How to do a Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Reviewed by JP Michelsen, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology

About Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Sets Logged
3,786,404
Popularity Rank
24th
Difficulty
Beginner
Hamstrings Strength
100 mSCORE 2nd
Equipment Required

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

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Alternative Exercises to Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Filter By

  1. 1. Romanian Deadlift

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    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

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    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

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    98.7 mSCORESWAPPED 5,342 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

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    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

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    84.6 mSCORESWAPPED 2,795 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. Kettlebell Sumo Squat

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    87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 2,584 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.

  7. 7. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

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    80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 2,540 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.

  8. 8. Kettlebell Swing

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    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

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    63.8 mSCORESWAPPED 1,674 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. Standing Leg Curl

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    58.7 mSCORESWAPPED 1,203 TIMES

    Standing Leg Curl is an 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. By performing this exercise with one leg at a time, you prevent the risk of compensating for strength discrepancies between sides. 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.