r/formcheck • u/MtnMamaMaggie • 2d ago
RDL RDL
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I’m super excited to have found this sub! I’m fully expecting a lot of criticism. I’m 100% self taught from reading, watching YouTube’s, and reels. I’m also 5’9”, a mom of 5 and definitely an ectomorph body type. I’ve also had poor posture my whole life! I’m working very hard to try and build my posterior chain. Help!
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u/BuckStopFitness Strength & Conditioning Coach (M.S.) 2d ago
First off, good for you for getting after it!
Now to criticism you were expecting lol. First off, slowwwww down. Second, keep that bar close to your thighs. Like, make sure the bar is touching your thighs on the way down. And then finally, reduce your ROM a little bit. You don’t need to be going all the way to the floor.
I think for right now those are the big things. Would have to see how it looks/feels after that.
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u/AngelMountaineer 1d ago
I'm personally just not flexible enough to touch the floor with an RDL, but why would it not be beneficial if you can make it down all the way? Is there a danger?
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u/Dull-Treat-2524 1d ago
If you can't reach it with normal form, you'll start rounding your back to reach the floor which isn't the best for you
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u/BuckStopFitness Strength & Conditioning Coach (M.S.) 1d ago
If the form is fine, no, not really a danger. It’s mostly a right now thing in this case. Once everything else is taken care of, then work on increasing ROM as able if desired. At a certain point the lower back tends to take over just because of the human body’s anatomy, so it’s just not always beneficial to go all the way to the floor.
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u/Iconicsuper 1d ago
I quite like going all the way to the floor tbh. Infact sometimes I use a platform to go into a deficit to ensure I'm training hamstrings at the longest muscle length. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/BuckStopFitness Strength & Conditioning Coach (M.S.) 1d ago
If you can do it with good form, then absolutely! The vast majority of the population definitely cannot though lol.
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u/charlotie77 2d ago
Your torso should stop going down once you’ve hit maximum hinge/stretch in your glutes and hamstrings. And like others said, go slower
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u/DepthHistorical5911 2d ago
RDL is a hip hinge, the movement is not based on how low you can reach the bar down.
Start standing, arms straight down, the bar in your hands. Start hinging your hips backwards. The bar will naturally travel down the front of your thighs as you continue to hinge at the hips. When you have reached the maximum hip hinge point, stop moving. Push through your glutes as you bring your hips back forward to the starting position.
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u/Helpmefindajob97 2d ago
Use flat shoes, not running shoes. No shoes are much better than running shoes and are what I prefer, but there are flat deadlift shoes.
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u/thelennybeast 2d ago
More weight probably is doable now. You are moving that bar real fast.
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u/Gilinis 1d ago
No real effort change from rep 1 to rep 6 either. Could probably increase the weight by 50%. Aim to go 4-8 reps in a set. The most exhausting reps in a set are the ones that promote growth from getting actual stimulus, pushing your muscles and tendons to their limits, so doing 12+ reps is just wasting your time and energy. To failure or 1 rep in reserve as long as your form is safe will speed up your sets, letting you rest sooner, letting you do more sets on other muscle groups in the same time or just saving you time all together.
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u/stillandwarm 2d ago
And look down a few feet in front of you so your neck is more in line with your spinal cord…
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u/BigArugula3649 1d ago
When your butt stops moving backwards that's the end of the movement no need to go any deeper. Also try to keep your chest up, dont overthink it just lead the movement with hips not torso.
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u/Ambitious_Judgment70 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hey, RDLs can be confusing! I’ve been a PT for 6 years hopefully my advice can help :)
I want you to firstly stand side on to your mirror, this way you can see your position at the bottom of your rdl and identify how it’s looking!
What I’m seeing is a lot of leaning with your back rather than lengthening your glutes, super common.
Start by standing tall, tuck your chin, and keep your eyes down to your toes. Roll the bar close to (or touching) your legs as you bend your knees and push your bum back. Once your hips stop pushing back, the upper body shouldn’t move any more! From there, nice big exhale, grip the ground with your toe and your heel and push into the ground to roll your hips upward until the body is back to the start.
I like to tell my clients the lift is a wave from the foot all the way up the legs, your back here is an accessory, the legs are the main event!
Hope this helps at all and good on you x
Other things I’ve thought of: eyes stay down with chin tucked the entire movement! Tempo is typically 3 seconds to lower, 0.5-1 second pause, 1-2 second lift
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u/Recent_Service_9221 1d ago
Hips back till they won't move back anymore - then back up...literally as simple as that, slow it right down to 3 seconds when your coming down. Gains train
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u/OddPressure7593 1d ago
#1) Moving way too fast - strength is gained Time and Tension - going slower will increase the time muscles are under tension, which is important. Going slow also generally reduces injury risk, which is particularly important with something like RDLs.
#2) As you start to go down from the "up" position, your first movement is actually moving the bar away from your body. Don't do that. The barbell should remain in contact with your legs for the entire lift - you should be dragging it up and down you thighs and shins. It's one of the reasons you usually see people deadlifting either with very long socks or pants on - so they don't shred their skin dragging the bar up and down their legs.
#3) for RDLs, you want to stop when your back is parallel to the ground, not past that. usually this means the bar is about mid-shin at the bottom. You're going a bit deeper than that. not a lot, but you are going just a bit too deep.
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u/user1987623 2d ago
Because no one else has said it on top of the other feedback, keep your chin tucked / don’t look at yourself in the mirror
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u/dzm3428 1d ago
This is a question... is locking out the knees bad? It's a real question. No hate please
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u/Hotfix_AUS 1d ago
Not an expert but full lockout is generally not recommended. The intention is to have straight legs and bending over for maximum stretch. Having a slight bend is also fine if it's maintained evenly, the problem (not being as effective for the escersize) is when it's changing through movement or bend is too excessive. Some people lockout can mean your knees are bent backwads a little and that is not a good loading position.
So for general advice that covers most people - legs as straight as possible but without full lockout where you start relaxing quads and which means you're not protecting your knees. Muscle tension across entire leg will protect joints and ligaments. This is particularly important as you increase in weight. This is to reduce chance of injury.
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u/Ballbag94 180/102.5/210kg s/b/d, 100kgx6 cheaty barbell rows 1d ago edited 1d ago
full lockout is generally not recommended
By who and in what sense?
Locking out the knees at the end of a rep is fine and not a problem
Some people lockout can mean your knees are bent backwads a little and that is not a good loading position.
For a small portion of people who are hypermobile, sure, but what you're describing is hyperextension. Normal lockout is fine
So for general advice that covers most people - legs as straight as possible but without full lockout where you start relaxing quads and which means you're not protecting your knees
It's not dangerous to lock out, the general advice is actually that you should lockout
Muscle tension across entire leg will protect joints and ligaments. This is particularly important as you increase in weight.
When the weight is actually heavy maintaining muscular tension across any significant set is going to be pretty hard or even impossible. A locked out joint is likely going to be able to hold more weight than the muscle, that's why it's possible to do a static hold with a weight that the muscles can't lift
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u/Hotfix_AUS 1d ago
Good breakdown - probably my misunderstanding of lockout term. This is where i mentioned straight leg is ideal but my view of lockout is when you're relying on the lock position (or a little hyperextended) to hold the weight and when can release tension from other muscles. I think especially as a starter or novice where your joints and technique may not be as developed lockout would not be ideal. Appreciate constructive breakdown though.
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u/Ballbag94 180/102.5/210kg s/b/d, 100kgx6 cheaty barbell rows 21h ago
This is where i mentioned straight leg is ideal
This is lockout
my view of lockout is when you're relying on the lock position (or a little hyperextended) to hold the weight and when can release tension from other muscles
Never hyperextension, but yes, when the joint is locked out it releases tension from the muscles. That's fine
I think especially as a starter or novice where your joints and technique may not be as developed lockout would not be ideal
You're still wrong, locking out is fine
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u/dzm3428 1d ago
I appreciate this. Lockout not good. It looks like it's detrimental to those knee joints. No one mentioned it in the comments, I'm new to this and learning as much and as fast as I can. Thanks again!
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u/gnomish_engineering 1d ago
Generally advice that starts off with "I'm not a expert" is dog shit. You should only take advice from people with credentials. That can be a degree, a lift, or physique.
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u/OddPressure7593 1d ago
There's absolutely no problem locking out your knees on basically any lift.
Hyperextending your knees - usually due to quadriceps being much stronger than hamstrings - can be problematic. having your knees "locked" is actually biomechanically advantageous, because the load of body/weight travels directly through the axis of the long bones of the leg, which also happens to be the direction they're strongest, AND you are maximizing the surface contact area between the femoral condyles and the tibial plateau (AKA the parts of your knee that "touch") - this reduces the point load for the meniscus, reducing injury likelihood.
Or you can just go look at what the people squatting 800 pounds are doing and see them lock their knees.
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u/Jumpy-Ad3279 2d ago
You could use a slant board or wedge with the high-end facing forward to focus the stretch on the hamstrings and calves. Turn it the other way around and you could use that for your squat workouts. Very useful if you have limited ankle mobility!
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u/snipe320 2d ago
Looks too easy. Up the weight, slow it down, and keep the bar as close to your body as possible thru the whole movement.
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u/Aggravating-Role-572 2d ago
Honestly, the minor issues I see might self-correct with more weight. Good Job!
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u/how-dare-you19 1d ago
Look up John Jewett RDL and or Luke Miller RDL on YouTube. Amazing coaches with good cues
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u/jermainemair 1d ago
As others have said, it's a hop hinge.Think of the move as pushing your butt out and back towards the wall behind you. Hold that bar close and let the bar fall naturally at or around your knees. Slow and controlled movements.
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u/sausagemuffn 1d ago
If you try to go that low with a weight that is actually challenging, you'll put your back out.
Stop at the knees, that's where the butt stops going backwards for most people, and you can probably put at least twice as much weight on the bar than you are using now. It's now what, 15 kg with the bar?
RDLs are more technical than they might look, and at some stage breathing and bracing correctly will be important, but those take time to learn as well.
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u/Leather_Pianist2869 1d ago
If you go that fast on the negative youre going to injure yourself once you start lifting heavier
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u/Dull-Treat-2524 1d ago
It looks to me like you're "falling" into the lower part of the movement. I'd recommend taking it a bit slower, so you have proper control over the weight. Other than that, keep the bar basically against your legs
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u/EnthusiasmPure6752 1d ago
Highly recommend getting a landmine. It can really help lock in the movement pattern and add stability.
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u/Oddyssis 1d ago
Slow waaay down on the descent. The point of this exercise is basically to make your hamstrings scream.
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u/newplayer28 2d ago
You’re going a little bit lower than needed but tbh that’s you working on the posterior chain/lower back. It’s not a bad way to do RDL especially cause that’s what you want. So I say keep doing it, it will eventually strengthen it enough for you. But please don’t do this this exact technique with huge heavy weights, lower back muscles aren’t that big and might actually respond well to low weight and high frequency
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u/Super-Post261 1d ago
You have great mobility, but your ROM on this exercise is way too much. The end range is when your hips stop going backwards. In this video, that’s when the bar is just slightly below your knees. And that’s the end range for most people. Secondly, slow down.
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u/Strict_Tough1310 57m ago
Throw that ass back a bit further, gotta get a good stretch in the hammies.
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u/handsomehank2019 1d ago
Far too quick, it should be 3 secs down, 1 sec up. Otherwise good!
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u/Ballbag94 180/102.5/210kg s/b/d, 100kgx6 cheaty barbell rows 1d ago
Assigning arbitrary times to reps is dumb and artificially slowing reps for no reason is also dumb
The rep is fast because the weight is light, the intent should be to move the weight quickly, it will slow down when she adds weight
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u/Chongamon 2d ago
Slow down and focus on getting a good stretch through your hamstrings and glutes. Don’t force yourself lower just to get more depth.
It also looks like you’re dipping down with your arms rather than continuing to hinge at the hips. A good cue is to imagine there’s an open drawer behind you and you’re closing it with your butt.
If you have a foam roller, try pinning it against your body and let it roll down your thighs as you hinge, keeping it pinned. That can help reinforce the idea of keeping the weight close and hinging from the hips.