Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Stiff-legged deadlifts are a tremendous exercise for adding strength and mass to the hamstrings. Begin by bending forward to hold the barbell with your hands placed about shoulder width apart. Bend only at the waist while keeping your legs and back straight as you grab hold of the bar. Then, lift the barbell off of the ground and raise it up by rotating your pelvis back. As always, avoid rounding the back throughout the range of motion. In fact, it may be a good idea to keep your lower back slightly arched as you execute the movement.
Continue raising the barbell until you are standing straight up, then carefully bend at the waist to lower the barbell downwards again, keeping your legs straight at all times. Contrary to regular
deadlifts,
there is no need to set the barbell on the floor before raising it up for the next rep. Simply lower the weight as far as you are able to while holding your legs straight; some people will only be able to lower the bar slightly past their knees while others will have no trouble lowering it to their ankles.
Tips
* This exercise develops the hamstrings, gluteal muscles, lower back and spinal muscles, and, when the core is contracted to prevent the back from rounding, the abdominal muscles come into play as well.
* Whereas regular
deadlifts
are more of a back exercise, performing the movement while keeping your legs straight decreases back muscle involvement and focuses the effort on the legs.
* Stiff-legged deadlifts should not be performed with extremely heavy weights. Instead, work with moderate weights and concentrate on feeling a good stretch in the muscles of the hamstrings as you perform the lift. When overly heavy weights are used, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the legs straight and the gluteal muscles tend to take over.
* Depending on your flexibility, it may be nearly impossible to keep your legs completely straight as you perform the movement. Try to hold them as straight as possible and only take the range of motion as far as you are safely able to. If you consistently perform the exercise in this fashion, you will likely notice a significant improvement in your flexibility over time, especially when combined with specific stretching exercises for the legs.
* If your lower body is already very flexible, you can also attempt the exercise while standing on a low box or other raised object so that you are able to feel an even greater stretch in the hamstrings.
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