The hip hinge is one of the most fundamental human movements we teach at BSP NOVA, and we utilize it in many ways. We perform a hip hinge when we deadlift, jump, bent over row, or pose in a Hooters outfit (sorry Greg). A properly performed hip hinge allows us to use our hips to produce force and move loads while mitigating undue stress on our lower backs or other joints.

 

And a hip hinge isn’t just something used solely in the gym. Have you ever had to move furniture or shovel snow before? If you have, then you’ve done some variation of a hip hinge.

 

“Hey Mr. Dude Bro Guy Sir writing this blog, I thought this post was about Single Leg RDL’s (Romanian Deadlifts),” you thought to yourself.

 

Even if you didn’t initially think that, you did when you read it. Anyways, I’m talking about a normal hip hinge first because a single leg RDL is nearly the exact same movement as a hip hinge—the key difference being that it’s done on a single leg. That’s it.

 

Since the single leg RDL is just a hip hinge on one leg, then we must become proficient at a standard hip hinge first. It wouldn’t be fair to expect someone to do well with an advanced variation of something when they haven’t mastered the easier version first.

 

To better understand a hip hinge and single leg RDL, let’s examine each in turn. When teaching the hip hinge at BSP NOVA we are looking for a few key things, which are:

1. Starting a in tall and tight position
2. Unlocking the knees and hinging at the hips (duh) by reaching the hips backward (think hips go back as torso goes forward)
3. Reversing the movement by driving/pushing the floor away (NOT “pulling” with our lower backs)

 

 

The key points for the single leg RDL are similar, but there are a couple things worth noting:

1. Hips stay parallel with the floor and don’t rotate (the hips don’t lie)
2. Back leg reaches straight back, which should form a relatively straight line from head to heel (maintaining tall and tight)

 

Now, why should someone potentially start doing single leg RDL’s? Well, first and most importantly, they look pretty rad. We also program them to help with ankle, hip, and knee stability, lower body strength, and increased balance in general.

 

So by now, I hope you see they’re pretty rad and that you’ll be even more rad by mastering them.

 

Guide to Mastering the Single Leg RDL

Let’s take a look at some steps we might take someone through to master the single leg RDL (assuming they are proficient at a standard hip hinge first).

 

Bottom Up Single Leg RDL:

 

Hat tip to Quinn Hennoch of Clinical Athlete because I stole this from him. You can use this drill to feel more comfortable before going into your weighted single leg RDL, or as a standalone exercise.

 

How to:

• perform a regular hip hinge and pause at the bottom
• shift your weight over slightly so most of your body weight is on one leg
• once you feel comfortable on your stance leg (leg bearing your weight), slide the other foot backwards
• lift your back foot off the ground a couple of inches and pause
• while maintaining tall and tight, swing the back leg through to the start position

 

Leverbell Assisted Single Leg RDL:

 

I stole this drill from Marco Sanchez of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning when I saw him present it in Providence.

 

How to:

• hold the Leverbell in front of you on the same side as the leg that will be going back
• as you perform the single leg RDL reach the arm forward and drive the Leverbell into the ground to give you some assistance

 

Landmine Single Leg RDL:

 

Similar to the Leverbell, using a landmine gives us a way to perform the movement with assistance. The great thing about the landmine though, is that we can really load the movement up.

 

How To:

• hold the landmine in the same side arm of the leg that is going back
• if needed, drive the landmine into the piece anchoring it down to give you more stability
• think of the landmine staying in line with the down leg’s knee (we don’t want it floating out in front of our body)

 

2 KB/DB Single Leg RDL:

 

To further progress the movement we could do it free standing with two kettlebells or dumbbells. This variation takes away our ability to use assistance and forces us to rely solely on our own stability.

 

And There You Have It!

By now you have a better understanding of the single leg RDL, how important it is to learn the hip hinge first, and ways to progressively learn the movement. It’s a great exercise to program, but we rarely have a client performing them day one at BSP NOVA. We have to make an honest assessment of our client’s current skill level to make sure we’re putting them in the best position to be successful.