The Romanian deadlift (RDL) is a deadlift variation used to emphasize the tension on the glutes and hamstrings.
While all deadlifts help build the posterior chain, the emphasized stretch on the hamstrings and glutes provided by the Romanian deadlift often helps these muscle groups grow.
Thus, it is a popular exercise among bodybuilders of all genders who are looking to build bigger and more aesthetic glutes and hamstrings.
However, the exercise not only promotes growth of the muscle. It is often used as an accessory lift by athletes looking to build a stronger posterior chain. This includes strength athletes looking to improve their deadlift, endurance athletes looking to prevent injuries, and sport athletes looking to improve their performance.
In this article, we will discuss how to perform the Romanian deadlift, what muscles are worked when performing the exercise, how to add it to your workout routine, and some other variations that might better suit your goals.
How to Perform Romanian Deadlifts
For the sake of this article, we will focus on the barbell variation of the Romanian deadlift. Like most exercise, the movement pattern can be performed with a variety of exercise equipment. And we will get into the many variations later in this article.
- Begin by setting up a barbell on the floor with the desired weight to perform the exercise loaded onto the bar.
- Assume a shoulder-width stance and hinge at the weight to begin grabbing the bar.
- Grab the bar with an overhand grip. Grip width will depend on your body type, but a good rule of thumb is to use your thumbs to space out your hands on the bar from where the smoothness of the bar becomes grainy and textural. This will generally give you a shoulder-width grip.
- Pull the slack out of the bar.
- The first rep of the exercise is a traditional deadlift. Brace your core, drive your hips forward maintaining a neutral spine and move the bar in a straight path until you are standing upright.
- From this top position, lower the bar by driving your butt back as if you were trying to touch the wall behind you. Another great cue to think about is trying to shut the car door with your bum as you would if you were carrying heavy groceries.
- As you lower the weight, ensure your lats remain engaged throughout the movement. A good cue here is to think about squeezing organs in your armpits.
- Lower the bar until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings and glutes. Due to varying levels of flexibility, this might be different for everyone. A general recommendation is to lower to your mid shin before reversing the movement.
- When reversing the movement, drive your hips forward and focus on pushing through the heels of your feet while completely engaging your glutes and hamstrings. It is important to keep your core braced and your spine neutral.
- Once you’ve reached the top of the movement focus on squeezing your glutes.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
What Muscles Are Worked During the Romanian Deadlift?
The primary muscle group engages when performing Romanian deadlifts is the hamstrings. The glutes are also very much engaged throughout the exercise. And since the exercise is a compound lift, you’ll get a lot of engagement from all of the muscles of the posterior chain.
This will include the muscles of the low, mid and upper back such as the spinal erectors, lats, traps, and rhomboids.
Your grip will be challenged throughout the exercise – even more so than the traditional deadlift as the RDL is a slower movement than other deadlift variations thus increasing time under tension. As a result, the forearms are constantly engaged in this movement.
The calves are also involved in the RDL to a minor degree.
And, lastly, all of the stabilizers of the core are called upon to keep the spine neutral throughout the movement.
How to Add RDLs to Your Workout Routine
The Romanian deadlift can be added to nearly any workout routine imaginable. It can be used as a primary exercise or a secondary exercise. It will usually be performed on a leg day workout and its placement within a workout will depend on whether the lifter is focusing on training the entire leg, prioritizing hamstrings, and the overall performance goal of their training.
For those who perform full body workouts, the RDL can be included as hip hinge movement pattern of the workout on one of the training days throughout the week.
For those who perform upper/lower workouts, RDLs will be scheduled for 1-2 of the lower workouts throughout the week depending on the lifter’s goals.
If you perform push, pull, leg workouts, the Romanian deadlift might be programmed into your leg workouts or your pull workouts. This will depend on your workout frequency and your goals for exercise.
Lastly, if you perform bro split workouts, the RDL will likely be included during your leg workouts. If you perform a hamstring-focused workout, it may be the primary movement of that particular workout.
Rep and set schemes will vary depending on if the exercise is the primary movement of your leg workout or an accessory lift. Generally, the RDL is performed for 6-12 repetitions as the traditional deadlift is used for lower rep range schemes.
Regarding sets, the RDL can be performed for 2-5 sets depending on one’s goals and other exercises within the workout.
Rest periods for the RDL will fall into the range of 90 seconds to upwards of 3 minutes.
Romanian Deadlifts Variations
As mentioned earlier, the Romanian deadlift is itself a variation of the deadlift. It can also be performed with a variety of pieces of equipment. Some RDL variations are listed below if you would like to explore further and determine if they would be appropriate for your goals.
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
- Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift
- Machine Romanian Deadlift
- Cable Romanian Deadlift
- Banded Romanian Deadlift
- Landmine Romanian Deadlift
- Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift
- Trap Bar Romanian Deadlift
- Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlift
- Barbell Good Mornings
Conclusion
The RDL is an awesome exercise for anyone looking to build hamstring muscle and strength. The exercise also effectively hits the glutes and many other muscles of the posterior chain.
The exercise is appropriate for nearly any goal including aesthetic, performance, and injury prevention/rehabilitation.
There are so many variations of the RDL that one can experiment with to find a variation appropriate for their individual needs.
If you have any questions about the Romanian deadlift, please feel free to drop a comment below!