Romanian deadlift setup
Start with the bar on the floor or take it out of a rack at hip height. Standing tall, feet hip width, knees softly bent. Grip just outside the legs, double overhand or mixed grip.
The Romanian deadlift is a hip hinge starting from the top, not a deadlift starting from the floor. The bar travels down toward the mid-shin and comes back up.
The hinge
Push the hips backward as the bar lowers. Knees stay softly bent (not deepening into a squat). The bar slides down the front of the legs, staying close to the body. The hamstrings load.
Lower until you feel a strong hamstring stretch (usually mid-shin to knee height for most lifters; flexibility varies). Reverse the motion: drive the hips forward, stand tall, lock out at the top.
Common faults
Bar drifting away from the body: caused by lazy lat engagement. Fix: think about pulling the bar into the legs the entire rep, lats squeezed throughout.
Squatting instead of hinging: knees bend deeper as the bar lowers, turning the rep into a mini-deadlift. Fix: maintain the soft-knee position from start to bottom; if the knees travel forward, the lift has become squat-like.
Lower back rounding at the bottom: when the lifter lacks the hamstring flexibility to reach mid-shin without losing neutral spine. Fix: stop the rep above the lower-back rounding point. Range will improve over weeks of consistent work.
Programming
The Romanian deadlift is the workhorse hamstring exercise for most lifters. Higher rep ranges (8-15) typically produce the best hypertrophy outcomes; lower ranges (5-8) build pulling strength that transfers to deadlift.
For strength: 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps at RPE 7-8.
For hypertrophy: 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps at RPE 7-9.
Pair with quad-dominant work (squats, lunges) and direct knee-flexion (leg curls, GHR) for full posterior coverage.
When to swap
Lifters with grip endurance limitations should swap to dumbbell RDL or use straps. The grip is often the failure point on a 12-rep set, not the hamstrings.
Lifters with severely tight hamstrings should swap to single-leg RDL initially. The lower demand on flexibility lets them work through full range while flexibility improves.