By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
Disclaimer:
The following exercise may pose a significant risk to some individuals.
If you decide to try this exercise, do so at your own risk. The
following article simply chronicles the author's own experiences
with the exercise. Your experience may not be as successful.
After watching Phil Stevens playing
around (if you call 405x20 "playing around") with this
exercise during his regular workouts at Bed & Barbell, I decided
to give this unusual drill a shot recently while I was in a knee-rehab
phase.
What's nice about the exercise is
that it's a great way to train full trunk/hip-extension, with significant
loads, while keeping stress off the knees.
We use bumper
plates with this drill, which allows us to actually
bounce the plates off of the floor between reps.
While it looks a bit haphazard, the bounce actually reduces loading
a bit when you're in the greatest amount of flexion, adding a
measure of protection to the exercise. If you've got bumpers,
give the bounce a try, and you'll find that it only takes a few
reps to become very precise and symmetrical with the bounce. If
you don't have bumpers, try a more controlled "touch and
go" technique with standard Olympic plates.
As the name of the
exercise implies, this is a stiff-leg deadlift, not a straight-leg
deadlift. Maintaining a small amount of knee flexion gives the
glutes a strong anchor via the TFL (tensor fascia latae)/IT-band
complex. Without this anchor, the glutes are unable to contribute
as strongly as they could otherwise, resulting in higher loads
to the remaining structures involved, and reducing the safety
of the exercise.
Another unusual aspect
of this exercise is that we don't keep the bar snug against the
legs, as you typically would during a standard deadlift, clean,
or snatch. There are two reasons for this- first, the speed used
in both directions make it very difficult to keep the bar any
closer than what's shown in the video. Second, as the bar is lowered,
the hips are forced aggressively backward, which means that even
though the bar doesn't stay against the legs, it remains well
within the center of gravity of the lifter-barbell unit.
This movement seems
more suited to repetition-work as opposed to maximum loading.
We suggest starting off with sets of 10 initially, and then once
you become comfortable with the movement, you might consider gradually
working up to 20 reps for a single set. Use straps so your grip
won't be the limiting factor in the exercise.
One caveat
is in order before you attempt this drill: it's important
that, at the bottom-most position, you're able to maintain
a neutral spine. This requires long hamstrings. If you
don't have the hamstring length required to keep your
spine neutral throughout the entire range of motion, simply
shorten the range of motion by placing elevated platforms
(perhaps in the form of small flooring squares or plates)
under your plates.
The bouncing
stiff-leg deadlift is a fantastic way to strengthen the
posterior chain with minimal load to the knees. It'll
pack lean mass onto your spinal erectors, glutes, and
hamstrings.
If you have
no known orthopedic issues, and you decide to try this
exercise, use caution for the first several sessions until
you're sure you can perform it safely with significant
loads. Good luck and be sure to post your experiences
by clicking the comments link under my photo below.
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About
The Author
His colleagues call him
an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients
call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability
to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself
a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout
school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods
are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious
results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing
demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The
TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s
circuit, with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009
Master’s World Championships.
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