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The stiff-legged deadlift is one of the best exercises you can do for your
hamstrings. The only problem is, it can also be one the hardest exercises to
perform properly.
For years, I tried to feel my hamstrings working when I did the stiff-legged
deadlift. I knew it was the best exercise to work the hip extension function of
the hamstrings but I never succeeded in feeling my hams work until I came up
with this simple technique.
Let me tell you, the very rep of the very first set I used this technique on, I
could feel my hamstrings like never before! It was like a revelation. It was
also extraordinarily simple. I guarantee if you've never had success with
stiff-legged deadlifts, you will definitely have it after applying this
technique.
The trick? Elevate your toes on weight plates while you do the exercise. That's
it! It's very simple but very elegant in the way it addresses the kinesiology
and anatomy of the hamstrings. I will explain exactly how to set it up and the
mechanisms of why it works so incredibly well.
How To Do It:
Set two 25-pound weight plates on the ground butted up against each other (one
for each foot). They should be right beneath the barbell you will be using for
the exercise and placed side-by-side so you can set your feet on both of them.
Stand in front of the barbell with your feet half on the plates and half off.
The front parts of your feet will be on the plates and your heels will be on
the ground. Use the weight plates to brace your feet up so that your toes are
up in the air and your feet are flexed up (known as dorsiflexion). At the end
of this article you will find a link to a picture of how to set up this
exercise.
Bend over and grasp the bar at about shoulder width with an overhand grip. Keep
your knees locked but slightly bent while doing this exercise and keep a tight
arch in your lower back.
Look directly forward while you are coming up and going back down. This will
help you to keep an arch in your lower back.
Squeeze the bar off the ground slowly and deliberately, coming up only until
your upper body is slightly above parallel. Any higher and you'll start to lose
tension in the hamstrings and throw it on your lower back. The real value of
this exercise lies in the stretch at the bottom anyways.
Come down slowly, being absolutely sure to keep the arch in your lower back. As
you near the bottom, stick your butt out and try to raise your toes as high up
as possible. This dramatically intensifies the stretch you put on your
hamstrings. Hold that stretch for a moment or two then reverse the direction
without bouncing.
Repeat this for 5 to 7 reps. At the end of the set, place the barbell down
gently then get ready to grab onto something for support. If you've done this
technique correctly and intensely, your hamstrings will probably feel like
jelly and you might find yourself prone to falling down suddenly (this is not a
joke - I can't tell you how many things I've had grab onto to catch myself on
after doing a hard set of these)!
Why Is This Technique So Effective?
The reason this toe-raising technique is so effective for the stiff-legged
deadlift comes straight from biomechanics and anatomy.
The stiff-legged deadlift exercise places the most tension on the hamstrings at
the bottom, stretched position. Therefore, in order to maximize tension on the
hamstrings, we must maximize the stretch on the hamstrings at that point.
In the standard stiff-legged deadlift, this is normally accomplished by simply
bending at the hips. But this is not the greatest anatomical stretch that can
be put on the hamstring muscles.
As you may or may not know, the muscles of the calves are tied in with the
hamstrings. Therefore, placing a stretch on the calves also places more stretch
on the hamstrings. This is what the weight plates accomplish - they raise your
toes, putting a stretch on the calves, which then puts a greater stretch on
your hamstrings.
By stretching the hamstrings at both the hip joint and the knee joint (from
stretching the calves), you literally force your hamstrings to activate
strongly during the stiff-legged deadlift movement.
The difference is quite amazing! Try it for just one set and I promise you'll
never go back to doing it the standard way ever again!
For a photograph of how to set this exercise up, visit:
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue9-hamstring-tip.htm
About The Author
Nick
Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise,
fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook
"The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com
or visit http://www.fitstep.com.
You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com
or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.
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