JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?1Oڕab҂GE?4EE]+(ROSH#ޕXR3O(A9Gڊ.>Bj}Ҕ d9<'Jg; x,Hp!Hʟʕ$Kֺmڎu\0489'4J( }1ȮLpu>'ÝIUya7 2q>Ҵy7qW$< xz|ܭ<n=={J+n`Xx7T{u ~\z׿ޥhAl!hvx ҽdN:dtj;39l`U=92'I`'x t<5ijp>SʹO `LmQk{Ėz}, Pa\˫ědL`H{S.6EՒ3>I47ӘPq\< FNz3[xHr$nt:%vdU~ln<𕽜ZWg/mo<Pel~bpA {x[ym!1h~rמ [.u(Kw?,a~sN*1*+@$H o#ĎKF[WQ/aHetcĐ&p ]]H@w0 \%I[c I$L*nW cNym'I%.1$r7$Ozm* 뽏&WcQ#J8Vڶ<-yʌknmwe(Xc5BH ^IL$i.P8S&[G/Egr7*9\EE\pz__U=VmyԪQM:ț;oOat$ec'k,-( 0!'hҮGuЏ\-in]ud"񚫨V$$qR]F9 o0X\&v9i(N4^ە n[  5; *ࡑI%%rY'^麌Z9To #C4o)ж^Da*+mv@Eb}shq'Km2Cgm`\ci)&xx#S.EwմN0Mȋcz7SUoUӞHĐ'+uMQ/ܓ΄p2T Zݠ0s"T14vkL GlR9\.Q* IQ^͠jqD1H60국WJI:h#)3B88* ڹxorf/ah?=+gkzծ`7.8*˟AX۱<;$dxv:z*e{ˉP5̀;:%'%\̌̇aV+[YEbGI1%\ o&\UZH^1Kg̎ۢwnפ Yp;l%kin?S[ԂRŚjF5:8M$9uu9o#B!rk˯jh^0AbA䳃dTB%v.Cjs5cf[o>ư1 4} ֣}@7zQcdW82ʼŊsq^GZdK;(}=Ã3Z]6ݐbRA)maX 3Od[*[5hNy9*I9jH&NIȫe*E*I" Eesf]i-*q5{Ib# ;e~jYZ"3.q9gY$$0\NvWzVy.RI165ޭq uqEG9SU$x!4p&1]q3kRұs.d?e1-LfCBNT.h.ČG:U6uę d$9qҌ!rhxF-Ml%>VҤm"{!Cuާ̶yޣx5[d\ApMfѱ<+ՆcUsD;zv̲Fj⥆ha)c\?gx{O)昵榓ŚFKd3"L?OμlWB DR*Frw.+O[nbFS G٥D0ZqiXz<ɦoXO Ձ W(rCu[>F<#t4 &{vvDݭsدөA/yխ;f0uOa$$rGM5) %_Digr;h層d},r=u#*ium_vm8L5pCֺ?9,[#>[p\諬F̴NsO1 Ǿy"(z{>rH{QV QN9phr0~|'.,$Td+ -WC$q=IEYtghd`JwQ[}~LGثd..Hjx`8<ڜ+J*ii$:V 稤Fl:$Zx1ɴ᪽z4"Ҧ8&=PB@A"W\xc7QLcrz3G"{2%N@R\v.4SÞT|TmKoi>iR L~VgrS>B;8n7 $//4&6^HnwtZ՘ܞ<43 2rzT =r5Do#*->C%\+!MX4)L=;oZ^@3޴8rF:s*+M#$) sMoۀ )}@*ƬH-z{SD \|D1=A5Ujx{S}FNtJ֪тI,"$2G`jdp{Z2 2yEkpU#R  That s what I want for my athletes. As a result, I did what Coach Van De Zande and the NSCA have suggested. I had my athletes do light to moderate SLDL with the knees slightly bent taking care to keep the chin up and locking in the lower back as much as possible. This was my philosophy in the 1970's. Then I met Stefan Fernholm.<br>Stefan taught me the secret of the Straight Leg Dead Lift.  Think of it as a stretching exercise, said Stefan. He further explained,  Use a very light weight. What you want to do is stretch and strengthen the hamstrings and glutes at the same time. <br> But what good will that do? I asked with skepticism. <br>He just smiled,  Do you want to knock a couple of tenths off your forty? That got my attention! Stefan demonstrated that keeping the knees locked was absolutely essential. You can t bend your knees and stretch the hamstrings. The knees must be locked. Of course Stefan had heard about the argument of creating too much stress on the lower back. What was his answer? Keep the weight very light. An athlete who can do a legitimate Parallel Squat of 500 pounds should only train with about 135 pounds on a SLDL and never do more than 40% of a true Parallel Squat. You don t break records or ever max out. You just always keep it very light. Beginning high school athletes or college athletes start with only 65 pounds.<br>Stefan felt the lock-kneed SLDL was one of the very most important lifts for developing speed. He said the greater your hamstring flexibility, the more fluid of a running movement you can achieve. It s like adding a high grade oil to the pistons of your engine. I personally tested Stefan s flexibility. He could stretch, with locked knees, 9.5 inches past his toes. That partially explains his 4.3 times and his 40-inch Vertical Jump from a stand.<br>We have been endorsing and teaching Stefan s method for the last 15 years. I know without a doubt this is superior way. I have done it both ways. The results, in my mind, are not even close. There is no danger to the lumbar spine area simply because of the very light weight involved. When we trained the Utah Jazz, the players really liked the feel of our method. They felt the SLDL was their second most favorite lift.<br>As far as endangerment to an athlete s spine with our method, our research shows that it is non-existent because of the light weight that is always used. Our BFS Clinicians have collectively trained perhaps as many as 20,000 student-athletes over the last ten years using our SLDL with zero problems. Our BFS SLDL is probably the safest lift we teach. The Hex Bar may be used on the SLDL to even further increase safety.<br> Those of you who have not tried our method, why not give it a shot with yourself and with some of your athletes? You should get some spectacular results. Thanks again to Coach Van De Zande for an 11-