How to Romanian Deadlift
To continue our series on various exercises, let’s look next at the Romanian deadlift. This workout sounds intimidating but it’s really not hard at all! Here’s the breakdown.
4 Steps To The Perfect Romanian Deadlift
1. Choose Your Weight
The most important step in any exercise is to make sure you have the correct weight. It can’t be stated enough that lifting too much weight will be counterproductive in the most extreme sense: it will cause injury and NOT muscle gain! Use your head and don’t let pride fool you.
2. The Main Focus
What muscles are we working here? The hamstrings are the name of the game with the Romanian deadlift. No arms, no abs, no upper body whatsoever. Your calves and lower back will be worked a little bit too, but it’s mostly the hamstrings
3. Let’s Do It!
First, grab a bar with the appropriate weight on it. Set it on the floor in front of you and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Have one foot a little in front of the other for balance.
Standing straight up, bend your knees slightly and bring your hips back, just like you would normally bend over. Take special care to keep your back as straight as possible as you pick up the bar. Keep your head up and looking forward, not down.
As you pick up the bar, make sure your palms are facing down. Grab the bar with your hands a little more than shoulder-width apart. The key here is to keep your arms and back completely straight — no bending whatsoever!
Remember that you’re not picking up the bar with your arms, since they’re straight. Straighten back up and use your hips to lift the weight — you should feel it behind your legs in the hamstrings. With your arms still straight, the weight should be resting near your thighs or waist.
Repeat the same motion as you go down again.
4. Tips and Best Practices
We need to stress here that this exercise should be done with special care if you have lower back problems. You would actually be better off avoiding this exercise if you have issues with your back, rather than trying it and messing it up further.
Remember
Be careful not to jerk upwards during this workout, or perform it too quickly. Your movements should be slow and calculated. You can easily throw your back out by jerking up or being careless with this exercise.
