Stiff Legged Deadlift
Below is a list of the primary muscles targeted by the stiff leg deadlift.
The still legged deadlift is a variation of the deadlift. The main difference between the stiff legged deadlift and the deadlift is that with the stiff legged deadlift, the hips are higher and legs are straighter. This puts you at a mechanical disadvantage, and you can't use your quads as much.
With the stiff legged deadlift you'll lift less weight than you can with the deadlift. The conventional deadlift is a great lift, but it is very taxing on the body. The still legged deadlift is a good way of getting extra deadlift volume in, and strengthening the posterior chain without affecting your recovery as much.
The 5 steps of doing a Stiff Legged Deadlift.
Step 1: Set your feet with the bar about an inch from the bar. The bar should be over the middle of the foot.
Step 2: To grab the bar, bend over by pushing your hips back while keeping your shins vertical. You should feel a stretch and tension in your hamstrings.
Step 3: Lift your chest up without moving your hips, and keeping a vertical shin angle. Your shoulders and hips should be level, and your elbows will behind your legs.
Step 4: Get tight and brace. Take your deep, diaphragmatic breath, tense your abs like you're about to take a punch to the stomach, and turn your elbows so they are pointing behind you.
Step 5: Pull the up and back until it rest against your thigh in the top position. Don't let the bar move forward. Use your lats to pull the bar towards you.
Stance
A good place to start is to perform a vertical jump and see what stance width you naturally go with and use this stance to deadlift with. For most people, this will be around hip width. From here you can experiment and try out narrower and wider stances.
Have your turned out feet out slightly.
The bar should be over the middle of your whole foot, which normally around an inch from your shins.
Grips
You grip the bar just outside of your legs. As close as you can without pushing your knees in.
There are four ways to grips the bar.
-Double overhand grip
-Mixed grip
-Hook grip
-Straps
Double overhand grip
I don't recommend this and it isn't used by anyone who isn't a beginner as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much weight you can lift. You won't be able to hold enough weight to work the hamstrings, back, glutes etc.
Mixed grips
The mixed grip is where you have one hand over the bar, and one hand under the bar (one forearm supinated, and one pronated). This is a strong grip and will allow you to lift heavy weights. The negatives are that it can cause muscle imbalances. This can be solved by alternating which hands are over/under the bar. Another potential negative is it increases the chance of a nice tear with the arm that is supinated. If using this grip you need to ensure that you don't lift with your arms, that your arms are straight and your upper arm is relaxed.
Hook grip
A hook grip is another strong grip. With the hook grip, you grab the bar with a double overhand grip, and then you wrap your fingers around your thumb, pinning it between your fingers and the bar The positives it has over the mixed grip is that you don't have to have an arm supinated and so there isn't a risk of tearing a bicep. The negatives are that if you don't have long enough fingers you might struggle to do it. It also hurts. Eventually, you'll deaden the nerves in your thumb, but it will hurt in the time before this happens.
Straps
With straps, you can use a double overhand grip which prevents all the potential problems with mixed grips. The negatives are you won't be working your grip as much. A lot of people are against using straps. I think this is silly, you can always do grip work after which doesn't take much time. Don't let your grip slow down your strength gains.
Getting tight and bracing
This is vital to do the lift safely and to lift the most amount of weight that you're capable of.
The differences between the Romanian Deadlift and Stiff Legged Deadlift
These exercises are often confused, and while they are similar there are big differences between them.
The Romanian deadlift starts off in your hands, while the stiff legged deadlift starts off on the floor like the conventional deadlift.
The Romanian deadlift has an eccentric part of the lift and uses a stretch reflex at the bottom, while a stiff legged deadlift starts from a dead stop.
- Hamstrings
- Erectors
- Gluteus Maximus
The still legged deadlift is a variation of the deadlift. The main difference between the stiff legged deadlift and the deadlift is that with the stiff legged deadlift, the hips are higher and legs are straighter. This puts you at a mechanical disadvantage, and you can't use your quads as much.
With the stiff legged deadlift you'll lift less weight than you can with the deadlift. The conventional deadlift is a great lift, but it is very taxing on the body. The still legged deadlift is a good way of getting extra deadlift volume in, and strengthening the posterior chain without affecting your recovery as much.
The 5 steps of doing a Stiff Legged Deadlift.
Step 1: Set your feet with the bar about an inch from the bar. The bar should be over the middle of the foot.
Step 2: To grab the bar, bend over by pushing your hips back while keeping your shins vertical. You should feel a stretch and tension in your hamstrings.
Step 3: Lift your chest up without moving your hips, and keeping a vertical shin angle. Your shoulders and hips should be level, and your elbows will behind your legs.
Step 4: Get tight and brace. Take your deep, diaphragmatic breath, tense your abs like you're about to take a punch to the stomach, and turn your elbows so they are pointing behind you.
Step 5: Pull the up and back until it rest against your thigh in the top position. Don't let the bar move forward. Use your lats to pull the bar towards you.
Stance
A good place to start is to perform a vertical jump and see what stance width you naturally go with and use this stance to deadlift with. For most people, this will be around hip width. From here you can experiment and try out narrower and wider stances.
Have your turned out feet out slightly.
The bar should be over the middle of your whole foot, which normally around an inch from your shins.
Grips
You grip the bar just outside of your legs. As close as you can without pushing your knees in.
There are four ways to grips the bar.
-Double overhand grip
-Mixed grip
-Hook grip
-Straps
Double overhand grip
I don't recommend this and it isn't used by anyone who isn't a beginner as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much weight you can lift. You won't be able to hold enough weight to work the hamstrings, back, glutes etc.
Mixed grips
The mixed grip is where you have one hand over the bar, and one hand under the bar (one forearm supinated, and one pronated). This is a strong grip and will allow you to lift heavy weights. The negatives are that it can cause muscle imbalances. This can be solved by alternating which hands are over/under the bar. Another potential negative is it increases the chance of a nice tear with the arm that is supinated. If using this grip you need to ensure that you don't lift with your arms, that your arms are straight and your upper arm is relaxed.
Hook grip
A hook grip is another strong grip. With the hook grip, you grab the bar with a double overhand grip, and then you wrap your fingers around your thumb, pinning it between your fingers and the bar The positives it has over the mixed grip is that you don't have to have an arm supinated and so there isn't a risk of tearing a bicep. The negatives are that if you don't have long enough fingers you might struggle to do it. It also hurts. Eventually, you'll deaden the nerves in your thumb, but it will hurt in the time before this happens.
Straps
With straps, you can use a double overhand grip which prevents all the potential problems with mixed grips. The negatives are you won't be working your grip as much. A lot of people are against using straps. I think this is silly, you can always do grip work after which doesn't take much time. Don't let your grip slow down your strength gains.
Getting tight and bracing
This is vital to do the lift safely and to lift the most amount of weight that you're capable of.
The differences between the Romanian Deadlift and Stiff Legged Deadlift
These exercises are often confused, and while they are similar there are big differences between them.
The Romanian deadlift starts off in your hands, while the stiff legged deadlift starts off on the floor like the conventional deadlift.
The Romanian deadlift has an eccentric part of the lift and uses a stretch reflex at the bottom, while a stiff legged deadlift starts from a dead stop.