RDL feedback

Chris Forbis · 05-21-2009, 06:07 PM

3 sets of 5 @ 140#
Set 2 @ 0:50, Set 3 @ 1:30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xoevo5Mwgk

I started doing these for the hamstring stretch. I've gotten pretty comfortable at 135#, so I thought I would see how more practiced eyes thought I was doing with it before I start ramping the weight up.

After this, no more videos for a while, I promise.

It is a borrowed camera anyway, so I think I'll spend a while getting stronger before worrying about filming again.

There were 3-4 minutes rest between those sets. The video merging was pretty seamless so it looks like I just walk away and back to hit the next set.

Allen Yeh · 05-21-2009, 06:23 PM

It looks pretty good, how do they feel? A trick that Dan John taught us with the RDL was to do it with your ass to a wall and to push your ass back as far as you could, then step a little bit further and repeat and keep doing that until you find the sweet spot.

Dave Van Skike · 05-21-2009, 06:51 PM

getting the hamstrings loaded like allen's describing has always worked for me. the other cue is like a bow and arrow, posterior chain is the bowstring.

of course, (standard disclaimer) nothing i say will work if you are an olympic lifter.

Robert Callahan · 05-21-2009, 08:11 PM

I thought a RDL has the legs staying much straighter and the lower back doing most of the work? These look like regular deadlifts that just don't go all the way to the ground... which would not be an RDL? I mean at the very least the back angle is supposed to go to parallel with the ground, or at least come close right? These look closer to 45 degrees than anything else.

Maybe I am mixing up SLDL or something... anyways, someone let me know if I am way off base

glennpendlay · 05-21-2009, 10:29 PM

The most important thing about an RDL, is the feel when the bar goes around the knee. Chris, I hate to say it, but I dont think you are getting this, based on the video. you need to get the feeling of pulling with the hamstring, WITHOUT extending the knee.

Chris Forbis · 05-22-2009, 03:25 AM

This is why I posted. Ok. Back to the drawing board on this for a few weeks. I'll try to get another video in a month or so.

Garrett Smith · 05-22-2009, 06:15 AM

My input would be:

Try for a more neutral head/neck position--you're really cranking into cervical extension IMO.

Once you unlock your knees at the top, pick a knee angle and maintain it throughout the rep. Your knees are significantly bending during the descent. We want bent knees, but if they keep bending, it becomes a DL.