WHEN YOU NEED to power up your posterior muscles, there are few more effective exercises than the deadlift. There's one deadlift variation that may have gotten lost in the weight room shadows, however, that just might be one of your best options for homing in on your hamstrings and building resiliency in your lower back: the stiff-leg deadlift.

The stiff leg deadlift is far from a new exercise, and may not even be the best hamstring exercise in your arsenal, even if Arnold once included them in his routine during his Golden Era bodybuilding reign. Many gym-goers today are either unfamiliar with this move or typically opt for the popular Romanian deadlift instead.

The stiff leg deadlift wont be a movement you'll use to bust out a new 1RM, like its standard or sumo-style counterparts, but stiff-leg deadlifts can still be a viable addition to your workout, says Mens Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.

I like to think of it as an emergency hamstring exercise, Samuel says. If you are in a situation and you only have barbells or you only have dumbbells, and you don't have access to any of the other tools that can train your hamstrings, then maybe you're going to go to the stiff-leg deadlift, that way you can get that hamstring engagement."

The stiff leg deadlift doesn't allow you to work with a ton of weight and offers a more specific goaltargeting the hamstringsthan the conventional variation, so it doesn't really qualify as a go-to deadlift for everyone's routine. Samuel thinks of the movement as an "emergency exercise," to be employed when other hamstring focused movements aren't an option.

This is a good exercise for people who might struggle to find an exercise that allows them to feel hamstring engagement.

The stiff leg name is a bit of a misnomer. Your legs won't be completely locked throughout the movement, so don't make that a major cue. That said, you will be working from a position where your knees are more straight than during conventional deadlifts.

That's the primary difference between the two: with stiff leg deadlifts, your goal is to perform the move with as little knee bend as possible. Because you're working from a "stiffer" position, your hips will be working from a higher position, requiring your torso to become more parallel with the ground.

You'll see three results from this position:

The setup for the stiff leg deadlift is similar to what you'll do for a conventional deadlift.

There are several other hamstring exercises that may work better than stiff leg deadliftsSamuel mentions leg curls, Nordic curls, and even the conventional deadlift for most people. However, you can use this as an accessory exercise to get the hamstring engagement you might want.

Just make sure that you don't load up the bar with a ton of weight. Samuel suggests aiming for about half of what you'd use for your standard deadlift load (or even less). Since you're using lower weights, you can work with high reps and sets. Start at about three to four sets of eight to 10 reps. Make each rep slow and methodical, with a focus on pushing your butt back, bracing your core, and keeping your knees as stiff as possible.

Jeff Tomko is a freelance fitness writer who has written for Muscle and Fitness, Men's Fitness, and Men's Health.

Brett Williams, a fitness editor at Men's Health, is a NASM-CPT certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter who splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts, and running. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.

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How to Do the Stiff Leg Deadlift to Build Hamstring Strength - Men's Health