Romanian Deadlift From a Dead Stop

[sheepforsale]

Hi Mark,

I've used the search but nothing similar came up.

I've watched your video on the RDL several times. You make the distinction between the RDL (start from the top and use the stretch-reflex at the bottom to bounce back up) vs other pulls (start from a dead stop on the floor) very clearly.

I'm just wondering what you think about doing them dead stop in a rack with the pins set at the bottom of the rom as shown below



At first glance, it looked similar to a rack pull but it starts from the top with a lot more focus in shoving the hip back, knees unlocked, bar against shins and flat back.

Do you see any validity in this exercise for strengthening the posterior chain? Should I just stick to the regular RDL?

Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is a stiff-legged rack pull. Sure. Why not? But it leaves out the benefit of the stretch reflex, which is why we do RDLs.