How to do a Romanian Deadlift
Reviewed by Jim Parker, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
About Romanian Deadlift
Workouts with Romanian Deadlift
Target muscles worked
Instructions for Proper Form
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.
- Place a loaded barbell an inch away from your shins and brace your core to maintain a neutral spine throughout the exercise.
- Hinge your hips backward until you are able to grip the barbell.
- Push through the heels as you extend your hips until your torso is upright and the barbell is resting on your thigh.
- Keep your knees only slightly bent as you extend your hips backward to descend the barbell to the ground.
- Once you have reached a depth where you are no longer able to keep a neutral spine, return to the starting upright position.
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Romanian Deadlift is also known as:
- RDL
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Barbell RDL
Does RDL work back or legs?
The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) primarily targets the muscles in the legs and lower back. It mainly works the hamstrings and glutes, while also engaging the lower back muscles to a significant extent. The RDL is effective for building posterior chain strength and improving hip hinge mechanics.
How can you modify RDLs to target glutes?
To modify RDLs to better target the glutes, take a slightly wider stance with toes pointed outward, focus on pushing your hips back as far as possible, and concentrate on squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement. Additionally, lower the weight slowly to maintain tension on the glutes throughout the exercise.
How far down should you go on RDL?
In an RDL, lower the weight until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, which is typically when your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. Maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement and avoid rounding your back. The depth can vary based on your flexibility, but the key is to hinge at the hips without compromising your form.
Do you bend knees in a RDL?
Yes, you should have a slight bend in your knees during an RDL. This slight bend helps maintain balance and reduces strain on your lower back. However, keep your knees fixed in this slightly bent position throughout the movement, focusing on hinging at the hips to target the hamstrings and glutes effectively.
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 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.
- beginner8reps55lbs1 Rep Max70lbs
- intermediate8reps70lbs90lbs
- advanced8reps90lbs115lbs
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Alternative Exercises to Romanian Deadlift
1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 29,242 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.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Dumbbells
2. Seated Leg Curl
98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 14,888 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. Lying Hamstrings Curl
95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 9,811 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
4. Deadlift
98.7 mSCORESWAPPED 9,090 TIMESDeadlift 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells
5. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 6,011 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. Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Deadlift
84.6 mSCORESWAPPED 5,715 TIMESSmith 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.
- Beginner
- Hamstrings
- Smith Machine
7. Kettlebell Sumo Squat
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 5,099 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
8. Kettlebell Swing
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 4,416 TIMESKettlebell 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Kettlebells
9. Good Morning
90.4 mSCORESWAPPED 3,300 TIMESGood 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.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells
- Squat Rack
10. Sumo Deadlift
88.9 mSCORESWAPPED 1,991 TIMESSumo Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. Like other Deadlifts, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), and especially hamstrings and glutes. While this exercise receives some criticism, it’s a perfectly valid choice for building strength, and a great addition to your leg days.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Barbells