What's going on nation? I'm Scott from Muscularstrength.com and
today's video is going to come as a blessing for all of you
who can't quite seem to build big and strong hamstrings
in fact guys the Romanian deadlift
which is one of the best hamstring muscle building exercises you can do is one of the hardest
exercises for me to teach my clients who I coach online over
Skype and it's because it's a movement that requires
focus and control, but unfortunately
most people just end up bending over instead of feeling that deep stretch in the hamstrings.
Remember that the Romanian deadlift will always trump
exercises like seated leg curls or prone leg curls
because the Romanian deadlift allows you to work your glutes and
hamstrings synergistically which carries over to other movements like squats and deadlifts.
Seated in prone leg curls teach your hamstrings to actually work in isolation
which if that's all you do for hamstrings can actually result in weakness or an injury over time.
So if you've been avoiding Romanian deadlifts because you don't feel them in your
hamstrings or you just end up with a sore lower back
I have an interesting hack that you can utilize to help build a stronger mind muscle connection
for more gains, but before we get started be sure to click that notification bell.
So you never miss a new video upload from me.
The trick is this guys, instead of hitting Romanians first
I want you to start your workout with a barbell hack squat
and this also goes if you start leg workouts
with barbell squats go from squats to the barbell hack squat and
then to Romanians the reason being is because if you're not feeling your hamstrings during a Romanian deadlift
it's because your lower back muscles are activating too much most likely due to trying to focus more on
keeping your chest up or spinal extension instead of sitting back. To me
this means that you haven't managed to establish or reinforce the
proper firing pattern for the Romanian deadlift.
So, how do you fix it?
Well
you fix it by eliminating the source of the problem, which is spinal extension
because just like the Barbell hack squat
the Romanian deadlift is a movement that relies on hip extension and hip flexion.
You're not actually bending over at the waist and performing a Romanian.
In fact, your lower back should be remaining neutral.
It only looks like you're bending over because your hips are moving backwards
and now this is where the barbell hack squat comes into play performing
the barbell hack squat first will help enforce the proper movement pattern
before you perform your heavy romanians you are essentially
pre activating that glute and hamstring
combination allowing your hips to fire properly by activating your glutes and hamstrings
synergistically and now the reason this works
so well is actually twofold.
Number one proper form for any deadlift is to eliminate
spinal extension and flexion and solely rely on the pushing through the legs and hips and number two
while the hack squat is still a quad dominant movement it
inevitably activates the glutes and hamstrings because the Barbell is now behind your legs
which means there will be less knee flexion and more hip flexion at the bottom of the movement.
So on your next workout guys, try hitting four to five sets of the barbell hack squat prior to your Romanian deadlifts
even if you're just doing hamstrings that day do four to five sets of
light weight just to get the movement down and pre activate.
I guarantee most of you will even be able to lift more weight with the Romanians because now your posture is
enhanced from the hack squats pre activating your glutes and hamstrings.
And now I know some of you probably assumed you would lift less weight because
you might feel pre exhausted from the hack squats
but quite the opposite will occur, your glutes and hamstrings are primed to lift that weight and
dominate the movement. Be sure to smash that like and subscribe button if you learned something new today.
And if you're looking for a full 12 week program
I have lots to choose from on my website Muscularstrength.com
and I'll even give you guys a code for one month free and
as always will good stuff coming
See ya