The Stiff-Legged Deadlift is one of THE best
exercises for targeting your hamstrings...and
you may be doing it wrong, messing up your
lower back and shortchanging your results!

The SLDL puts a great stretch on the hams and allows for
heavy weight to be used, which the hamstrings THRIVE on
(they're primarily fast-twitch muscle fibers and they respond
best to heavy loads and lower rep ranges).

The Stiff-Legged Deadlift, however, is also one of the
exercises most often done incorrectly...which at best,
doesn't hit the hamstrings very well, but at WORST, can
lead to massive injury to the lower back.

Right now, you're going to learn a little setup cue that will
literally FORCE your lower back into the perfect position for
performing the Stiff-Legged Deadlift. This will protect your
lower back AND help you put greater stretch on the
hamstrings at the start of the movement.

Basically, it's going to make everything about the SLDL better.

And all you have to do is lift like a Silverback Gorilla...



I'll explain...because yes, I fully realize this statement absolutely
NEEDS explaining.

When you step up to the bar, your knees should be somewhat
bent and stiff. And this is where people most often go wrong.

Because in attempt to "get a better stretch" on the hamstrings,
they will quite often round the lower back over so they can
reach down further. In fact, you'll often see people using
smaller plates or standing on a platform or bench so they
can lower the bar down further.

This is generally NOT a good thing to do to your lower back.

Aside from purposefully doing round-back lifting with light weight
(which is an old Russian technique known as awkward position
lifting) to strengthen the body in those "bad" positions, lifting
heavy loads with a rounded lower back can put tremendous
pressure on the discs in your spine.

As you can see in this picture, when the back is rounded, the
lower back is taking the brunt of the upwards force when you
do the lift in the incorrect position.



So what we're going to do is go "silverback" with our body position.

Grip the bar and PRETEND to start to pull...but DO NOT pull
it off the ground. Use your grip on the bar to just develop
upwards-pulling tension in your upper back and shoulders.

Now, once you have tension in the upper back, develop tension
in your hamstrings by lifting your hips. You're going to DO this
by pushing with your heels...imagine as though you're doing a
leg press against the floor.

This will give you tension through the glutes and hamstrings and
will tilt your pelvis forward (anterior tilt), automatically putting an
arch into your lower back because it's the "low" point between
the two areas of your body you're trying to push upwards!

This will put you in "Silverback" position (not exactly the same,
of course, but that's the idea!).



Your lower will be arched...now it's your job to maintain that
arch as you fire the hamstrings and pull the bar off the floor.

So once you've got tension in the upper back and the hips,
SQUEEZE the bar off the floor. DO NOT pop it off the floor.
Imagine as though the bar is stuck in something sticky...if
you try and pop it off the floor, it won't go anywhere. If you
apply controlled power to the bar, it will come up.

This bottom phase is KEY to hamstring activation.

Here's the mental trick I like to use...DO NOT focus on lifting
the bar. The bar is simply the means to an end...and that
end is hamstring activation.

Instead I want you to try and visualize your hamstrings pulling
DOWN, as though they're little men pulling downwards on
pulleys in order to raise the load on the other side of the
pulley. Your hips are the pulley and your muscles are the ropes.



Continue the movement to the top position, then lower back
down slowly.

Personally, I prefer to set the bar back down on the floor in
between every rep so that I can reset my back position into
this "perfect" position on every single rep.

This is absolutely CRITICAL when you start using very
heavy weights...(to give you an idea, I've gone as high as
495 lbs with this exercise using this technique).

It's not wrong to continue immediately with the next rep
with a light touch on the floor, or keeping the plates just
off the floor...just be VERY sure you're strong enough to
maintain that lower back arch while you do so.

If you find your lower back starting to round over, use the
floor-reset on each rep from there forward, if you want to
continue the set.

This will help save your lower back and better work your
hamstrings.

You can also perform this technique when doing "sumo"
position Stiff-Legged Deadlifts (feet out wide and toes
pointed out). This leg position focuses more on the glutes,
specifically the gluteus medius and minimus. The outward
turn of the feet puts them in a perfect line of pull.

The sequence of the setup is exactly the same. Grip the
bar then pull tension into your upper back then push
tension into the glutes/hips, letting the arch automatically
happen in the lower back.



If you have a hard time feeling your hamstrings working
when you perform Stiff-Legged Deadlifts and/or you
want to protect your lower back, definitely put this
technique to work. It'll instantly lock your body into the
perfect position on every single rep!

If you'd like to see this technique in action, I've posted the
full video on my YouTube channel (be sure and subscribe,
if you haven't already!)



When you try this technique, let me know how it works for you!