Romanian Deadlift
Also known as: Barbell Romanian Deadlift, RDL, Barbell RDL
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Description
Push your hips back on soft knees and slide a barbell down your thighs to just below the knees: a hinge that builds bigger, stronger hamstrings and glutes. On the way down you feel a deep stretch along the back of your thighs; on the way up your glutes and hamstrings stand you back up while your lower back works to stay flat. Unlike the conventional deadlift, each rep starts from the top and the bar never touches the floor, so your hamstrings get more work with less knee bend and less whole-body fatigue.
How to Perform
- Set the bar in a rack at mid-thigh height, grip it and step back. Without a rack, deadlift it from the floor with a flat back.
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, toes forward, and unlock your knees to a soft bend of about 15–20°. Keep that bend for the whole set.
- Hold the bar overhand with your hands about shoulder-width, just outside your thighs. Your arms stay straight and long; they only hold the bar.
- Take a breath, brace your stomach and press the bar into your thighs with your lats. Shoulders down, no shrug.
- Push your hips straight back, as if closing a car door with your backside. Your torso tips forward on its own, back flat and neck in line.
- Slide the bar down your thighs over 2–3 seconds, keeping it against your legs. Stop when your hips stop moving back, usually just below the knees.
- Drive your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to stand tall, hips under your shoulders. Breathe out near the top, then breathe in for the next rep.
- When you finish, walk the bar back into the rack, or bend your knees and lower it to the floor with a flat back.
What Muscles Work
Primary Muscle:
Secondary Muscles:
Tips
- For muscle, use 2–4 sets of 8–12 reps; for strength, 5–8. Add reps first; once you get 12 on all sets with the same depth and a flat back, add 2.5–5 kg and start again at 8.
- Expect a strong stretch from just under your glutes toward the backs of your knees. If your lower back burns more than your hamstrings, you're going too deep or rounding; if your quads do most of the work, your knees are bending too much.
- When your grip gives out before your hamstrings do, use lifting straps, but keep the weight at a level where your back stays flat on every rep.
- New to hinging? Practice the Hip Hinge with a dowel along your spine, or stop the bar just above your knees. Once that feels easy, add a 2-second pause just below the knees at the same weight.
- Substitutes: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift, Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift, Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift, Cable Romanian Deadlift.
Common Mistakes
- Squatting the bar down: your knees bend more and slide forward as the bar lowers, and the lift turns into a conventional deadlift. Set the soft bend at the top, keep your shins vertical and reach your hips toward the wall behind you.
- Rounding your lower back to get the bar lower. The rep ends where your hips stop moving back with a flat back, not at the floor; take weight off if you need to.
- Letting the bar drift forward, away from your legs. Keep your lats tight and press the bar into your thighs so it brushes them on the way down and up.
- Leaning back and over-arching at the top. Finish by squeezing your glutes with your ribs down, and stop as soon as your hips are straight under your shoulders.
- Cranking your neck back to watch yourself in the mirror. Keep your head in line with your spine; at the bottom your eyes are on the floor 1–2 m ahead.
- Dropping fast and bouncing out of the bottom. Take 2–3 seconds to lower, pause for a moment, then drive up.
Workout plans with this exercise
- Full body · 2 days
- Full body · 3 days
- Upper/Lower · 3 days
- Upper/Lower · 4 days
- Push/Pull · 4 days
- PPL · 3 days
- PPL · 6 days
- PPL + Upper/Lower · 5 days
- Body part split · 3 days
- Body part split · 4 days
- Body part split · 5 days
- Upper/Lower · 4 days · Glutes
- Upper/Lower · 3 days · Glutes
- Upper/Lower · 5 days · Glutes
- Push/Pull/Legs + Arms · 4 days
- Upper/Lower · 4 days · Chest
- Upper/Lower · 4 days · V-taper
- Full Body to Split
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