Stiff-Legged Deadlifts are one of
THE best lower body exercises you can do (not to mention hamstring
exercises). This exercise is a variation of the SLDL that turns
two barbells into something similar to a SLDL machine.
Why would you want to do that?
The reason is this - improving your
balance can help you focus on FEELING the hamstrings working rather
than on balancing and worrying about other parts of the exercise.
One of the biggest problems with the
SLDL is that it can be hard to feel the hams working. Many people
do these and never once feel there hams but get a sore lower back.
So what we're going to do is instead
of using regular free weight, we're going to take 2 barbells (you
can use 1 if just just have 1) and brace one end against a solid
object (in my case, I just have the non-loaded ends up against the
bottom support of my power rack).
The "working" end of the
bar should be loaded - start moderate until you get a feel for the
movement.
The unweighted end of the bar is going
to be your pivot point, basically making this into a lever type
of machine.
A simple machine, of course, but
that bracing of the barbell ends really improves the stability of
the exercise without taking away the benefits of it being a free
weight exercise - it's a nice combination.
The nice thing about this setup is
that you'll be grabbing on the ends of the bar, which means you
don't need to load the "pivot" end of the bar. When you
do the exercise, because the weight plates are in between you and
the pivot, the ends will stay down on their own.
So get into position as you normally
would for a Stiff- Legged Deadlift. Knees slightly bent, a tight
arch in your lower back, eyes looking forward. Then perform the
exercise.
As you start coming up, LEAN FORWARD
into the bars so you're pushing the bars against their pivot points.
This also has the beneficial effect of FURTHER increasing hamstring
activation.
How? It has to do with hip extension.
The function of the hamstrings that we're working with the SLDL
is hip extension (the other end is knee flexion, which is worked
by the leg curl).
Leaning forward into the bar adds
a bit more tension to the hip extension as you come up. Normally,
when you do free weight SLDL's, you lose most hamstring tension
halfway up and it's almost nothing at the top.
With this lean forward, you keep it
on a bit longer and you increase it more by pushing forward against
the bar more.
Keep going all the way up to the top.
That's a rep - just lower the bars
down and repeat. You may need to adjust your feet a bit to get the
best feel on the exercise - in the demo video, I move my feet forward
a bit to get a bit better stretch on the hams.
To perform this exercise with one
barbell, just setup the bar as above except with more weight, and
grip it on the end with both hands.
You can also do this exercise with
your toes raised up, either on a couple of 25lb weight plates or
foam wedges.
This elevation of the toes really
helps to increase hamstring stretch at the bottom of the exercise
- you can demonstrate this for yourself quite easily! Stand up and
set your foot on your chair with your leg straight and do a hamstring
stretch. Keep your foot relaxed. Now lean forward, keeping your
lower back straight (no bending forward at the stomach). Hold that
position now pull your toes back. Feel how the stretch instantly
increased? Now imagine doing that with a loaded barbell! THAT is
the effect you get with this one.
NOTE: don't mind the mislabel on
the video for this exercise. It IS the
Stiff-Legged Deadlift, not the Partial Front Squat
Nick Nilsson is the Director
of Online Operations for Staley Training Systems. He has
a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been
inventing powerful new training techniques for more than
17 years.
Nick is the author of a number
of bodybuilding eBooks (listed below) all available by clicking
here and has written for a variety of publications
including Men's Fitness, Reps, Musclemag, Bodybuilding.com
and many others. He can be contacted at nick@staleytraining.com.
