“Should I do straight leg deadlifts instead of the regular deadlifts I have been doing?”
— John from Sacramento, CA
First, thanks for the question! We can’t have a Q&A without them. If anyone else has questions, you can email me or just include them in the comments.
Deadlifts? I do Romanian aka bent knee aka regular, mostly because that’s what I first learned, but also because I have always had tight hamstrings. On a visit to Orange Theory Fitness (OTF), they had us do straight leg deadlifts with dumbbells, and it felt counterproductive to my hamstring flexibility . . . or lack thereof.
Your question did make me wonder what other people had to say about deadlifts, so I did some research. Here’s what I found:
“Your best bet is to perform the romanian deadlift on leg day to target the hamstrings and glutes,” according to Muscle & Fitness Magazine. “The stiff-legged deadlift, meanwhile, should be performed at the end of your back workout (or other routine in which you train your lower back).”
As with most topics though, opinions vary.
“At The Glute Lab, we stick solely to American deadlifts and stiff legged deadlifts simply because we feel that the ADL is superior to the RDL and the stiff legged deadlift is superior to the straight leg deadlift,” says Brett Contreras, aka The Glute Guy. “Experiment to find the variations that work best for you.“
I like what Brett says last. Or as my good friend and training partner, Kevin Driskell, always reminds me . . . Listen to your body. Thanks again for the question, John. Keep them coming and Keep Moving!
FitAfter50 