Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift

What it is

This compound pull exercise uses a Smith machine to deeply work your hamstrings. You will also engage your glutes and lower back as you hinge at the hips. Maintain a straight back throughout the controlled movement to effectively target these posterior chain muscles.

Technique tips

• Set the bar around your mid-thighs before beginning.
• Maintain a slight, consistent bend in your knees.
• Keep your back straight by hinging purely at your hips.
• Lower the bar until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings.
• Exhale as you descend and inhale as you return to start.
• Use a shoulder-width, pronated grip on the bar.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.