Romanian Deadlift

EXECUTION

• Stand with your feet approximately hip-width apart and hold a barbell in both hands with a pronated, palms-down grip.
• The grip should be wider than hip-width apart and the bar should rest against the thighs.
• When you are ready, inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you lean forward from the hips. Be sure that you maintain the normal curvature in the spine, i.e., a slight curve in the lumbar area.
• Push the hips to the rear (more than in regular deadlift) as you bend forward from the hips.
• Slowly lower the bar keeping it close to or in contact with the thighs until the bar is below the knees.
• After you reach the lowermost position, pull your trunk up and push the hips forward to raise the barbell. The bar should slide up against the thighs.
• Exhale after you pass the most difficult portion of the up phase.

If you begin to round the lower back as you bend over, stop and return to the initial position. WORKOUT TIPS:

• When doing the Romanian deadlift, the bar stays close to the body at all times similar to the pull in weightlifting.
• To ensure that you get maximum taxation of the hip joint extensor muscles, be sure to maintain the arch in the lower back. If you round the back, it places more stress on the erector spinae muscles of the trunk rather than the glutes and hamstrings.
• Maintaining the natural curvature of the spine during execution of the lift ensures maximal spinal safety.
• If you do not have ample flexibility in the hip joints, you should bend the knees more when doing this exercise. This will allow you to use the legs to initiate the lift and then the hip extensors after the legs are basically straightened. Note that the straighter the legs are throughout the exercise and the more you maintain the normal curvature of the spine, the greater will be the stress placed on the hip extensor muscles.
• Be sure to hold your breath as you do the exercise. If you exhale, your body will relax which can cause an injury especially to the lower back. The breath holding during execution provides greater force and helps to protect the spine. If your lower back erector spinae muscles are not strong enough to maintain the curvature, you should do preparatory exercises such as the good morning and the back raise.
• In the Romanian deadlift, you must push your hips back further than in a regular deadlift. This ensures that the bar stays close to the body (thighs).
• If you use heavy weights, grip strength becomes very important. If your fingers are not sufficiently strong to maintain a firm grip, you should do exercises to strengthen them with the Exer Rings, the only equipment that allows you to go through a full range of finger flexion.

MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED

The major hip joint muscles are the gluteus maximus and hamstrings. The gluteus maximus is a large fleshy muscle at the back of the hip – the one you sit on. The hamstring muscle group is composed of three separate muscles: biceps femoris, semitendinousus, and semimembranousus, all of which are two-jointed muscles with an action at the hip and knee joint. In the Romanian deadlift, only the hip joint action is involved. The biceps femoris, located on the lateral side of the posterior thigh, is the largest and strongest. The semitendinousus and semimembranousus are found on the inner posterior thigh. They are both relatively long and thin and their muscle masses appear as one. When you use the legs to initiate lifting of the bar, the quadriceps muscle of the anterior thigh is also involved. The quadriceps muscle group consists of the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and rectus femoris muscles. The rectus femoris crosses both the knee and hip joint and has an action at both ends. The vastus lateralis and medialis are located low on the thigh and form the teardrop muscles. The vastus intermedius lies underneath the rectus femoris which runs in the middle of the thigh. The erector spinae muscles of the lower back are involved isometrically to hold the normal curvature of the spine.

MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTIONS

The major action in the Romanian deadlift is the hip joint extension. In this action, the straight legs (thighs) move forward from the feet as the pelvic girdle rotates upward and backward on an axis through the hip joints. The gluteus maximus is mainly involved in the beginning of the movement and the hamstrings in the latter stages of fully straightening the body. The spine is kept in its neutral curvature position by static contraction of the erector spinae muscle so that the trunk (hips and upper body) move upward and backward as a unit. The hips move forward as the trunk approaches the vertical position so that the shoulders, hips, and feet are in alignment in the ending (beginning) upright position.

SPORTS USES

The Romanian deadlift, as well as other forms of the deadlift, are most important in lifting weights off the floor as needed in bodybuilding, power lifting, and especially in weightlifting. For bodybuilders, the deadlift is one of the best exercises to develop and define the posterior thigh and buttocks muscles. The hip joint extension action is extremely important in running, especially in sprinting and in walking and jumping. Because of its multiple uses in these common athletic skills, this exercise is used in sports such as basketball, volleyball, track and field, baseball, football, tennis, soccer, and other team and individual sports. The hip joint extension also plays a major role in the martial arts when executing various kicks.