Okay I'm a deadlifing expert...sorry for blowing my own horn he he he ..
Stiff leg deads are the single best ham movement out there for adding mass bar none. It also is great for the lumbar muscles and butt as well as the entire upper mid back and traps.
SLDL were a favorite of the smart training Dorain Yates and are often used by pwerlifters, in some camps, and Olympic lifters.
This is how you do them....
Its best to use a regular grip with wrist straps as the competition style grip you often see in the regular deadlift can cause upper body torque since you are not "re-setting" after each rep.
This exercise is the most misunderstood and poorly executed of all BB exercises and has screwed up many a back as a result. Almost nobody does them correctly.
Best instruction will come from either an Olympic lifter or power lifter as very few BBers really know how to do these.
#1. Usae a regular grip and you need to use wrist straps or your grip will give out before the low back and hams.
#2. The movement starts with a very conscious pelvic tilt at the HIP. You pivit at the hip and push your butt back.
The knees should be very slightly unlocked since keeping the knees locked will limit the weight you can use, as well as potentially screw up the knees and low back.
#3. NEVER EVER EVER go down to the point where you touch the top of your instep and i don't care how flexible you are. In time you will hurt your lower back if you insist on doing this especially when you start using some serious weight. I know a fellow that is extremely flexible and he used to touch the top of his feet....one day he blew out his back big time while finishing a rep with over 400 pounds....he has never been the same since.
The shearing force generated at the low back greatly increases as you pass mid shin
Go down to mid shin and thats it...plenty deep and a good stretch IF the lower back is kept flat and the pivit is at the hip and not the low back.
#4. As I said...keep the low back flat. an arched back is not needed and will limit the weight you can use....but keep the back FLAT. Head needs to be looking up in the mirror at all times.
#5. Keep the bar as close to your legs as possible at all times.
#5. Do the movement slowly and without any explosive movement. Take your time and don't rush the reps as the pain increases. Properly done a set of SLDL will have you taking many deep breathes before descending after the 6th rep or so
#6. Never go to utter failure as this is too risky.
You should be able , in time , to stiff leg deadlift a lot of weight and almost as much as you squat, believe it or not.
You can and should do at least 10 reps per set and better yet 12-15. Hams do respond well to higher reps just like the quads and especially with the SLDL. I recommend lower reps be left for the leg curl.
Two work sets of 10-15 done properly will be plenty.
After the two work sets do one all out set of back extensions with weight in the hyperextension bench.
You could then do a couple of work sets in the regular leg curl machine although olympic lifters almost never do this exercise and they have fantastic hams.
Also let it be known that squating properly(upper legs parallel to the floor at the bottom) and deep leg pressing works the hams pretty good too.
I was going to include the technique of the Romanian deadlift, which I have done while training as an Olympic lifter, which is slightly different, but I think one should master the regular SLDL first as the Romanian style is more complicated.
Hope this helps
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