The Stiff-Legged Deadlift is one of my very favorite hamstring exercises - it can be tricky to learn but the results are worth it.

I've got an advanced version of the SLDL here for you today. This one should only be done by people who are experienced with the SLDL - it's NOT a beginner type of exercise.

That being said, you're basically doing negatives with this exercise. The hamstrings are actually DESIGNED for this type of thing (heavy eccentric loading) - when you run, every impact your foot makes on the ground, the eccentric load is absorbed in your hamstring.

Not training the hamstrings eccentrically can theoretically lead to them being more prone to hamstring pulls. If you train the hams to absorb and deal with this impact, you'll have a lot fewer injuries.

So for this exercise, you're going to up with both legs, then step one foot back a little, then lower the weight with all the tension going on the forward leg. The back toe remains on the ground for balance.

Here's what it looks like:

That's the 2 up part...now for the one down part...

Notice how my right foot is back a bit - there is basically no tension on that back leg. It's all on the front leg.

Go all the way to the ground then set your feet together again and go back up with TWO legs.

Then put the other leg back on the way down.

You can also try setting your feet a little further back.

This one is VERY tough. You'll have to experiment a bit with loads to see how much weight you can handle on one leg - I'm using 225 lbs on the bar and I can do normal SLDL's with 400+ lbs pretty easily.

Remember to keep your lower back arched and your core tight as you're lowering the bar. Definitely watch the video to see how it's done.

If you're an athlete or coach any athletes who do a lot of sprinting or fast running, this exercise is EXCELLENT for helping to injury-proof the hams.