Move of the Month: Romanian Deadlift
by GRP strength coach Will Ruth
The Romanian deadlift, or “RDL” for short, is my favorite way to train the hip hinge movement pattern and the supporting muscles of the hamstrings, glutes, back, and shoulders. Together referred to as the “posterior chain,” these muscles are our base of backside support for all of our sport movements. Mastering the fundamental hip hinge movement and developing these muscles offers benefits to sport performance and reducing risk of common injuries.
We can think of the RDL as a “top-half deadlift,” beginning at the top position with the bar around waist-height and descending from there through the hip hinge motion. The Romanian name comes from an early-1990s Olympic weightlifter demonstrating the exercise. Whatever the name, it trains just the hip hinge motion of rotating the pelvis forwards and backwards with a stable, neutral spine. The hip hinge motion is most applicable in rowing, occurring in every rowing stroke moving from the release position to the body-forward position on the recovery, and then again during the torso swing from mid-drive to release. Skiers and runners also use variations of the hip hinge movement to achieve stable forward torso lean, such as when double-poling, skiing downhill, and running uphill.
The RDL is an excellent exercise for the posterior chain muscles of the hamstrings, glutes, and back, and shoulders, and I often recommend it instead of the conventional barbell deadlift from the floor. I find that many athletes have too hard of a time getting into a solid bottom position to start the deadlift from the floor from a dead-stop. The poor starting position increases stress and strain on the low back, already a commonly injured area in our sports, and fails to develop the hinge movement and posterior chain muscles.
Key technique pointers:
Keep the torso tight throughout the lift, with no or very minimal movement at the back and shoulders. Feel the RDL mostly in the hamstrings and glutes, with the back and shoulder muscles just transferring power to the bar.
Keep the bar in contact with the legs when lowering and lifting to keep the hips the focus of the exercise. I cue athletes to “push the hips back” to emphasize rotation of the pelvis around a stable spine when descending, and then “hips to bar” for the lifting phase to focus on hamstrings and glutes.
Descend as far as you’re able to with good technique and the emphasis on the hip hinge movement, not just bending the torso forward. Each athlete’s bottom position will look different based on their physical build, so don’t force an arbitrary anatomical landmark like “bar to kneecap” or “plates to floor.”
Use a 2-to-1 lowering-to-lifting tempo to emphasize control on the lowering phase and acceleration on the lifting phase.
Athletes new to strength training should begin with the bodyweight hip hinge and RDL with a single dumbbell or kettlebell to develop the general hip hinge movement pattern and lower body strength. Progress to the double-dumbbell or double-kettlebell RDL if available, and then the barbell RDL when you feel ready or run out of heavy enough dumbbells and kettlebells. I recommend training the RDL with higher reps for a muscular focus (2-4 sets of 8-15 reps), with occasional sessions of lower reps and higher loads for strength and power (3-5 sets of 3-8 reps). In general, use aerobic cross-training and sport training to train endurance, not strength training.