Barbell Romanian Deadlift

1. Take the bar from a rack at hip height or deadlift it to standing, using a double overhand grip just outside your thighs.
2. Stand tall with feet hip width apart and a slight, fixed bend in the knees.
3. Set your shoulders back, brace your core, and take a breath.
4. Push your hips straight back and let the bar slide down your thighs, keeping it in contact with your legs.
5. Lower until you feel a strong hamstring stretch, usually around mid shin, without letting your back round.
6. Drive your hips forward to return to standing, squeezing the glutes at the top rather than leaning back.
7. Exhale at the top, re-brace, and begin the next rep from the same tall position.

Common Mistakes

• Bending the knees more as you descend: turning the RDL into a squat pattern slackens the hamstrings and defeats the exercise; the knee angle is set once and held.
• Letting the bar drift away: even 5 cm of gap between bar and thighs shifts enormous load to the lower back; drag the bar down your legs.
• Chasing depth over position: the rep ends where your hamstrings run out of stretch, not where the plates reach the floor; a rounding back means you went too far.
• Overloading too fast: the stretched position tolerates less weight than a full deadlift, and sore hamstrings from 60 kg of good RDLs beat a strained back from 120 kg of bad ones.

Programming Tips

RDLs work best in the 6 to 10 rep range for 3 to 4 sets, since the hamstrings need moderate tension over multiple reps rather than a single maximal pull. Use 50 to 70 percent of your deadlift weight to start, and progress by adding a small amount of weight only once every rep keeps the same knee angle and a flat back. Pair it with a quad-dominant squat variation on leg day to balance hip and knee dominant work, and place it after your main squat while you still have the focus to hold a strict hinge pattern.

Common Questions

How low should I lower the bar? Only as far as your hamstring flexibility allows without the lower back rounding, usually around mid shin for most lifters; going lower than that on a tight day isn't worth the trade off.

What's the difference between an RDL and a stiff leg deadlift? The RDL keeps a slight, fixed knee bend and starts from the top, while a stiff leg deadlift uses straighter legs and often starts from the floor.

Why do I feel this more in my lower back than my hamstrings? Usually the bar is drifting away from the legs or the knees are locking out; keep light contact with the thighs and a soft knee bend throughout.