Romanian Deadlifts (RDL’s)
A very good exercise to isolate the hamstrings is RDL’s. With RDL’s it is not necessarily about the weight used, it is about the technique and ensuring that you target the hamstrings and feel them working during the movement.
- Keep the weight/bar as close to your body as possible throughout the exercise as this will allow you to keep your glutes and hips pushed back.
- The slight bend in the knees will help enable your hamstrings. The hamstrings are made up on three muscles - bicep femoris, semitendinosus an semimembranosus which work to both flex the knee joint, for example during a leg curl and extend the hips for example during an RDL.
Hamstrings are an important part of the posterior chain (lower back, glutes, hamstrings, calves). A lot of the posterior chain muscles are neglected because they are not mirror muscles, a lot of people focus on their upper body neglecting a major part of their body. Focusing on glutes and hamstring exercise will help keep your posture up right and also help prevent back problems. So why not give RDL’s a go, focus on that hamstring tension!
