Sldl

[anthrax]

Should you lock your knees when doing Straight legs deadlifts?

Would it make a difference if they are (very) slightly bent?

 

[Gymgurl]

I always leave a slight..very slight bend....let's see what others do

 

[xblitz44x]

I also leave a slight bent.

 

[Illuminati]

Should you lock your knees when doing Straight legs deadlifts?

Would it make a difference if they are (very) slightly bent?

Do Not lock your knees. Keep them slightly bent

another point to add...keep an arch in the small of your back. once you get down to a point where you can't go any further w/o rounding your back, its time to start reversing direction.

 

[Chambewy20]

Slight bend.

 

[eat big]

As everyone else has said, slight bend.

 

[bignate73]

flamingos used to keep their legs locked....and look what happenned to them!

 

[Chambewy20]

What happened, was it when all the Floridian vacationers started making plastic replicas of them and turning them into cheap yard ornaments?

 

[36drew]

flamingos used to keep their legs locked....and look what happenned to them!

LOL! Too funny! As to the question at hand, I always employ a slight bend. I find my back rounds over if I do not.

 

[ChinkNasty]

try learning the romanian deadlift variant, really helps you nail the bend at the knees, slight arch in the back, hinging at the waist movement...as well as reaping the same benefits as the SLDL

 

[fortunatesun]

For the sake of post a contrary position, I'm going to state that I keep my legs totally straight. Before you send the heat my way, I want to point out that exrx.net agrees with my take on this. Technically the varient I do is called a:

Straight-Back Straight-Leg Deadlift.

Actually, I de-load the bar after every rep a la Pendlay. You have to bring the bar a bit further out to do this, helping to keep your back totally straight.

I agree that if you want to load up the weight, RDL are the better exercise. This is one of my relatively stronger efforts, though, so often as not I enjoy the total stretch and better flexability provided by stifflegs. It's just a fun change of pace.