SINGLE LEG ROMANIAN DEADLIFT

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What you’re targeting:

  • Gluteal musculature: especially gluteus medius
  • Hamstrings
  • Multifidi
  • Ankle and foot dynamic stabilizers:
    • Foot intrinsics: especially flexor hallucis brevis
    • Shin musculature: tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, fibularis longus and brevis
  • Lumbopelvic core musculature
  • Quadriceps
    • Knee extensor mechanism resilience (patellofemoral joint, patellar tendon/ligament, and quadriceps retinaculum)
      • Level of demand (scale of 1-5): 1
    • Forearms

What you need:

  • A weight: can be a kettle bell, dumbbell or household object like a gallon water jug

How to perform:

  • Position:
    • Stand tall with your feet together and a weight in your left hand
    • Establish an athletic foot posture on your right foot:
      • Foot tripod: you should be able to feel the ground underneath your heel, just below your big toe, and just below you small toe (blue dots in photo below)
      • Push your great toe down into the ground at 25% effort to establish stability through your medial arch via the flexor hallucis brevis
  • Movement:
    • Keeping your torso upright and your left leg straight, hinge forwards and lower the weight in your left hand towards the floor.  As you lower the weight to the floor keep your torso and left leg parallel to the floor.
    • Rise back up to tall standing by squeezing your right buttock (glute) muscle
    • Repeat on left side with weight in your right hand
  • Tips:
    • Imagine you have a camera on the front of your sternum: take a flat photo of the floor
      • Goal of eliminating and rotational tipping of your torso

What you should feel:

  • Muscle activation in your buttocks and back of your thigh (gluteal and hamstrings musculature), and throughout your foot and shin (ankle stabilizing musculature)

How many repetitions and how much weight?

  • Start with a light weight (5-10 lbs) and perform 10-20 repetitions. Complete 3-5 sets on each leg
  •  Progress weight in 5 lbs increments as neuromuscular control and balance improves