Lower back and hips

Hip Hinge: Romanian Deadlift

Teaches the fundamental hip hinge pattern: bending at your hips with a straight spine, building posterior chain strength that protects your back during lifting and bending.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand with feet hip width and knees softly bent

   Rest your hands on the fronts of your thighs, or hold a light weight if you are using one.

2. 2

   Set a long spine from your head to your tailbone

   Lift your chest and lengthen. This shape has to survive the whole movement, it is the point of the exercise.

3. 3

   Send your hips backwards and let your torso tip

   Push the hips back towards the wall behind you and let your upper body tip forward as one piece, hands sliding down your thighs. Your shins stay close to vertical.

4. 4

   Stop where your back starts to want to round

   You will feel the backs of your thighs long before you get low. Go less far rather than reaching lower, and set a chair behind you to touch if you want a target, or practise with no weight at all.

5. 5

   Drive your hips forward to stand back up

   Come up by pushing the hips through rather than pulling with your back. Repeat slowly for 30 to 60 seconds, quality over count.

What to watch for

The back rounding at the bottom of the hinge, especially if you are holding a weight. Stop the movement at the point your spine wants to curl and take the hips back less far, that point is your range for today.

Ways to adjust it

• Reduce range
• Chair support
• Unloaded practice

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.