Romanian DL Critique Please

Romanian DLs using 2" smooth axle overhand grip-
http://media.putfile.com/Anson-Axle-Romanian-DLs

I’ve just started doing these and I want to get them right.

Don’t stand on anything when you do the Rom DL.

I noticed the weight is easy for you, yet at some reps the lower back didn’t move anymore but the shoulders still moved down quite a bit. This is going to be a problem when you go heavier.

[quote]Wreckless wrote:
Don’t stand on anything when you do the Rom DL.

I noticed the weight is easy for you, yet at some reps the lower back didn’t move anymore but the shoulders still moved down quite a bit. This is going to be a problem when you go heavier.[/quote]

Post closed! Nothing else to add really!

[quote]Hog Ear wrote:
Romanian DLs using 2" smooth axle overhand grip-
http://media.putfile.com/Anson-Axle-Romanian-DLs

I’ve just started doing these and I want to get them right. [/quote]

Wait!, You’re in North Carolina!!

What part?

[quote]Wreckless wrote:
Don’t stand on anything when you do the Rom DL.

I noticed the weight is easy for you, yet at some reps the lower back didn’t move anymore but the shoulders still moved down quite a bit. This is going to be a problem when you go heavier.[/quote]

Yeah, it just looks like he needs to arch harder and really prestretch those hammies.

Really try to keep the back flat on these.

Stop at the point just before you break form on bottom. Your going too deep if you have to break form to go lower.

Lets see the rest of that home gym. Looks like it’s a good one.

You’re bending your legs too much, and you’re not arching hard enough. You should feel a really good stretch in your hamstrings when you do RDLs, otherwise you’re not doing them correctly. Unless you have freakish proportions, you shouldn’t be touching the ground when you do RDLs, hence no need to stand on something.

What you’re doing is basically deadlifting from a deficit.

  1. Keep your shoulder blades pinched together (easier said than done when heavy)

  2. Make sure your lower back is locked in (looks like you are rounding a little bit)

  3. Kick your butt back further. You can never kick it back too far.

  4. You dropped your hips just a bit. Keep them up.

I’m in Salisbury, NC. I hope everyone takes advantage of our T-Nation member map, it’s one kick ass feature!

Thanks everyone for the tips- I’ll try and use the info next workout. I’ve just started videoing my workouts, man my form looks nothing like I imagined it!

[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
You’re bending your legs too much, and you’re not arching hard enough. You should feel a really good stretch in your hamstrings when you do RDLs, otherwise you’re not doing them correctly. Unless you have freakish proportions, you shouldn’t be touching the ground when you do RDLs, hence no need to stand on something.

What you’re doing is basically deadlifting from a deficit.[/quote]

You’re thinking of Keystone deadlifts. He’s doing perfectly except for a touch of back rounding on some reps.

-Dan

[quote]buffalokilla wrote:
cap’nsalty wrote:
You’re bending your legs too much, and you’re not arching hard enough. You should feel a really good stretch in your hamstrings when you do RDLs, otherwise you’re not doing them correctly. Unless you have freakish proportions, you shouldn’t be touching the ground when you do RDLs, hence no need to stand on something.

What you’re doing is basically deadlifting from a deficit.

You’re thinking of Keystone deadlifts. He’s doing perfectly except for a touch of back rounding on some reps.

-Dan

[/quote]

“keystone deadlifts” is just another name for Romanian deadlifts.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459875

your romanian deadlift looks like nothing more than a back extension

think HIP extension instead. open the hip and lock it out at the top by contracting your glutes

you compensate by swinging your upper back at lockout rather than opening your hip

my advice is to do a few Sumo Deadlifts to learn what hip extension feels like. then do back to these.

just my opinion. i’m no expert.

-Brian

[quote]mr popular wrote:
your romanian deadlift looks like nothing more than a back extension

think HIP extension instead. open the hip and lock it out at the top by contracting your glutes

you compensate by swinging your upper back at lockout rather than opening your hip

my advice is to do a few Sumo Deadlifts to learn what hip extension feels like. then do back to these.

just my opinion. i’m no expert.

-Brian[/quote]

I agree with this post to some extent. Although your form doesnt noticeably break until late in the movement, it looks like you are thinking back extension more than hip extension, and your form is falling apart with regard to what muscles you are using fairly quickly. So, you definitely cannot go as low as you are going, and you also look like you are using too much weight to do the movement properly, given that your back looks like its wanting to round for awhile.

There are many ways to do this exercise. I believe you can even seperate out your hamstring contribution from your glute contribution to some degree, but this requires very intense concentration. I can go really heavy doing Romanians with seemingly perfect form, I can go up to 300 if my nervous system is cooperating with me, keeping my back arch and all. But if I go any heavier than 185 I almost totally lose feeling the hamstrings. I would say that you should identify why you are doing them, to work your hamstrings more than anything else, or to develop some powerful hip extension. If the latter is the case doing Romanians with hip extension in mind regardless of muscle contribution is not very different from a regular deadlift.

Are you feeling it in your hams and glutes … we’re all built with different levers, so tweaks in form (as long as their safe) to hit the target muscles are usuaully the rule rather than the exception.

Like someone else said, try pinching your shoulder blades together; another way to think about it is that you should keep your chest up. If you do this correctly you will not be able to lower the bar below your knees very much or at all.

If you go any lower than that, your back will probably round which will put a lot of pressure on your disks.

If you aren’t a powerlifter, 1-leg RDL’s are superior.

[quote]bruinsdmb wrote:
If you aren’t a powerlifter, 1-leg RDL’s are superior.[/quote]

I prefer third leg vaginal extensions for my cardio.