{"id":71144,"date":"2019-07-16T18:14:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T18:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\/\/uncategorized\/how-and-why-to-single-leg-romanian-deadlift"},"modified":"2021-11-22T01:18:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T06:18:04","slug":"how-and-why-to-single-leg-romanian-deadlift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/how-and-why-to-single-leg-romanian-deadlift\/","title":{"rendered":"How and Why to Single Leg Romanian Deadlift"},"content":{"rendered":"

The posterior chain<\/a>\u2014you\u2019ve undoubtedly heard people waxing prolific about this topic, particularly in response to sedentary lifestyles. It\u2019s a great buzzword to make yourself sound smart while describing a very simple concept.<\/p>\n

The posterior chain<\/a>\u2014you\u2019ve undoubtedly heard people waxing prolific about this topic, particularly in response to sedentary lifestyles. It\u2019s a great buzzword to make yourself sound smart while describing a very simple concept.<\/p>\n

The posterior chain is the backside of your body\u2014basically everything you don\u2019t see when you stand in front of a mirror. Think back, butt<\/a>, and hamstrings. These muscles are a big deal. For athletes, they are the foundation of power<\/a>. For humans, they help keep you balanced, posturally aligned, and free from nagging pains.<\/p>\n

In our sedentary, mirror muscle-focused world these posterior muscles tend to lie dormant most of the day. Everything from our screens to our meals pulls us forward, crunching in on ourselves. Thus, the posterior chain muscles are the most important to train and there is no greater exercise for posterior chain development than the single-leg Romanian deadlift<\/a> (1-leg RDL).<\/strong><\/p>\n

It stands to reason that before you can do a 1-leg RDL, you should be pretty good at RDLing on two feet. It is critical to master the RDL<\/a> and the deadlift<\/a>, the RDL’s more popular big brother. Understanding these prerequisites allow for a good 1-leg RDL.<\/p>\n

Even if you need to spend more time perfecting your RDL and your deadlift, you should begin doing drills to prepare you for the 1-leg RDL (specifically, the scales as below), the quad stretch 1-leg RDL, and the walking 1-leg RDL.<\/p>\n

In fact, I have my athletes do these three drills every day, even before they are able to RDL. Once they\u2019ve mastered these bodyweight drills they are ready for the kettlebell, dumbbell, and barbell versions of the 1-leg RDL.<\/p>\n

RDL Scales<\/h2>\n
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  1. The Front Scale:<\/strong> Relax your shoulders, keep your back straight (don\u2019t lean back), lock both legs, point the toes on one foot, and lift that leg as high as possible without leaning back. Your ribs should remain over your pelvis and you should feel your hip flexor on the leg you lifted. Then bring the foot back down to prepare for the back scale.<\/li>\n
  2. The Back Scale: This is basically a 1-leg RDL without weight<\/strong>. Think about linking your body into one solid plank. With everything from your hands to the foot that you are about to elevate in a straight line, begin pushing your hips back. Do not think about trying to drop your chest lower. That only happens as a consequence of the hips pushing back. You are reaching your arms to the wall in front of you while driving your elevated heel to the back wall.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reach and lengthen more intentionally and you should feel the back of your shoulders<\/a> as well as your glute fire harder. Fight to keep both shoulders at the same height. Aim to do this slowly and under control.<\/p>\n

    Once you are parallel to the ground or your hips are as far back as they will go, push through the heel of the foot that is on the ground and extend your hips forward so that you are standing straight up again. Be careful not to do this by lifting your chest.<\/p>\n

    Repeat on the other side.<\/p>\n