Who doesn’t want to loosen up their hips and trunk while building strong hamstrings and glutes?!
It is common to encounter youth athletes and active adults in athletic physical therapy and injury rehabilitation settings who have tight posterior hips and stiff rib cages. This limits the amount of rotation that they available through the trunk and reduces mobility in a variety of different directions within the hips.
As a result, more stress is placed onto the lower back, knees, and other areas of the body. Overuse injuries often follow that send people to physical therapy, including general lower back pain, lumbar disc injuries, knee arthritis, meniscus injuries, etc.
The good news is that the root causes of these kinds of injuries can be addressed and often do not require a boring home exercise program.
The Single Leg RDL (Romanian Deadlift) is a fantastic drill that you can implement into your workout routine to improve your hip/trunk mobility and strengthen your glutes/hamstrings.
This drill is particularly powerful for rotational athletes like golfers, tennis players, lacrosse players, and hockey players.
We typically start our patients and training clients with the kickstand version of the Single Leg RDL before progressing to the more advanced versions below.
Kickstand RDL (front leg emphasis)
Kickstand RDL with Foot on Wall
The key with these activities is to ensure that you feel the back of your hip, glute, and hamstring working (on the working leg), while also feeling your abs working. You should not be feeling your lower back at any point during the drill.
Are you interested in learning more ways that you can adjust your exercise program to correct old injuries, improve your performance and/or stay pain free? If so, simply contact us!
