The stiff-leg deadlift, also called a straight-leg deadlift or Romanian deadlift, is one of the most effective free-weight exercises for working your hamstrings. This exercise also works your glutes and back, particularly the erector spinae. You can perform the stiff-leg deadlift with any free weights, including dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells. You might also encounter weight machines designed for stiff-leg deadlifts, and can adapt a low pulley handle to perform this exercise as well.
Stiff Legs
The words "stiff leg" may be slightly misleading about proper technique. Although your legs should stay fixed as you perform the exercise, they shouldn't be locked straight at the knee -- one possible interpretation of the term "stiff". Instead, keep your legs as straight as possible without locking them. If you don't have enough flexibility to perform the exercise with your knees straight, limit yourself to whatever range of motion you can manage with no more than a light stretch in your hamstrings and lower back. Although you can bend your knees slightly more to increase your range of motion, doing so reduces hamstring involvement. Instead, stretch regularly to help increase your hamstring and lower-back flexibility.
Technique
Grasp the weight with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, arms straight down in front of your body. Keep your back flat, knees straight as discussed above, and hinge forward from the hips. Think of keeping your chest up and out to the front, and your hips up and out to the back -- but do not hyper-extend your back. Allow the weight to sink straight down, keeping it as close to your body as possible instead of hanging straight down from your shoulders. Stop when the weight reaches the top of your feet, or sooner if you feel tightness in your lower back or hamstrings. Extend your hips to stand back up, still keeping the weight close to your body.
Back Movement
Although some fitness experts may recommend allowing your lumbar spine to flex slightly at the end range of motion during a stiff-leg deadlift, keeping your spine straight throughout the motion is the most conservative approach and is more appropriate if you have a lower-back injury -- although if you have an injury you should consult a medical or fitness professional before doing any form of this exercise. If you do choose to do a round-back variation of the deadlift, pay special attention to keeping the weight close to your body throughout the range of motion.
Weight
Resisting the temptation to lift the most impressive weights you can is difficult, especially in the social environment of a gym. But succumbing to this temptation with a stiff-leg deadlift can leave you injured, as can allowing other types of shoddy technique such as moving too fast or exceeding your hamstring flexibility. Focus on keeping the weight under control with good form throughout the exercise. If you hit your target number of repetitions -- 12 is ideal for beginners -- and can do more, increase the amount of weight you're lifting by 5 percent to 10 percent next time.
Member Comments