Skip to main content
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift being performed with proper form
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift demonstration video — proper form for the full movement.

How to do a Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Reviewed by Jim Parker, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology

About this exercise

Sets Logged
4,633,512
Popularity Rank
16th
Difficulty
Beginner
Hamstrings Strength
100 mSCORE 2nd
Equipment Required

Workouts with Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

    Target muscles worked

    Primary Muscles
    Hamstrings
    Secondary Muscles
    Lower Back, Glutes, Back

    Instructions for Proper Form

    This exercise is a variation on Romanian Deadlifts. Like other Romanian Deadlifts, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets your hamstrings and glutes. The use of dumbbells can help with some limitations in mobility, and is a great starting point for anyone working towards performing Deadlifts or Romanian Deadlifts with a barbell.

    1. Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart while holding a pair of dumbbells next to your hips.
    2. Push your hips back while keeping your knees slightly bent as you lower the dumbbells to the ground. The dumbbells should fall aligned with your feet throughout the movement.
    3. Continue lowering the dumbbells to the ground bringing your hips back as far as you can while keeping your back straight throughout the movement.
    4. Return to the starting upright position, stand tall and repeat.

    Common Form Mistakes

    • Going too Low

      While your knees are going to bend a bit as you drop your hips back, limit your range of motion to as low as your hip hinge allows. Hamstring flexibility is the deciding factor in how low you should go.

    • Rounding Your Back

      Rounding your back will allow you to reach closer to the floor, but also increases your risk of injury, and reduces the effectiveness of this exercise. Focus on keeping your shoulders back, and your lower back braced to support your spine. Hamstring flexibility is the deciding factor in how low you can go.

    Weight & 1 Rep Max Calculator

    Average Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift standards by male, female, weight, age and height

    Use this calculator to see Fitbod's possible first recommendations for you. This would be your starting line, based on more than 4.5 billion logged sets from 1.1 million users.

    • beginner
      8
      reps
      20
      lbs
      1 Rep Max
      25
      lbs
    • intermediate
      8
      reps
      30
      lbs
      40
      lbs
    • advanced
      8
      reps
      35
      lbs
      45
      lbs

    Enter your stats to calculate your Reps & Weight

    How is this calculated?

    Alternatives & Variations to Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

    Filter By

    1. 1. Romanian Deadlift

      Photo of Romanian Deadlift being performed
      98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 14,025 TIMES

      Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets your glutes, and hamstrings. Unlike the standard Deadlift, this variation focuses mostly on driving your hips forward to raise the weight, and restricts movement in your knees. This is a great exercise for building strength, and can translate well to other exercises that utilize a hip hinge.

    2. 2. Seated Leg Curl

      Photo of Seated Leg Curl being performed
      98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 12,894 TIMES

      Seated Leg Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. Because a vast majority of lower body exercises tend to be compound movements, this exercise is a great way to isolate the hamstrings for building muscle mass, and developing strength. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability, allowing you to focus on exertion more than stabilizing the movement.

    3. 3. Deadlift

      Photo of Deadlift being performed
      98.7 mSCORESWAPPED 8,270 TIMES

      Deadlift is one of the three powerlifting movements. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), and is great for developing strength in these muscles. It’s a staple in most programs, and is often used as a metric for tracking strength.

    4. 4. Lying Hamstrings Curl

      Photo of Lying Hamstrings Curl being performed
      95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 7,395 TIMES

      Lying Hamstring Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. There’s a relatively short list of isolation exercises for lower body muscle groups. Because of this, this is a great addition to a lower body workout in order to build strength and muscle mass in the hamstrings specifically. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement, allowing you to focus on exertion rather than stabilizing the movement.

    5. 5. Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift

      Photo of Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift being performed
      84.6 mSCORESWAPPED 4,848 TIMES

      Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. Like other Romanian Deadlift variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. The use of a Smith Machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement. This allows you to focus on exertion, or learning the movement rather than focusing on stability.

    6. 6. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

      Photo of Single Leg Romanian Deadlift being performed
      80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 4,047 TIMES

      Single Leg Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. Like other Romanian Deadlift variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. Performing this exercise on one leg, is a great way to identify, and help address, discrepancies in mobility, strength, and stability between sides. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to improve their ability to perform a large number of other compound lower body movements like Squats, Lunges, or even Olympic lifts.

    7. 7. Kettlebell Sumo Squat

      Photo of Kettlebell Sumo Squat being performed
      87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 3,345 TIMES

      Kettlebell Sumo Squat is a squat variation. Like other squat variations, this exercise is a compound movement that targets the hamstrings, glutes and quads. Positioning your feet wider than you would for a standard squat helps to recruit the inner thigh, as well as help individuals with mobility limitations.

    8. 8. Kettlebell Swing

      Photo of Kettlebell Swing being performed
      87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 2,759 TIMES

      Kettlebell Swing is a compound, explosive movement that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. This is a great exercise for improving power and explosiveness. It's especially helpful in developing glute drive which can help improve a number of different exercises, and sport performance.

    9. 9. Dumbbell Good Morning

      Photo of Dumbbell Good Morning being performed
      63.8 mSCORESWAPPED 1,982 TIMES

      The Dumbbell Good Morning is a strength exercise that focuses on the posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. Holding a dumbbell at chest level or placing two dumbbells on the shoulders, you hinge at the hips and lean forward with a straight back, then return to the starting position. This movement emphasizes hip mobility and back strength, improving posture and stability. It's a versatile exercise suitable for all fitness levels, offering a low-impact alternative to enhance lower back and hamstring flexibility and strength.

    10. 10. Good Morning

      Photo of Good Morning being performed
      90.4 mSCORESWAPPED 1,818 TIMES

      Good Morning’s are a compound exercise that primarily target muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), but especially the hamstrings, and lower back. While this can be an effective exercise, there is some risk to performing this exercise with a loaded barbell on your back. If you’re unfamiliar with this exercise, try starting with a dumbbell variation as you learn the movement.