The SLDL- Top 3 Mistakes and How to Fix Them

When you do a single-leg deadlift, or SLDL, does it feel weird? Are you unsure about your technique? Do you feel like you’re doing it wrong?

If you are doing it wrong, you could be missing out on gains or risking injury.

If you want to make gains and reduce your risk for injury, stick around. In this article, I’m going to show you the three most common mistakes people make when doing an SLDL and how to fix them.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

1. Hips flaring open

The first mistake people make in the SLDL is letting their hips flare open.

Ideally, when you do an SLDL, the hips stay square to the floor, so you can use the right muscles (i.e. the glutes and hamstrings) to move up and down.

To learn how to square the hips to the floor, there are two drills you should do.

How to Fix Flaring Hips- Airplanes and the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL

Drill #1- Airplanes

The first drill is called Airplanes. The purpose of this drill is to learn what it feels like to be in a good position (hips square to the floor) versus a bad position (hips flaring open). Here’s how to do Airplanes:

1. Grab onto something like a dumbbell rack or massage table, and get into the bottom position of the SLDL.
2. While holding onto the rack for balance, open the hips by pointing the bony part of the hip to the ceiling. This is a bad position. Notice the sensations you feel (e.g. a stretch in the adductor, tightness in the hip).
3. Next, close the hips by pointing the bony part of the hip to the floor. You can’t physically point the hip directly to the floor, but the intention is important. This is a good position. Notice the sensations you feel (e.g. a stretch in the glutes, stretch in the hamstrings).
4. Repeat for 3-4 times per side, so you can feel the difference between square and open hips.

Drill #2- The Cross-Body Reaching SLDL

The second drill is called the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL. Similar to Airplanes, the purpose of this drill is to teach you how to keep your hips square to the floor. This one is a little more difficult than Airplanes, however, because it’s more dynamic. Instead of holding the bottom position of the SLDL, like Airplanes, you’ll be doing a full SLDL while reaching across your body to keep your hips square to the floor.

Here’s how to do the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL:

1. Place a cone on the floor. Then, step to the side so you’re just outside the base of the cone, but make sure you’re on the correct side. For example, if your right leg is going back, stand to the right side of the cone. Vice versa if the left leg is going back.
2. Reach across your body and tap the cone with your hand.
3. Stand up, squeeze your glutes, and repeat for eight reps per side.

Quick Tip- When doing Airplanes and Cross-Body Reaching SLDLs, look in a mirror as you do it. You’re more likely to do it right if you feel and see good technique.

For the best results, do the Airplanes for three reps per side before you do the Cross-Body Reaching SLDLs for eight reps per side. That way, you can learn how a good position feels with the Airplanes then immediately put it into practice with the Cross-Body Reaching SLDLs.

Before you add weight with a dumbbell or kettlebell, make sure you master the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL. Be prepared to practice the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL for a while. The technique is harder than you think. For reference, I’ve had people practice the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL for months before they were ready to add a weight. Be patient, practice often, and you’ll be competent enough to add a weight.

2. Back Rounding

The second most common mistake people make when doing the SLDL is rounding the back.

Rounding the back while holding a weight in your hand is rarely ever a sustainable method. The risk for injury is high, and you didn’t come to the gym to get injured.

When you do an SLDL, your back should be as flat as a table. It should not be round like an upside down crescent moon. That way, you decrease your risk for injury, so you can train long-term and get the results you desire.

How to Fix a Rounding Back

To learn how to keep your back flat, the best drill to do is the Reaching SLDL. It’s similar to the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL, but you’re facing the cone straight ahead instead of off to the side.

Here’s how to do the Reaching SLDL:

1. Place a cone on the floor and stand directly in front of it.
2. Reach for the cone. Focus on getting as long as possible and maintain a flat back.
3. Stand up and squeeze your glutes.

Similar to the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL, it takes time to master it. Be patient, keep practicing, and don’t grab a weight until it’s absolutely perfect.

Often, I’ll use both the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL and the Reaching SLDL to teach my clients proper technique. We’ll start with the Cross-Body Reaching SLDL until they can get their hips flat. Then, we’ll do the Reaching SLDL to test whether they can keep their hips flat without the aid of reaching across their body. If they can do one set of eight perfect reps on both sides, then they have proven that they can perform a solid SLDL. As a result, we progress by adding a weight, and we focus on loading the SLDL as much as possible.

3. Knee Bending Too Much

The third mistake people make when they do an SLDL is bending the knee too much as they descend.

When you descend into the SLDL and you bend the knee too much, it turns the exercise into a knee-dominant movement. In other words, you use the wrong muscles. Ideally, the SLDL is a hip-dominant movement. Therefore, the purpose is to use the muscles in the back of the leg (i.e. glutes, hamstrings, etc.). When you bend the knee too much, you wind up using the muscles in the front of the legs (i.e. quads).

Instead of having an excessive knee bend, you want a soft knee bend. A knee bend that only happens because the hips are shifting backwards; not a knee bend that results in too much forward translation of the knee.

How to Fix Excessive Knee Bend

To learn how to avoid bending the knee too much, use the bench block technique.

Here’s how to use the bench block:

1. Stand about a fist away from a bench with a cone on the other side of the bench.
2. As you descend into the SLDL, make sure your knee does not touch the bench. Allow a soft knee bend to occur, but don’t let your knee touch the bench.
3. Stand up and squeeze your glutes.

In all honesty, I don’t use this drill too often because it takes time and space to set up. To move things allong quicker, I’ll get down on a knee and place my hand in front of my client’s knee and say, “Whatever you do, don’t touch my hand with your knee.” They’ll do a few reps without touching my hand, then I’ll back away and watch. More often than not, the problem is fixed.

I share the bench block with you in case you’re by yourself and you don’t want to be a weirdo and ask someone, “Hey, can you put your hand in front of my knee while I do these SLDLs?” Unless they’re your friend, that would be weird, so don’t do that. Grab a bench and use that instead.

How to Make the Best SLDL Ever

“Nico, if I wanted to make my SLDL the best SLDL anyone has ever seen, can I put all three drills together, and do a Cross-Body Reaching SLDL with a Bench Block?”

Wow. I’m so glad you asked. Of course you can. If done the right way, that would make for a beastly SLDL.

But seriously. You can do that. Think about it. In one exercise, you could learn how to…

1. Keep your hips flat with the Cross-Body part of it.
2. Maintain a neutral spine with the Reaching part.
3. Have a soft knee bend with the Bench Block part.

It’s the best of all three worlds, and I’m here for it. If you do it, send me a video on instagram @coach_nicod.

Wrapping it Up

I hope that was helpful. I want you to have the best SLDL in your gym, so you can gain strength, build muscle, and be the most athletic cat in your gym. When you bust out an impeccable SLDL, people will think, “Dang, he/she knows what to do.”

Remember, keep your hips square to the floor, keep your back flat, and maintain a soft knee bend.

Thank you for reading. If you’re interested in one-on-one online coaching, click here to apply.