Before in getting into the RDL, there are still people out there who are not aware there is more than one kind of deadlift. Believe it or not, it’s true. Along with Deep Squat, it is my belief that Romanian Deadlifts are another critical part of functional training. Especially in a world where everything we doing takes place out in front of us, over using our anterior chain. Being able to execute the RDL form correctly is one of the important movement patterns that I work on with my clients. It’s another one, again like deep squat, where unless there was some kind of blunt impact injury that prevents someone from doing it—there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to master the biomechanics of it.
Let’s face it, most often we see people bending over to pick up children, pick up groceries…….pennies…but only heads up. It’s life, its functional training. Strengthening our posterior chain musculature will only protect us from ourselves.
The bottom position is also utilized in other common exercises like Bent Over Row and movements like Good Mornings and the Kettlebell Swing require mastery of the hinged hip motion.
There is also a language issue here in regards to deadlifts. Reading through online forums, talking with meatheads gym rats, and even other Personal Trainers, there seems to be a disconnect. There is more than one form of deadlift. Quickly, RDL’s require a slight knee bend. If they were locked out, then it would be Stiff Leg Deadlift with a lower back strengthening focus. So, some of you may think…yea no shit, well the misinformation is out there. Take a look around your gym.
Now, it’s easy enough to say “Ok, slight bend in your knee…flat back…and bend over.” With the sedentary population we work with all that’s going to get you is flexion at spine as if they just dropped their last french fry on the floor and they only had the “5 seconds” to get it back.
I took the Kettlebell Concepts Instructor Training Course in NYC back July. We were going through the RDL and how it worked into the Swing. In attendance was one Nick Tumminello. He must have noticed another attendee was having trouble with the movement. Being the Fitness Professional he is, he took him aside and I watched him coach him into position. He simply took this gentlemen over to wall, put his back to it about a foot’s distance away and just said “Bring your butt back to the wall,” and that cleared everything up.
However, it’s not always going to be that simple. If your client is still just can’t flatten out that back, there are a couple that may need to be addressed. One may simply be to retract the shoulder blades providing they even have that ROM. The other, and more likely, is that they have some tight hamstrings. Try doing some SMR and extra ham stretches, even some active isolation techniques to lengthen them up a bit. Now, still they may visually to you be able to get the form, but they may tell you they are only feeling it in the low back. So, another cueing to tip is that on the way back up they should be driving their hips forward and pushing their shoulders back.
Also, make sure on the way back up they are shifting their weight back and driving up through the heels. This will aid in the proper muscle recruitment and firing pattern.
At my gym, we are lucky enough to have the TRX A-Frame setup. Or…S-Frame as the product description labels it, nothing like creating a brand. I found using the frame itself can be an aid in achieving the correct form of RDL. At the bottom of the legs, where you bolt the frame to the floor, there is about a 16″x16″ plate. First, you place your feet on either side of that facing away from the frame with your butt towards the post. From where your feet are in regards to the angle of the frame, gives a great location for you to cue to push the butt back.
There is another way you can use the TRX, or any fixed surface, to get down to the hinged hip bottom position of an RDL, for something a Bent Over Barbell Row. Grab the handles and step back. Again, slight bend in the knees, flat or slighty arched back…push back into a lat stretch. Then, drop the handles and maintain that bent-over position.
