Straight Leg Deadlift

Muscles Worked: Hamstrings

Spotter Required:No

Minimum Equipment required: Standard barbell with weights

The Best Equipment to Use: Olympic barbell with weights

Warming up: To warm up, perform 1 set of 15 - 20 repetitions with a light weight or just the barbell

How often should I perform this exercise: Straight leg Deadlifts (often referred to as stiff leg deadlifts) really isolate the Hamstrings. Depending on the makeup of your plan really determines how often to do this exercise. If you are looking to concentrate on your hamstrings specifically in a session, you can use this exercise every time, I love it.

When should I perform this exercise: Stiff leg deadlift provides a good stretch for the hamstring muscles so it is best to do this as a last exercise for your hamstrings. This is a great move for creating definition and separation between your hamstrings & quadriceps muscles.

How to do the exercise: The key to this exercise must be the straightening of the back and not bending your knees. By keeping the back & knees straight, emphasis is placed on the Hamstrings and not on theback, as it would in a normal Deadlift.

As concentration is solely on these upper leg muscles, you will use a much lighter weight than a regular Deadlift. So if you are dead lifting with 200lbs use only 10 – 20% of the 200lbs i.e 20lbs - 40lbs

To begin, lower down, so you are at a 90 degree angle, almost a reverse L shape, over the bar. Take the barbell with a pronated (overhand) grip, about shoulder width apart. Make sure the legs and back are straight. This is essential, if these elements are not correct, emphasis will not be placed on the desired area, keeping the bar close to the body, contract the hamstrings to bring yourself back to a straight standing position. Hold for a count of two and then lower again.

In general the lower you get the more you will stretch the hamstrings, if you can lower the bar to your toes you are doing exceptionally well. Also as you become better at this exercise you will find you can go lower, this is great because it makes you more flexible.

Mentality: Concentration is key here, so ensure the back and legs remain straight throughout the exercise. As mentioned before, a lighter weight will be used in comparison to regular deadlift. Hamstrings are a much smaller muscle than the back and placing the same kind of weight would result in serious injury. If you want a slightly more advanced technique, stand on a solid, raised surface. This will oncrease your range of motion (ROM.) However, please do not attempt this if you are new to this exercise.

Images: