At Victory Performance, I am the lead middle school coach. I love getting to work with this group of young people and be able to introduce them to the foundations and fundamentals of a quality strength and conditioning program! One of the first things we cover with athletes is the First Fundamental of Strength Training. If you haven't heard of that before, check out our blog on that here.
When introducing middle schoolers to the proper form for a Romanian Deadlift (RDL), I always emphasize the importance of a couple of different things. The two components that often cause the most problems are maintaining a neutral spine and pushing the hips back.
A neutral spine is one of the most important elements of RDL form. Many athletes instinctively round their backs, which can eventually lead to injury over time. I constantly remind athletes to keep a neutral spine and maintain a straight line from the neck to the tailbone. To practice this, I like to use a pole/dowel and have the athletes position it along their spine. As they drive their hips back, the dowel should stay in contact with the back of their head, upper back, and top of their butt. If at any moment the dowel is not in contact with these three spots, that means they do not have a neutral spine. It is important to take time and try to get this down before adding any weight.
The second key element of the RDL is learning how to hinge at the hips and drive your hips back, rather than bending at the spine. This can be tough for younger athletes because they might be used to bending at the knees in most lower body movements. An RDL, however, is a hip hinge, not a squat. To explain this, I have the athletes imagine a wall behind them, and their goal is to push their hips back to touch the wall, with only a slight bend at the knees. As this happens, this motion should allow their chest to lean forward and drop while their back stays flat.
It may take time to perfect these movements, but with consistent practice and attention to detail, athletes will improve both their technique and their confidence in the gym. Once athletes have a solid understanding of the neutral spine and hip hinge mechanics, this is when weight can be added to increase the strength and resiliency in their hamstrings, glutes, and low back.
If you have a middle schooler who loves to play sports or just needs someone to help teach them the basics of strength and conditioning, find a qualified strength and conditioning coach to help out!
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