With more and more people flocking to the gym, exercise routines are becoming more and more accessible to the everyday person. There is, though, a need to be aware of the possible negatives of particular workout regimes.

One of the more popular activities for the strong people at the gym are deadlifts, with the assistance of rather heavy weights. Not only does this train the core, but it can also increase arm size and leg muscle, depending on the type of deadlift that you choose to do.

What are the negatives of deadlifts?

One of the major problems with deadlifting is when people attempt them in an incorrect form, which can have dangerous consequences for them.

Not only are you running the risk of a mishap with an incredibly heavy weight, but you can also injure your hamstrings, with many feeling leg pain after a deadlift session.

Your hamstring isn't actually a single muscle, but rather a group of three different muscles which work in tandem to allow you to flex your knee and straighten your hip. A straight-leg deadlift helps exercise your legs, as does the bent-leg deadlift, but both can cause hamstring pain if not executed correctly.

How can you work out your hamstrings without pain?

There are simple ways in which you can remove the risk of pain from your deadlifting regime, although some small amounts of muscle fatigue are normal and part of the gaining process.

You need to ensure that your form is correct. For example, if you are doing a stiff leg deadlift then you need to ensure that your knees aren't overly bent, because otherwise you are asking your hamstring to carry too much of the burden from the exercise.

Finally, the bar needs to be a lot closer to your shins than you may have thought, mostly because if the bar isn't right against your legs when you pull upwards then your hamstrings have to compensate for the poor positioning, once again having to do a lot more work than is healthy.