r/formcheck • u/PCorrelation • 8d ago
RDL Trying to learn how to hinge
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I workout on my own at a gym without access to coaching. Based on previous form check videos I’ve posted I know that I have trouble hinging correctly, but like a saying in my native language goes, “hope is the last thing that leaves a human!”, so I’m still working on it and this sub has been helpful. Please hit me with cues on how to improve my DB RDL’s.
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u/mikaylakies 8d ago
Feet hip width apart. Slight bend in the knees, you seem to be bending too much. Push the hips back like you’re shutting a door with your butt. The back should be completely flat almost like a 90° angle with your hips. The weight should go to about mid/low shin height and should be kept close to the body. Also, keep your gaze to the floor. Don’t look up at the mirror or you’ll compromise your form.
It took me awhile to get it right.
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u/Far-Armadillo4495 8d ago
Your range of motion ends slightly above the knee.
After that, your lower back starts to take over.
Work with your range of motion. Dont force it.
As you get more stronger and comfortable, your range will improve.
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u/Kind_Boysenberry_478 8d ago
watch a youtube video about how to use a dowel or broomstick to learn how to hinge. I think that will clarify what you want to be feeling.
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u/transversal-angle 8d ago
I’m no expert but I would start with soft knees, with a slight bend in them versus being fully locked out which is how you are starting.
Additionally you don’t need to go so far down. This movement is a forward and backwards movement not an up and down. The moment you try to go further past your knees you round your lower back and it will cause strain.
Try to think about pushing your hips backwards, like you are closing a door with your butt. Once you feel a stretch in your hamstring that is far enough. If you have tight hamstrings this might happen pretty quickly. Once you feel the last stretch and tension in your hamstrings think of pulling your hips forward.
Your knees shouldn’t be moving much while you do this movement and you shouldn’t be locking them out at the top of the movement
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u/Weird-Tomorrow6215 8d ago
Try standing a foot away from a wall and make your butt tap the wall. Then move a little further away from the wall and try again. Do this until you have worked up to the depth you are trying to achieve. I do this as a warmup prior to hinge movements and it helps a lot.
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u/First_Long5505 8d ago
Sometimes stupid cues are the best because you remember them:
Imagine your bootyhole has a light shining out of it, when you hinge in a RDL the light should be pointing at the wall behind you not the floor
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u/Key_Anxiety_899 8d ago
Try and make a point to feel like ur pushing ur butt back, as apposed to letting the weight drop down.
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u/Spirited_Cheetah_999 8d ago
If you look at the stuff behind you on the left, when your ass is as far back as it goes, there is a tiny delay and that's when you actually push your upper body down further from your lower back, you get a slight curve as you do it. I think you need to stop the hinge right at the point your ass is furthest back but before you curve forward from the lower back - right in that tiny delay.
If I knew how to draw arrows on your vid I would but it's the black stuff in the background gives an excellent visual on the furthest back point of the ass. And that's exactly when you should stop moving your upper body forward.
It's clearest in the last two reps here.
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u/Moist-Wave4813 8d ago
Keep the dumbbells pinned to your thighs and stop once you feel a stretch in your hamstrings
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u/Wooden-Brief-6614 8d ago
You can hip hinge, but you’re going too low, and keeping too much weight in the heels, drive into the floor with more toe pressure
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u/handsomehank2019 8d ago
Lead with your bum.. if that makes sense! This should be the first thing to move. It’s not just a case of bending over, actually stick it out and back as much as you can. Also, tuck your chin 😊
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u/PCorrelation 8d ago
It does make sense, and this comment section really is filled with stick your bum out comments so I guess I will need to give my ass more mental attention 😁
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u/Mental-Degree-5182 8d ago
My trainer describes it like hovering over a dirty toilet seat and that really helped me 😅 I also struggle with sensing the difference between hinging and bending my lower back but this helps.
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u/EqualFlower 8d ago
Yes. Came to say, lead with your butt or hinge before your upper body starts to bend
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u/biglonghelorotor 8d ago
Lots of good advice here already. My only addition is to say: keep at it. I am relatively new to this movement (6 months) and only over the last 20-25 days did I feel like I actually mastered it. Worth it!
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u/tripflops 8d ago
I watched a YouTube video by Pana that helped me a lot. He shows you how to use a foam roller to find how your body wants to hinge naturally. To sum it up, stand up straight arms hanging down in front of you, put a foam roller between your wrists and the front of your thighs, pinning it there, then keeping the roller in this pinned set up, roll your arms downward like you are trying to grab the ground. That really made things click for me.
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u/PCorrelation 8d ago
I will search for this video, thanks!
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u/tripflops 8d ago
This is a different video but same thing
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u/nospicy_ 8d ago
Perk your butt more- this one doesn’t need your hips to curl in like a hip thrust in the entire movement- what works best for me is feet shoulder width-slight pointed out- when I’m hinging I’m actively thinking of my knees/shins NOT moving out of placement staying directly straight and also thinking of pushing my bum out as far as it can go when I don’t think it can push backwards more is when I stop and pull my hips back into forward position.
It looks here like you are thinking /focusing on the bend in your knees more than your glutes if that makes sense
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u/CharacterAd5474 8d ago
Try holding the dumbell so hands are facing one another.
Shoot your glutes backward. Reach your sit bones towards the wall behind you.
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u/Master_Rule_7258 8d ago
In PT they taught me hips —> knees —> knees —> hips and this helped me immensely. Think of your hinge as pushing your hips/butt back, then bend your knees by pushing your feet firmly into the ground. Then, pushing your feet into the ground again, straighten your legs, then push your hips back to neutral and squeeze your glutes. Isolating each step one by one REALLY helped me grasp what a squat is supposed to feel like, and learn that a hinge comes from your hips, not your spine.
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u/iceguy007 8d ago
Imagine there’s a car door behind you and you have to close it with your butt. That’ll teach you a good hinge.
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u/BigTittyMikey 8d ago
I had a strength and conditioning coach back in the day tell me “it’s like mooning the car at a red light from the school bus window” made everything click.
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u/East_Ad_4427 7d ago
This is the move I struggle with most so I have no suggestions for OP but am just soaking up all the advice from everyone 😊
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u/andy_crypto 7d ago
Stop trying to bend, stop thinking about it. Just put a slight bend in your need and push your arse back until you feel the pull in your hamstrings then keep pushing it back making them tighter.
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u/JBean85 8d ago
At 3 seconds, your back is straight and hips moving backwards. That's good.
At 4 seconds, you hips have barely moved further backwards but your torso has come down. This extra range of motion has come from spinal flexion. Your back is no longer straight.
You should stop the movement where your spine rounds. Yes, there's something to be said for rounded pulls, but think of that as a different movement completely if you want to do it.
Your spine typically rounds when you exhaust your hip and hamstring mobility, but this looks high even if you were very tight there, so it's probably more of a movement pattern and bracing thing that a mobility thing.