Romanian Deadlifts: Hittin' Hamstrings

In SuperHero Supersets for Building Comic Book Quads, I mentioned following up quad training with Romanian Deadlifts. Since squats focus mostly on the front of the leg, you also need a lift thats going to hit the back of the leg. RDL's fit the bill.

When done right they will light up your posterior chain. The lower back, glutes, and of course the hamstrings.

RDL vs DL

The similarities between a regular deadlift and a RDL are that the bar follows a similar path and your back stays in a neutral position. The differences are that your legs are going to stay relatively straight, it begins from standing, and the bar doesn't touch the ground. This is going to put much more emphasis on your glutes and hamstrings, instead of your lower back.

Weight

You aren't going to be able to lift quite as much weight as you would a normal deadlift, but you don't need to. Ideally, do as much weight as you can manage for around 8 reps a set. However much you lift, make sure your form isn't compromised.

 Execution

-Begin in the starting position, shoulders back, chest up, neutral spine, knees relaxed and feet foreword.

-Drive your hips back and lower the bar, holding it to your legs the entire time. Keep your chest up and look foreword, or at the ground in front of you.

-Let your knees bend slightly and lower the bar below them until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings. Keep your back straight.

-Drive your hips forward and bring the bar up back up your legs into the starting position.

 

Having Trouble?

While not a particularly difficult exercise, the hardest part of RDL's can be learning to do them correctly. If you're having trouble isolating your hamstrings here are a few things you could be doing wrong.

Not Enough Range of Motion

Stopping at the knee on RDL's is like stopping a squat above parallel. Remember to let your knees bend slightly during the descent. Keeping them locked will reduce your range of motion. Perhaps poor flexibility is holding you back. If that is the case see Five Point Fitness: Warm up & Mobility Training and work on these exercises to improve your mobility.

No Hip Hinge

Simply bending at the waist is not going to hit the hamstrings. You need to push your hips back to keep the load on the glutes and hamstrings, instead of the lower back.

Bar Too Far Away

Just like a regular deadlift you want to keep the bar as close to your body as possible throughout the entire motion. Keep your chest up and bring your shoulder blades together.

More Reasons to Train

Among the copious reasons to train RDL's are that they increase the dynamic flexibility in your hamstrings, and they will also benefit your vertical jump, keep that in mind if you are attempting to learn How to Backflip . 

Why the Name?

If you're wondering why they are called "Romanian" deadlifts, It's because in the 80's an Olympic weightlifter from Romania named Nicu Vlad was supposedly seen doing them in the Olympic training hall. Apparently, it's also how the Count trains his concubines... You learn something new everyday..