In training athletes at AC Flora High School in Columbia, S.C. and Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., one of my go-to exercises is the single-leg Romanian deadlift. This exercise targets the hamstrings and glutes, and because it is a single leg movement, it also trains balance and can help eliminate any asymmetries in the body from right leg to left leg. Additionally, when athletes perform the exercise with one dumbbell, it trains the core in anti-rotation.

Many athletes have weak hamstrings and weak glutes. The demands of sports like basketball, soccer, and volleyball place a high emphasis on jumping, quick burst running, and abrupt stopping—and all these movements are very quad dominant. It is vital, especially for these athletes, to target both the hamstrings and glutes when strength training to balance out that strength imbalance. One of the reasons I want my athletes to have strong hamstrings and glutes is because these muscles play a major role in protecting the ACL when landing from a jump and planting and cutting.

The Romanian deadlift (RDL) is a staple in my programs because it trains the posterior chain, a group of muscles on the backside of the body. All athletes should train both the muscles in their backside and frontside.

The single-leg RDL does this—and more, because the hip hinge occurs while standing on one leg. This movement is much more difficult to perform. It is great for athletes as they are on one leg a lot of the time in their sport.

As a first step, athletes should be taught the double legged RDL. They can then progress to the single leg RDL. The cues for the Romanian Deadlift are as follows:

1.       The feet should be about hip width apart.

2.       The knees should be slightly flexed.

3.       As you descend, your back should stay flat and the shoulders should be pulled back.

4.       The hips should hinge and be pushed back as you go down while the knees stay slightly flexed.

5.       The barbell should stay close to the body during the entire movement and should be lowered to just below the knee.

6.       As you bring the bar back to starting position, focus on squeezing the glutes.

The cues for the single-leg RDL are similar to the above, with these two additions:

1.       The rear leg should stay in line with the torso for the entire movement. Lock in the rear leg by squeezing and extending the glute.

2.       Hinge at the hips and feel a stretch in the hamstrings of the leg that you are standing on.

When doing the single-leg RDL for the first time, the athlete should first practice the movement with no weight. When adding weight, I like to use a contra-lateral load. That means the weight is in the opposite hand so the exercise is also working the anti-rotation of the core.

Below is a video that shows the movement in more detail.

By Chris Beardsley

Chris Beardsley (Google Scholar, ResearchGate) graduated from Durham University with a Masters Degree in 2001. He since contributed to the fields of sports science and sports medicine by working alongside researchers from Team GB boxing, the School of Sport and Recreation at Auckland University of Technology, the Faculty of Sport at the University of Ljubljana, the Department of Sport at Staffordshire University, and the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University.

For more great information regarding strength and conditioning follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram

Although it is the largest muscle in the body, the gluteus maximus has historically not been a major focus of strength training research.

However, there are a number of electromyography (EMG) studies that help us understand how it can be developed most effectively.

Firstly, gluteus maximus EMG amplitude is reduced during isometric hip extension when the hip is flexed, compared to when it is fully extended.

Therefore, exercises with peak contractions in high degrees of hip flexion (such as squats) are likely to be less effective for strengthening the glutes, compared to exercises with peak contractions close to full hip extension (such as hip thrusts).

Secondly, gluteus maximus EMG amplitude is increased during prone hip extension by greater hip abduction, and by greater hip external rotation.

Taken together, these finding indicate that the gluteus maximus is more strongly activated when it is shortened (full hip extension, abduction, and external rotation) than when it is lengthened.

Thirdly, gluteus maximus EMG amplitude is greater when the knee is flexed to 90 degrees, compared to when the knee is fully extended. This is probably because a straight leg leads to more hamstrings involvement in hip extension.

Therefore, exercises that involve hip extension while the knee is more extended (such as deadlifts) are likely to be less effective for strengthening the glutes, compared to exercises that involve hip extension while the knee is flexed to around 90 degrees (such as hip thrusts).

What do these studies mean?

In summary, it seems likely that the best position for producing maximum tension in the gluteus maximus is full hip extension and 90 degrees of knee flexion. This is where the gluteus maximus muscle is shortest, and also where hamstrings involvement is least.

Unsurprisingly, this is the exact position used for manual muscle strength testing.

In addition, it is the top position of the hip thrust exercise, which probably explains why this lift is so effective for glute training.

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

By Katrin Koch
Katrin Koch, CSCS, is the Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at the University of Georgia.

The University of Georgia boasts one of the premier men’s tennis programs in the country. Last year, it captured its fourth-straight Southeastern Conference Championship and made its 23rd NCAA semifinals appearance. One secret to its success is its work on strength and conditioning.

The squad works out year-round, including during the spring competitive season. We dive right into the spring in-season less than a week after players return from winter break. The focus of our conditioning sessions during this time is agility. Some of the exercises we do are ladders with bands, lane drills, Murray drills, slalom step-throughs, side-steps, call-outs, triangle call-outs, and court-tempo runs. The athletes complete four to six sets of each activity, with one to two minutes of rest in between.

Due to the increased practice volume during the spring in-season, I put a lot of emphasis on athletes’ proper execution of these activities. When the squad conditions following a two-hour practice, I know the players have likely used up most of their glycogen stores and might get sloppy with their form. However, forcing them to do each drill correctly when fatigued helps them become more disciplined, which should pay off during long, grueling matches.

The team lifts twice a week during the spring in-season, and the aim is to maintain the strength gains made in the fall. I usually run the players through a strength exercise supersetted with an explosive movement in the same muscle group to increase their power outputs. Here’s a sample workout week:

DAY ONE
Prehab
TRX Single-leg squat……………2×5
TRX rows……………………………2×6
Purple band ankle series………..x8
Miniband walk……………………….x6
Pillar push-ups………………………x8
TRX YTWL’s……………………….2×5
Keiser hip pull-throughs………..2×8

Exercises
Box jumps……………………………..4×6
DynaMax ball snap-down…………3×5
Dumbbell snatch…………………….3×6
Keiser with pull down………………3×8
Single-arm landmine press………3×5
45-degree split-jumps……………..3×4
Keiser standing abs………………..3×10
Med ball crossover abs…………..3×10
Split-stance Keiser bar-chops….3×8
Abs (30 sec. on, 10 sec. off)……6 min.
Foam roll or partner stretch

DAY TWO
Prehab
Piriformis to lunge……………………….2×6
Single-leg squat unilateral reach…..2×3
Figure four stretch……………………..20 sec. ea.
Wrist roll……………………………………x2
Physio ball single-leg glute bridge…2×6
YTWL’s on physio ball…………………2×6
TRX squat…………………………………2×6

Exercises
Bike at 16 mph for half-mile……………….x5
Crossover step-ups………………………….x8
Slamdowns……………………………………..x8
Bench squat jumps…………………………..x10
Full sit-ups………………………………………x20
Alt straddle jump………………………………x8
Burpee to chin-up…………………………….x3
Single-leg rear foot elevated squat…….x6
Foam roll or partner stretch