The RDL is one of my favorite exercises. I have a feeling the single-leg RDL's will not be! I will be attempting them for the first time tonight. They so remind me of the one-point DB rows in Stage 2, which I had such a hard time with.
Obviously, the weight on the single-leg RDL's will be WAY lower than my RDL weight load. Any recommendations on form, starting weight, tips on this exercise. I want to get it right and nail it. If not, I fear I will just do regular RDL's if I get frustrated with my lack of balance. Practice makes perfect in the case of single-leg RDL's?
I love this movement too. It will find any weaknesses you have in your hips and make you very aware of them! Here's video from Mike Boyle's site again. He teaches the movement holding only one DB, which is the way I learned to do it. NR4W shows two DB's. I don't feel strongly about whether you hold one or two DB's. This video is excellent.
You want to keep that long straight line from the top of your head to your heel. Think of it as a pendulum (remember those wooden woodpeckers that tipped their nose into a glass of water? like that!). The supporting knee is soft. Keep your weight on your heel. Reach back with the back heel. Keep your spine neutral and your chest up. You should feel the work in the glute and glute medius of the supporting leg, especially on the return to standing portion of the lift (the concentric contraction) if you've kept your balance. Remember that balance is assisted by breath control and controlled movement.
__________________ Lisa Holladay, CSCS
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
--Thomas Carlyle
If you want additional reading, Mike Robertson's Single-Leg Supplements talks about and shows excellent pictures of the single-leg RDL (pictures of that bandanna guy from Ball State that I love so much). And Mike Boyle's Strong Athlete, Zero Injuries article has a video of Mike doing single-leg RDL's.
Both articles are worth reading. You'll learn something.
__________________ Lisa Holladay, CSCS
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
--Thomas Carlyle
Lisa, I loved these! Far easier for me than the one-point rows and just felt way better! Interestingly, when my dominant leg was on the ground I had more trouble than when my non-dominant leg was on the ground. I really look forward to gaining strength on these. I also found that I was much more steady if I really concentrated and braced myself while doing them. I also used one dumbbell held with both hands by the end.
I don't go through quite the range of motion as the girl in the video. My focus is on maintaining the lumbar curve, and I actually have a "softer" supporting leg with a little more flex.
Did them today with DBs in both hands. One of my favorite exercises!
__________________ Megaloi -- My Blog
"Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers."
- Mignon McLaughlin
Lisa~......I went back to the book and was reading about this movement. It says to use light-weight DB's for this exercise. How heavy can or should we go with this exercise? I've been upping my weights as I am able, but now I am wondering if we are supposed to keep them light (and are we calling 10 lb db's light or what?) for some reason. As more and more of us rotate into Stage 3, I am seeing some pretty heavy DB's being used for these single-leg RDL's (getting there myself). Is this OK?
The reps are so low (6 in stage 3, and then 4 in stage 5) that I think we've got to increase the weight proportionately. I read the "light" comment in the exercise description to mean light relative to your standard bilateral deadlift. Even though this is a deadlift, you can't use nearly as much weight as you can when you're standing on two feet.
How much weight is appropriate is determined by an individual's ability to execute the exercise with good form. For the single-leg RDL, I'd look for the ability to return to standing under control. If you can control your balance, especially during the concentric contraction of the working glutes, then the load is not too heavy.
__________________ Lisa Holladay, CSCS
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
--Thomas Carlyle
Single-leg RDL's
Linear Mode
