Romanian Deadlift

How to perform the Romanian Deadlift

1. Start standing tall with the bar held at the hips, hands just outside the legs, and feet hip-width apart — this is the top of the RDL, not the floor.
2. Soften the knees into a fixed, slightly bent position; the knees do not bend further during the descent.
3. Push your hips back as if closing a car door with your butt, allowing the bar to travel down the front of the legs in continuous contact.
4. Keep the bar dragging along the thighs the entire descent; if it drifts away from the body, the lower back takes over from the hamstrings.
5. Descend until you feel a strong stretch in the hamstrings — typically when the bar is around mid-shin to just below the knee — without losing the flat back.
6. Drive the hips forward to stand back up, squeezing the glutes at the top; do not hyperextend the lower back at lockout.
7. Reset the brace at the top of each rep rather than chaining the next descent off the lockout.

Suggested working range: 8–12 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Bending the knees deeper as the bar descends, which turns the lift back into a partial deadlift and removes tension from the hamstrings.
• •Letting the bar drift forward off the legs, putting the lower back into the bottom of the movement.
• •Going too deep — past the point where the back can stay flat — chasing a stretch the hamstrings cannot give.
• •Hyperextending the lower back at lockout to "finish" the rep instead of just standing tall with the hips squared.
• •Treating the RDL as a deadlift off blocks and trying to reset on the floor each rep — the bar should not touch down between reps.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in a related movement if equipment, recovery, or progression demands it.