How to do a Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift
Reviewed by Jim Parker, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
Workouts with Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift
Target muscles worked
Instructions for Proper Form
Adding a medicine ball to the Romanian deadlift increases the challenge to the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. This variation enhances stability and strength, providing a functional workout that improves posture and lower body power.
- Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart or slightly wider with a slight bend in your knees.
- Grasp a medicine ball in both hands and position it in front of you just below your hips.
- Hinge at your hips to drop your butt back as you slowly allow the medicine ball to descend toward the floor. Maintain the same slight bend in your knees.
- Stop once you feel a light stretch in your hamstrings and hold this position for a moment.
- Engage your glutes and hamstrings to hinge and drive your hips forwards. Keep your core engaged to support your lower back and maintain stability.
- Maintain good posture by keeping your core engaged, shoulders back and chest up throughout the exercise.
- You should feel this exercise in your glutes and hamstrings. You should not feel this exercise in your lower back.
Weight & 1 Rep Max Calculator
Average Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift standards by male, female, weight, age and height
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- beginner8reps17.5lbs1 Rep Max22.5lbs
- intermediate8reps20lbs25lbs
- advanced8reps22.5lbs30lbs
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Alternatives & Variations to Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift
1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 1,276 TIMESThis 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.
2. Seated Leg Curl
98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 469 TIMESSeated 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.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Leg Curl Machine
3. Dumbbell Good Morning
63.8 mSCORESWAPPED 365 TIMESThe 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.
4. Lying Hamstrings Curl
95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 267 TIMESLying 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.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Leg Curl Machine
5. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 217 TIMESSingle 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Dumbbells
6. Romanian Deadlift
98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 195 TIMESRomanian 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells
7. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Calf Raise
63.1 mSCORESWAPPED 192 TIMESThe Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Calf Raise is a compound exercise that effectively combines the hamstring and glute activation of the Romanian Deadlift (RDL) with the calf-strengthening benefits of a calf raise. Holding dumbbells, the movement starts with an RDL, hinging at the hips to lower the weights while keeping the back straight, then transitions into a calf raise by lifting onto the toes at the stand-up phase. This exercise not only targets the posterior chain but also improves lower leg strength and balance, making it ideal for those looking to enhance lower body power and stability in a single, efficient movement.
8. Kettlebell Sumo Squat
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 192 TIMESKettlebell 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Kettlebells
9. Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift
89.2 mSCORESWAPPED 188 TIMESDumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. The use of dumbbells allows for a bit less stability than a barbell variation, while also giving you more freedom in your range of motion. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to improve or work towards Romanian Deadlifts.
10. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Shrug
68.5 mSCORESWAPPED 186 TIMESThe Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Shrug combines the hamstring and glute focus of the RDL with upper back strengthening via a shrug. Executing a hip hinge with dumbbells, followed by a shoulder shrug at the top, this exercise effectively targets the posterior chain and traps. It's an efficient way to enhance lower body strength and upper back muscle definition in one movement.