Romanian Deadlift Form

Prop up your phone and RepSensei counts your romanian deadlift reps and flags some visible issues, right on your device. Video never leaves your phone.

How to do it

1. Start standing with the bar in your hands, grip just outside your thighs, feet hip width apart.
2. Unlock your knees slightly and keep that bend fixed for the whole set.
3. Push your hips straight back as if closing a car door with your bum, letting the bar slide down your thighs.
4. Keep your back flat and the bar close until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, usually around the knees to mid-shin.
5. Drive your hips forward to stand up tall, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Coaching cues

Hips back, not down

The movement comes from the hips travelling backwards; if the knees bend more, it becomes a squat.

Bar shaves the legs

Keeping it in contact with the thighs stops it pulling your back forward.

Stop at the stretch

Range ends where your hamstrings run out, not where the floor is.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Going too low

Chasing the floor rounds the lower back once the hamstrings run out of length. Fix: Stop when the hips stop moving back. For most people that is around the knees to mid-shin.

Bending the knees more as you go down

It turns the hinge into a squat and takes the hamstrings out. Fix: Set a soft knee bend at the top and keep it the same.

Bar drifting away

Bar away from the legs puts much more leverage on the lower back. Fix: Pull your shoulders back slightly and keep the bar touching the thighs.

Looking up

Craning the neck pulls the spine out of line. Fix: Keep your gaze a metre or two in front of your feet as you hinge.

Over-extending at the top

Leaning back to finish compresses the lower back. Fix: Stand tall and squeeze the glutes; stop when hips are under shoulders.

Muscles worked

Main: Hamstrings, Glutes. Also: Lower back, Forearms, Traps, Inner thighs.

Who should take care

If you have a sensitive lower back, start light with dumbbells or a kettlebell and a short range. Stop and see a doctor or physiotherapist if you get pain rather than a hamstring stretch.

Variations

• Pull Through: Easier: a cable pulls you back so the hinge is easier to feel.
• Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlift: Easier: dumbbells let your hands sit at your sides.
• Kettlebell One-Legged Deadlift: Harder: one leg adds balance and hip control.
• Romanian Deadlift from Deficit: Harder: standing on a platform adds range for flexible lifters.

Filming your romanian deadlift

Film from the side at hip height, two to three metres away, so you can see the hips move back and the bar stay close. You can track it with the RepSensei camera, which counts reps and can flag some visible issues from one angle; it cannot see everything. See how to film your form.

Questions

What is the difference between an RDL and a deadlift?

A deadlift starts from the floor with more knee bend. The RDL starts at the top, keeps the knees soft and lowers only as far as the hamstrings allow.

What is the difference between an RDL and a stiff-leg deadlift?

A stiff-leg deadlift usually has straighter legs and returns the bar to the floor. The RDL keeps a slight knee bend and stops at your hamstring range.

Should I feel it in my lower back?

Some effort holding your back is normal. If the lower back burns more than the hamstrings, check the bar is close and you are not going too low.

See the Romanian Deadlift exercise guide with a 3D figure.

More form guides

• Squat form
• Deadlift form
• Lunge form
• Hip Thrust form
• Bulgarian Split Squat form

General guidance, not medical advice. Stop if anything hurts. The camera can miss things, so no issue seen doesn't mean perfect form.