A stiff-legged deadlift is an intense strength training exercise. Deadlifts are performed with bent knees or with straight legs. The straight-leg variety is also known as a Romanian deadlift and is performed on one or both legs. Although the stiff-legged deadlift is used to strengthen the glutes and hamstrings, your back is also used during this movement.
Deadlift
Hold onto a barbell or a pair of dumbbells for your resistance during a deadlift. Begin standing tall with your feet spaced hip distance apart. Hold the weight in front of your hips with your palms facing your body. Keep a slight bend in your knees, enough to not lock the joint, and fold forward from your waist. Inhale and lower the weight toward the floor as if you were going to set it down. Look across the room as you do this. Lower the weight as far as you are able to while maintaining a straight neck to see across the room. Exhale, tighten your backside and return to a standing position.
Legs
The backs of your upper legs, hamstrings, stretch when you lower the weight and contract as you lift the weight. The fronts of your upper legs, quadriceps, stabilize your balance during a deadlift. When you perform a single leg deadlift, the muscles of your inner thighs also act as stabilizers to help you complete the exercise through a full range of motion.
Glutes
The deadlift exercises your glutes. The gluteus maximus is a prime mover during a stiff legged deadlift and contracts as you lift the weight from the floor. Your gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which are located on the outside of your hips, are assistor muscles during the upward movement.
Back
The muscles in your back are used when returning from a folded forward position to standing tall. The weight on the end of your arms causes a contraction in the largest muscle of your back, the latissimus dorsi and your erector spinae, which is the muscle that runs the length of your spine. To maintain your hold on the weight, your rhomboids, which are located between your shoulder blades, contract to stabilize your upper body.
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