Very effective exercises are Romanian and deadlift.
In terms of training, this exercise should not be the first - at the very beginning of your journey. Traction should be included in your training plan if you already have experience in training.
It is a mistake to believe that deadlift "drowns out lower back pain." If such pain occurs, it is necessary to exclude hypertonus of the piriformis muscle, hernia, protrusion and pinching of nerves. "Just keep swinging with a light weight" is not allowed, a doctor's consultation is necessary. For many people, traction really helps with back pain, because holding weight in this way helps to "release" nerve roots that are pinched due to incorrect posture during sedentary work. But no doctor will recommend that you "treat" your back with exercise.
In fitness, any back pain is the reason for excluding traction from the training plan.
Working muscles
Romanian traction is so loved for only one reason - it allows you not to work with the quadriceps, which means that it allows you to avoid increasing the volume of the hips "like a man." The weight rises due to the work of the biceps and buttocks.
§ Biceps femoral muscle
§ Buttocks
§ Flounder muscles
The abs, the broadest muscles of the back, the quadriceps and the oblique abdominal muscles work as stabilizers. This movement allows you to learn how to breathe properly in a deadlift under load, but does not help to increase the chest muscles. The muscles of the inner surface of the thighs are also included in the work during stabilization.
Confusion of concepts
"Female and male" coaches are very fond of saying that the deadlift is female, although this is not so at all.
Athletes are often confused:
§ Deadlift, that is, deadlift on straight legs;
§ Deadlift - competitive exercise in powerlifting;
§ Romanian deadlift
This exercise is often called "deadlift" in Russian-speaking coaching practice. The term is taken from English-language magazines. In Soviet textbooks on weightlifting, the movement was called "tilt with a barbell in hand", the "Romanian" deadlift as such did not stand out.
For your convenience, the "Romanian" deadlift is a tilt with a barbell with slightly bent knees. Bending the knees helps to overcome the dead point and lower the barbell lower. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, "Romanian traction" is not an exercise "isolating the hamstrings and buttocks", but a movement that shifts part of the load to the lower back. Therefore, in scientifically based training plans, it is performed with weights from small to medium and does not serve to set records.
Deadlift or deadlift with straight legs is called because of the blocked knees, this movement is more about the hamstrings and buttocks, and less about the lower back. The deadlift in the classics differs in that the weight falls to the floor each time, and pushes off from the floor with your feet. It is a mistake to think that deadlift in classical deadlift is a hybrid of squat and deadlift. The angle of bending at the knees may not be at all large, the difference is only in movement, more precisely in the vector of force application. The movement begins with pressing the feet to the floor and always begins with the work of the feet, not the back.
Technique of execution
Technically, one simple life hack will help you complete this movement. To begin with, learn to lean forward with a straight back, standing on straight legs. The position of the hands is to move along the hips.
Order of execution:
§ The barbell is taken by a straight grip. Gripping is not a fundamentally important aspect of the exercise; it requires more concentration on the work of the legs and buttocks
§ On inspiration, a forward tilt is performed with a straight back due to flexion in the hip joint
The knee joints are straightened and, as it were, "blocked", there is no need to move the knees
§ The depth of the slope is determined by the ability to maintain a straight back, as soon as the back begins to bend in the lumbar region, you need to start moving up
§ Permissible depth of inclination - any below the knee
§ The ascent occurs on exhalation
§ The movement is performed the required number of times, it is impossible to move the knees
§ You should not throw your head back, you should try to keep it in a neutral position, the neck is a continuation of the spine, you should not look at the ceiling, as some athletes do when lifting a lot of weight in the classic deadlift
Differences between types of exercise
How does Romanian traction differ from deadlift
Technical features:
§ The barbell is removed from the racks, a slight flexion is performed in both knee joints
§ The tilt is performed by bending the hip joint on exhalation. The task of the abdomen is to keep the spine stable
§ The rod descends smoothly
§ The reverse movement (lifting up) "begins" with the contraction of the gluteal muscles, exhalation continues with effort;
The Romanian deadlift resembles an ordinary deadlift, but with the Romanian deadlift, the barbell does not touch the floor
With deadlift, the bar is completely lowered to the floor. This provides a greater load, but also involves other muscles to a greater extent.
Which option to choose
Deadlift in the classics is an exercise for the development of strength and for the growth of muscle mass. The Romanian deadlift is designed for those who need to develop the muscles of the hips and buttocks, as well as strengthen the lower back, and the deadlift is designed for the isolated development of hamstrings and buttocks.
In the training plans, all three types of traction coincide to one degree or another. For a fitness specialist, Romanian traction is considered the safest option, but traction on straight legs is not available to everyone, it is mainly intended for people with good flexibility.
