How to do a Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift

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

About Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift

Sets Logged
99,646
Popularity Rank
504th
Difficulty
Beginner
Hamstrings Strength
88 mSCORE 30th
Equipment Required

Target muscles worked

Primary Muscles
Hamstrings
Secondary Muscles
Lower Back, Glutes

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.

  1. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart or slightly wider with a slight bend in your knees.
  2. Grasp a medicine ball in both hands and position it in front of you just below your hips.
  3. 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.
  4. Stop once you feel a light stretch in your hamstrings and hold this position for a moment.
  5. Engage your glutes and hamstrings to hinge and drive your hips forwards. Keep your core engaged to support your lower back and maintain stability.
  6. Maintain good posture by keeping your core engaged, shoulders back and chest up throughout the exercise.
  7. 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

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
    17.5
    lbs
    1 Rep Max
    22.5
    lbs
  • intermediate
    8
    reps
    20
    lbs
    25
    lbs
  • advanced
    8
    reps
    22.5
    lbs
    30
    lbs

Enter your stats to calculate your Reps & Weight

How is this calculated?

Alternative Exercises to Medicine Ball Romanian Deadlift

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  1. 1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

    Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift being performed
    97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 1,753 TIMES

    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.

  2. 2. Seated Leg Curl

    Photo of Seated Leg Curl being performed
    98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 760 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. Dumbbell Good Morning

    Photo of Dumbbell Good Morning being performed
    63.8 mSCORESWAPPED 556 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.

  4. 4. Lying Hamstrings Curl

    Photo of Lying Hamstrings Curl being performed
    95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 394 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. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Bent Over Row

    Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Bent Over Row being performed
    67.9 mSCORESWAPPED 371 TIMES

    The Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Bent Over Row is a compound exercise that effectively targets the posterior chain, including the hamstrings and glutes, followed by the upper back and lats during the rowing component. Beginning with a dumbbell in each hand, you hinge at the hips to lower the dumbbells towards the ground, keeping your back flat. Once in the bent-over position, you perform a row by pulling the dumbbells towards your torso, then return to the standing position. This combination exercise enhances lower body strength and flexibility while simultaneously improving upper body muscle definition and back strength, making it a comprehensive and efficient workout option.

  6. 6. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

    Photo of Single Leg Romanian Deadlift being performed
    80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 343 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 338 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. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Calf Raise

    Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Calf Raise being performed
    63.1 mSCORESWAPPED 332 TIMES

    The 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.

  9. 9. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Shrug

    Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift to Shrug being performed
    68.5 mSCORESWAPPED 321 TIMES

    The 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.

  10. 10. Romanian Deadlift

    Photo of Romanian Deadlift being performed
    98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 321 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.