Sports Institue Northern Ireland

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT	BY PETER SMYTH
The RDL is a whole body multi joint exercise that involves all of the major muscle groups in the body similar to the deadlift. Its main role is to teach the lifter the correct movement when learning the first pull of the clean from the ground to knee level. Our experience has shown us those athletes who learn the Olympic lifts (clean and jerk/snatch) in stages become more efficient when executing the full clean or snatch in the long run. Therefore efficient technique in the RDL is a key part of the learning process and long term skill development of the athlete in the weight room.
1. Starting Position The starting position is the same as the deadlift when using the RDL to develop clean technique. A wider grip can also be used to help learn correctly the first pull of the snatch. When holding the barbell the hook grip is generally recommended as grip strength usually fails first when using a normal closed grip. Ensure the back is in its neutral curve, shoulders are slightly in front of the bar, athlete is looking straight ahead and chest is upright before lifting.
2. First Pull The athlete begins the lift by pushing against the ground in a slow controlled fashion. The knees and hips should rise at the same rate keeping the back in the same shape, shoulders in front of the bar and looking straight ahead as shown in Picture 2. The athlete should focus on lifting the barbell using the quadriceps/hamstring muscle groups. Continue the movement until just below knee level. Return the bar to the ground still making sure the back remains in the same position and shoulders are slightly in front of the bar.
COMMON MISTAKES The most common mistake when novice athletes perform the RDL is failure of the hips to rise at the same rate as the knees. This is a very important teaching point when coaching the Olympic lifts. The RDL is used to help reinforce the first pull of the clean and snatch. Inexperienced athletes will start the lift either with the hips rising faster than the knees or the shoulders rising faster than the hips. Both of these scenarios should be avoided as they place greater stress on the hamstring/lower back. This will limit the amount of weight the athlete can lift and has the potential to cause injury. To correct this the athlete must reduce the load lifted and relearn the correct movement before increasing the amount lifted. The RDL should be felt in the quadriceps and hamstrings as these muscles can generate greater force than the back muscles during the first stage of the lift. Other mistakes to look out for include incorrect positioning of the shoulder at the start and inaccurate shoulder position when lowering the barbell to the ground on descent. Novice lifters will sit back on their heels with the shoulders staying behind the barbell. The coach should explain to the athlete to keep the hips higher and redistribute their weight more over the centre of the feet. As with all lifts start will low loads until the movement is correct before increasing the weight on the barbell. View the video>> (FILE SIZE 136KB - PLEASE ALLOW TIME TO DOWNLOAD)