over and pick up something from the floor, you’re doing a deadlift. But the move isn’t just functional—it produces total-body benefits, strengthening your <a href=/articles/2016/01/20-min-core>core</a>, <a href=/articles/2015/07/glutes>glutes</a>, and hamstrings in one shot. “Because we spend so much time <a href=/articles/2015/10/anti-sitting-workout>sitting</a>, it’s incredibly important to work the muscles of our posterior chain,” says Justin Jacobs, Tier 4 manager at Equinox 92nd Street. Yet for every person you see in a weight room cranking out deadlifts, there’s another complaining of lifting-induced back pain.If you’re in that latter group, you’re probably doing it wrong—but it’s not your fault. “When your glutes and core are weak, and you lack mobility in your hips, the load of a deadlift gets put primarily on your lower back,” says Jacobs. The result: Your smaller low-back muscles become hyperactive and strained, and you feel pain.To reinforce the proper technique, Jacobs designed this series. Start with the “deadlift test”—can you keep your back flat as you bend forward at your hips and grab the bar? If so, you’re all clear to do weighted deadlifts like moves 5 or 6. If you can’t reach the bar with a straight back, or you’re just returning to exercise after an injury, incorporate move 1 into your regular warm-up every day; then gradually progress to moves 2, 3, and 4. Whichever version you perform, aim to do 10 reps of 2 or 3 sets of deadlifts twice or three times a week.