Can someone explain how exactly the hamstrings contribute in stiff leg deadlifts?

[Biggerp73]

I have never understood this and always sort of thought it was mostly a psychological placebo effect since you are actually extending the knee (quad) thus doing the opposite of what the hamstring normally does. It seems kind of like focusing on your tricep while doing a curl. So how does the hamstring contribute exactly?

 

[gotgame]

Pelvis tilts forward a few degrees and inferior pubic ramis tilts back and up. Common hamstring tendon origin is there. Pulls on hamstring when leaning forward. Distal insertion below knee. When pulling up the weight up the hamstring contracts and works to upright your pelvis and pull the inferior ramis "down".

 

[Joshua82]

The hamstrings cross your hips so they contract when you go into hip extension.

 

[Biggerp73]

I feel like I need a visual graphic of the specific muscle contractions to be able to see what you guys are talking about

 

[hawkmoon]

I feel like I need a visual graphic of the specific muscle contractions to be able to see what you guys are talking about

There loads in google image search.

I just did a search and I am once again AMAZED and how much power the human body can generate with these soft tissues and relatively small anchoring points.
When I see guys breaking work records in deadlifting, etc I am thinking about all the fibers, tendons, and ligaments holding up that iron. Stunning when I think about it.

 

[Dugbet]

I never understood this exercise, so many people do it, but I don't feel the hams working as I would like, bette option IMO: Nordic falls is king.

 

[lookslikesausage]

To OP and Dugbet: Do you feel it in your hams when/if you do Reverse Hypers?

 

[Dugbet]

Yes, Nordic falls, reverse hypers, pull through and Hip Thrusts are the exercises I use for glutes/hams development, then I add some cables or resistance bands for focus in hams

 

[TripppleP]

Look up anatomy chart. If the hamstring shortens it extends the hip joint as well as flex the knee. And I never heard of "stiff leg" deadlift. I have heard of straight leg and Romanian deadlifts. With straight leg deadlift your knee should be close to straight and Romanian the knee will be bent a little. However in each you focus on hip movement and not the knee.

You can understand the most common hamstring stretch is to touch your toes. You are lengthening the hamstring group. Therefore if your trunk goes the opposite way the hamstring has to shorten.

 

[TripppleP]

Try leaning forward with your spine in neutral. Put a broom stick behind your back and lean forward. Don't let your back stop touching the broom stick. This will keep your back in neutral. Lean forward and feel your hamstrings stretch from right underneath you butt to the back of your knee. Then go up and down trying to contract you hams while not letting your back from touching the broom stick. It also helps to stretch the hamstrings before hand. If you cannot lean forward without letting your back off the broom stick then your hams are really tight.

Its a compound movement so your calves, ass and low back also will engage with the movement you just need to try and feel the hams doing the work and keep the other body parts flexed but not doing the bulk of the movement.

 

[juggy38]

Most do the RDL wrong. You have to keep the back neutral, and the hips have to go back, then come back forward. Most turn it into a low back exercise.

A good training technique is to stand a few feet in front of a wall. With no weight, practice keeping a neutral spine, and touch the wall with your ass, then bring your hips back in line with your body. Most don’t realize the active ROM is drastically shorter than most think ifnyou keep your knees from flexing and properly hip hinge

 

[juggy38]

Hypertrophy is so great becise it is an Active stretch under load, a long eccentric and time under tension.

I honestly don’t think you can have GREAT hams unless you master RDLs or good mornings. (I use RDL/SLDL interchangeably, as ifnyou habe good hamstring flexibility SLDL from the floor will wreck your hams too)

 

[Fa Seeshus]

I feel one leg RDLs the most. When you push the other leg back it forces your low back to stay flat and creates a purer hip hinge. This is one exercise I like to do in the Jones machine (the Smith that also moves forward and backwards).

 

[madg]

I feel one leg RDLs the most. When you push the other leg back it forces your low back to stay flat and creates a purer hip hinge. This is one exercise I like to do in the Jones machine (the Smith that also moves forward and backwards).

One leg RDLs is not something you hear everyday !

Damn you have me curious , will try tomorow morning

 

[Love_to_Bodybuild]

they just stretch them, I have thrown them in a leg day recently using dumbbells

for a decade i was doing deads and sldl in the same week for ten years and up to 365 for 10 reps sldl, never again , it was through my twenties and early thirties, i used to stress cns too much in an average week

seated hamstring url has been shown in studies to stretch hamstrings greater than any other exercise

 

[Fa Seeshus]

One leg RDLs is not something you hear everyday !

Damn you have me curious , will try tomorow morning

Good luck on the balance if you are using a barbell. I prefer two kettlebells or dumbells, or if balance really sucks, use one and let the other hand slide down the back of an incline bench as you go down.

 

[LK3]

i dont understand how someone can miss this? lol
have you ever done them?
stiff leg dl, sumo leg press, to some degree dl all destroy hams. hams flax in two directions and leg curls basically hit only one direction.

drop the wieght and figure out the lift. low wieght slow reps, long stretch.

 

[Dens228]

they just stretch them, I have thrown them in a leg day recently using dumbbells

for a decade i was doing deads and sldl in the same week for ten years and up to 365 for 10 reps sldl, never again , it was through my twenties and early thirties, i used to stress cns too much in an average week

seated hamstring url has been shown in studies to stretch hamstrings greater than any other exercise

Those make up about 90% of my hamstring training. I vary the rep range and rep cadence from day to day.

 

[MyNameIsJeff]

I would think that it's the same principle as for the biceps helping with shoulder flexion.

 

[Love_to_Bodybuild]

Those make up about 90% of my hamstring training. I vary the rep range and rep cadence from day to day.

They don't always , many times just this exercise is I'll do set after set of them and I have only done this exercise mainly on quad n hammie day