This is just a quick post to introduce the Romanian Deadlift (RDL), an exercise I have introduced into my programme to help strengthen my lower back.
It’s also a sneaky introduction for me to the world of embedding video into my blog so please bear with me while I get used to the technical side of things!
So, what is this RDL of which you speak?
The Romanian Deadlift is a deadlift performed from the top position downwards rather than from the ground upwards. It is performed with a slight bend in the knees and most of the movement comes from the hips. To perform it, you think about pushing your behind back rather than bending forwards.
This is a short video of me doing RDLs for the first time. Unfortunately, I seem to have uploaded the video sideways. I’ll try and make sure this doesn’t happen again!
That looks hard. Why bother?
Most people associate the RDL with hamstring development and I’ll be happily taking any increases in hamstring strength that come along for the ride. My purpose in using the RDL, though is to help with my deadlift and back squat by strengthening my lower back. This will hopefully enable me to hold my torso more upright during the starting portion of the deadlift. I’m also hoping it will enable me to increase my stability in the hole in the back squat and therefore keep proper form.
Where can I find out more?
There are some great resources out there on the Romanian Deadlift. Here are just a few:
- Bodybuilding.com article by Paul San Andres
- IronMan Magazine article by Bill Starr
- T-Nation article by Mike Robertson
If you know of any other articles out there about this exercise, please do let me know. I am looking to improve my form and performance on this lift as much as I can in 2010. For me, this year is going to be mostly about my lower back.
For a list of my key articles by category, please check out this index.
Which adhesive did you use on your feet ?
Only joking, great video. I’ve never been sure about the exact right way to do RDL’s. The way I do them is to go just below the knee to the mid thigh without fully extending to keep tension in the hammies and lowerback for the full set. All ways will have their merits when done with the right weight for your own ability!
Think I need to have a crack at these again, haven’t done them in years. Thanks for the inspiration
Rob
Rumbled! Actually, I nailed my trainers to the carpet…
I was thinking “hip drive” all the way through this set, which is why I locked out quite so much, I suppose. I will experiment further and report back!
[...] for lower back strength, I’ve started doing Romanian Deadlifts twice a week (which will, coincidentally, also help my hip mobility). They’ve started well, [...]