THE BARBELL DEADLIFT is of the most important exercises for anyone looking to build lower body strength and size, and for good reason. The compound movement recruits the big muscle groups of the legs and allows you to work with heavy loads, an essential for growth. When you really want to home in on the development of your posterior muscles rather than just expressing raw strength, however, you can use a deadlift variation that hammers your glutes and hamstrings even more directly: The barbell Romanian deadlift.
The barbell Romanian deadlift (or RDL, if you’re well-versed in the acronyms of the gym) starts where the standard version of the deadlift ends. Rather than lifting the load off the floor, you’ll initiate the movement while holding the weight at hip-level. It’s a simple shift that has consequential results—particularly for the big posterior muscle groups as you control the weight through the movement.
Doing the Romanian deadlift is more technical than just bending over while holding the bar. Let Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. and senior editor Brett Williams, NASM guide you through the move’s subtleties, saving you from potential bad habits that could stunt your gains and put you at risk of injury.
How to Do the Barbell Romanian Deadlift
- Start by getting the weight into place. If you’re using a heavy load, you can load the bar onto a rack just below hip-level, grab the weight using an pronated (overhand) grip, then stand holding the bar. You can also use standard deadlift form to lift the bar—stand with your feet at about shoulder-width close to the bar, push your butt back and hinge forward to grab the bar with an overhand grip, then push your feet through the floor to stand straight up.
- Organize your body by squeezing your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes. Turn on your lats by “breaking the bar”—turn your armpits forward while gripping the barbell hard.
- Push your butt back, then hinge at the hips to lower your torso and “glide” the bar down your thighs. Keep your spine and neck in a neutral position by looking at the ground.
- Lower down until you feel tension in your hamstrings.
- Pause for a count, then squeeze your glutes to stand back up to the starting position. Continue squeezing the glutes to bring your hips into extension to finish the rep.
Take note of these additional cues from Samuel to shore up your barbell RDL form:
Lower Slowly
Eb says: The focus of the Romanian deadlift is supposed to be on the eccentric contraction. If you rush things, you’ll fail to develop the eccentric control that you want to build with the movement. So take your time lowering the weight. Think about spending at least 2 seconds, maybe 3 bringing the weight down.
Find Your ROM
Eb says: Your range of motion will be different than mine will be different than your best friend’s—and it will also be different in four months than it is now (especially if you consistently do RDLs). Your goal on the RDL is to lower until you can feel your hamstrings tighten, and before your lower back starts to round. That point will come earlier for some people, later for others.
In the ideal world, you end with your back just a hair above parallel to the ground—but don’t chase that standard. Instead, lower until you feel your hamstrings tighten, or until you feel your lower back round, whichever happens first. Then pause and use your hamstrings and glutes to stand back up. The great part about this is that the move is also gradually stretching you as you do it. You’ll find that, over the course of doing RDLs, if you stay disciplined, your ROM will gradually improve.
Keep the Bar Close
Eb says: Don’t let the bar (or whatever you’re using) stray far from your legs. Think about dragging your weight down your thighs and then your calves as you push your butt back. Doing this will keep your back from ever shouldering the load and prevent any lower back issues when doing RDLs.
Keep the Reps Light
Eb says: Never try to do RDLs for 12 to 15 reps. This isn’t a motion that’s meant to be done for overly high reps, because then your mind starts to lose focus and you begin to waste the eccentric portion of the contraction. Stay in the 8 to 10 rep range so you can take your time on every rep and really control the negative.
If you’re taking 2 to 3 seconds to lower the weight on each rep, then one second to drive back to standing, that still works out to, at minimum, 24 seconds of time under tension, a solid set.
Benefits of the Barbell Romanian Deadlift
While you’re performing a very similar movement as the conventional deadlift, shifting from lifting the weight off the ground to lowering the weight through a full range of motion makes the RDL a more eccentrically-focused movement. This allows you to isolate the hamstrings and glutes, which results in more targeted muscle stimulus. You won’t be able to work with your max conventional deadlift weight here, since the focus is on controlling the load, but the eccentric movement will have more payoffs in the muscle growth department.
Muscles Worked By the Barbell Romanian Deadlift
The barbell RDL is still a deadlift, which means you’re still hitting multiple muscle groups. The glutes and hamstrings will bear the brunt of the work, but your back muscles like the lats need to be active to support the weight and stabilize the spine. Your core muscles contribute to that as well. Finally, especially if you use an overhand grip and work with heavy loads, your forearms will get quite a bit of work as you grasp the bar tightly.
Common Barbell Romanian Deadlift Mistakes
Form is paramount for the barbell RDL, especially if you’re working with heavy weight. The two biggest—and most common—mistakes have to do with tempo and head position. Rushing through the movement will limit the amount of time your muscles are under tension (a key factor for growth) and put you at risk of injury. Instead, lower slowly, pause at the bottom of your ROM, then lift up. Looking at yourself in a mirror or raising your head upward as you begin to raise the weight will also put you in an unsafe position for your spine. Instead, focus on a spot on the ground slightly in front of you for the duration of the exercise.
How to Add the Barbell Romanian Deadlift to Your Workouts
Keep the reps low with the barbell RDL, especially if you’re using heavy loads. Samuel recommend 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps—or even 6 to 10 reps, if you’re working with those big weights. Always focus on maintaining proper form over volume and weight.
Want to master even more exercises? Check out all of our Form Check guides here.
