25 February, 2008

Ask the Coach: Exercise of the Week - Romanian Semi-Stiff Legged Dead-lift

The increasing number of back complaints and days and man hours lost at work continues to spiral. Our sedentary lifestyles are catching up on us and our backs are getting weaker. One exercise that should never be forgotten that emerged from Eastern Bloc countries is the Romanian Semi-Stiff Legged Deadlift. This exercise is a big calorie burner and it involves a lot of muscles. It specifically trains the hamstrings at the hip joint, ass and your low back. It mimics the action of the picking items from the floor. Here are some tips to perform this exercise.

Choose an appropriate weight and place your hands over the bar just outside your thighs so they are both facing inwards.

Keeping your chest lifted and your knees slightly bent, slowly tip from the hip.

The bar should stay close to your shins and the range of motion you travel will be dictated by your flexibility. Your goal should be to go below knee line level.

You should ensure you keep the curve on your low back to prevent injury and imagine lifting your tailbone to the ceiling.

The repetitions you use may vary but a limiting factor in performing this exercise may be your grip strength in holding onto the bar.

This exercise is also a good preparatory exercise for preparing your body to deal with exercises such as the barbell back squat.

Sets: 2-4 No of times to Repeat Repetitions- Start with 2 sets and increase depending on your training goal

Repetitions: Vary but you can start with 10-12 to learn the technique.

Tempo: 3110 Lower down in 3 seconds, pause at the bottom and lift back up in one.

Rest: 75 seconds- Repeat exercise or alternate with leg or upper body exercise.