SLDL / RDL vs wide stance heavy deadlift for hamstrings

[hypnojedi]

^ is there much value from doing SLDL / Romanian deadlifts if you already do heavy deads. I know guys like Dorian Yates did SLDL but then he didn't do regular deads, he did rack pulls.

[psychowolverine]

SLDL gives you the stretch and more direct appraoch to the hamstrings.

Dorian was the man. He had the right idea all along for rtashing conventional deads and doing the 2 seperate moves knowing they specifically hit the target muscles he wanted to hit. So many people do deads and say its for their back. OK, then why not just do rack pulls and take out so much motion to help avoid injury?

[hypnojedi]

This video is a guy's version of a Romanian deadlift. I don't get the difference between what he's doing there and a regular deadlift.



Here's a direct comparison of regular and Romanian. Other than the girl keeping her ass/pelvis *slightly* higher in the RDL I see no difference.

[hypnojedi]

And here Dorian does a SLDL but contrary to the advice on bb.com, he is only flexing his legs while he picks the weight up off the floor.

The rest of the time his knees are locked (?) but is that OK because of the limited ROM (he's only lowering the bar to his knees).

[Mr.NoPrint]

And here Dorian does a SLDL but contrary to the advice on bb.com, he is only flexing his legs while he picks the weight up off the floor.

The rest of the time his knees are locked (?) but is that OK because of the limited ROM (he's only lowering the bar to his knees).

I do them like that. Half the weight of my regular DLs, semi-wide stance go low until I feel a stretch but making sure I keep my lower back tight, and tap the floor, dont reset. Its hard to keep your upper back unrounded and get enough depth to feel a stretch in your calves and hamstrings. Doing partial reps at the bottom of the movement gives a crazy stretch too, moving the bar only like 6 inches.

[Gzus]

Here's a direct comparison of regular and Romanian. Other than the girl keeping her ass/pelvis *slightly* higher in the RDL I see no difference.

Romanian starts from the hang, which is you standing upright holding the barbell (not from the floor). You execute with exaggerated rearward movement of the hips. It finishes with the bar reaching around mid shin.

And here Dorian does a SLDL but contrary to the advice on bb.com, he is only flexing his legs while he picks the weight up off the floor.

The rest of the time his knees are locked (?) but is that OK because of the limited ROM (he's only lowering the bar to his knees).

Dorian above anything else, does what works for him. Like doing Smith squats instead of BB squats or modifying a standard exercise to maximize stress on specific muscles.

Keeping you knees straighter means you don't have to go down as far = less work on lower back. He explains this in the video. But if you have horrible hamstring flexibility, you might only be able to move 5 inch if you do it his way. BB.com doesn't make the rules.