What’s the difference between a deadlift and a Romanian deadlift? You show them both in your magazine but I can’t see how they differ.
Oscar Millington, Bedfordshire

Jason Anderson replies: The difference between the various deadlifts is the ratio of hip flex to knee flex. There are in fact three types of deadlift: stiff-legged, Romanian and the Olympic or bent-legged deadlift. The stiff-legged deadlift has maximum hip flexion and minimal knee flexion, which means you unlock your knees to activate the hamstrings and then tip from your hips. Once you reach your hamstring limit you pause and return to the starting position, keeping your spine neutral throughout.

In contrast to this is the Olympic deadlift. This movement replicates the squat in that you maintain an upright position by flexing the knees and allowing the bar to travel around the knees at critical moments in the exercise. Finally there’s the Romanian deadlift. This is simply a combination of the two previous deadlifts, in which you bend your knees at the bottom of the movement and bend at the hips at the top of the movement. This has all the benefits without many of the disadvantages and is alsoa more functional movement.