The hip hinge or Romanian deadlift (RDL) is one of the best movements to perform to work your entire backside of the body (posterior chain).

The only problem many people we encounter have is they cannot bend through their hips while also not bending through their back. The following are some of the top mistakes that lead to this fault.

1 – Reaching with their arms rather than their butt

Many people treat the hip hinge like a toe touch exercise. They reach forward with their arms instead of pushing back with their hips. This cause the center of gravity to shift dramatically putting stress on the spine.

The Fix

Push your hips back and reach down toward your heels.

Rather than thinking of the hip hinge or RDL as an up and down lift think as it as a forward and back lift. The RDL is a hip-dominant lift with your hips traveling on a horizontal (back and forth) plane. By pushing your hips back first, you'll naturally reach down towards your ankles as opposed to forward past your feet. This will allow you to use your glutes and hamstrings more effectively while keeping your spine in a healthy, stable position.

2 – No knee bend…then too much!

Keeping your legs completely locked during a hinging movement can put a lot of unwanted force on your knees. It also greatly reduces the support from the hamstrings, which act as stabilizers of the knee.

The Fix

Start to "break" at the knees with a slight bend while pushing your hips back.

Many may recall hearing about a stiff legged deadlift. That is a more advanced version which many of our newer members will and should not attempt. Keeping the legs locked emphasizes strengthening the lower back while minimizing hamstring activation, so it has its place, but many of our members already have an overused lower back so we tend to stay away from it at first. For the RDL, keeping your legs straight can cause you to round the lower back and excessively reach forward with your arms when hinging.

On the other end of the spectrum some bend the knees too much turning the hinge into a squat. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just a totally different movement. It will put more emphasis on the quads.

Think of your hips traveling forward and back rather than the weight traveling up and down. This will keep the movement more of a hip hinge and less of a squat.

3 - Rounding Your Shoulders

The upper back has a natural rounded forwardness. However, when the shoulder round excessively the core and glute complex does not support the lower back and pressure can build in the lower back.

The shoulders can also round forward too much due to the mistake of reaching forward.

The Fix

Don’t get tickled! Squeeze your armpits together. A technique of sticking hip circle bands between your armpits is BE’s favorite method. This will ensure proper lat engagement.