Skip to main content

Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: A beginner’s guide to this powerful strength move

RDLs emphasize your glutes and hamstrings a little more than the regular deadlift.

Dumbbell Romanian deadlift or RDL man and woman working out in gym with dumbbell
MDV Edwards / Shutterstock

Try adding the dumbbell Romanian deadlift to your workout routine when you want to build your overall strength and scorch those hamstrings and glutes. All you need is a pair of dumbbells, and you’re good to go. With this move, you can refine your overall stability and recruit multiple muscle groups. You’ll also get better at performing other lifts and athletic activities as a result. Let’s go over how to do the dumbbell Romanian deadlift, the benefits, common mistakes to avoid, and the best variations to try. 

What is a dumbbell Romanian deadlift?

woman doing dumbbell Romanian deadlift RDL in gym looking in mirror
Yakov Oskanov / Shutterstock

The dumbbell Romanian deadlift or RDL is a variation of the traditional deadlift that targets and rehabilitates muscles along your posterior chain, including your legs, glutes, and lower back. It’s an excellent strength training compound exercise that engages your hip joints and promotes hypertrophy of multiple muscle groups. You can perform RDLs with one or two dumbbells, a barbell, one or two kettlebells, or bands. 

Recommended Videos

What’s the difference between a deadlift and a Romanian deadlift?

man deadlift barbell outside using lifting straps wrist strap
RDNE / Pexels

Traditional deadlifts and the Romanian deadlift have similarities, but there are also a few main differences, including:

  • With the traditional deadlift, the barbell rests on the floor, and you bend your knees and hips to grip the bar. You lift it up by extending your hips and knees until you’re in a standing position. With a Romanian deadlift, you begin standing with the dumbbells or the barbell in your hands. You hinge at the hips and push your hips back. With a slight bend in your knees, you lower the dumbbells down along your legs until you feel a sufficient stretch in your hamstrings.
  • With a regular deadlift, there’s more quad engagement because you bend your knees more than with the Romanian deadlift. When performing RDLs, your knees are soft but not fully bent. Rather than bending your knees, you’ll use your hip hinge to power through the RDL.
  • RDLs emphasize your glutes and hamstrings a little more than the deadlift. You’ll still fire up those muscles with the regular deadlift, but you’ll get more glute and hamstring activation with an RDL.
  • The range of motion is greater with the deadlift because you lift the bar up from the ground until you’re fully upright. The RDL, on the other hand, has a shorter range of motion because you bring the bar down only until your hamstrings are fully stretched or just below your knees.

Is the Romanian deadlift better than the regular deadlift?

Man lifting deadlift bar
Alora Griffiths / Pexels

The Romanian deadlift isn’t any better than the traditional deadlift, and vice versa. They’re both effective exercises that generate results if you stay consistent and maintain proper form. Both build strength and endurance in your posterior chain. The deadlift is a full-body strength exercise often used in powerlifting competitions and events, and Romanian deadlifts are an excellent choice for targeting and strengthening your hamstrings and glutes.

What muscles are targeted during the dumbbell Romanian deadlift?

shirtless muscular man muscle in gym
Hamid Tajik / Pexels

RDLs activate your posterior chain muscles running along the back of your body, such as your:

  • Glutes
  • Lower back and erector spinae
  • Hamstrings in the back of your thighs
  • Adductor muscles in your inner thighs
  • Core

Your core muscles help stabilize your torso, and the adductors in your inner thighs help to stabilize your legs.

What are the benefits of the dumbbell Romanian deadlift?

man standing black and white in gym holding dumbbells doing shoulder shrug
Taylor Daugherty / Unsplash

Here are some of the benefits of performing dumbbell Romanian deadlifts:

  • It’s a versatile exercise you can do at home without needing a gym membership. You just need two dumbbells.
  • Enhance your lower body strength.
  • Enhance your overall fitness and muscular endurance.
  • It’s friendlier for your knees.
  • Works your core and muscles in your posterior chain.
  • Master your hip hinge and improve your ability to perform other moves that also utilize glute and hip function, such as squats and kettlebell swings.
  • Incorporate RDL into your push-and-pull workout day.
  • Strengthen your back muscles, which could help reduce back pain.
  • Enhance your overall stability.

How to do the dumbbell Romanian deadlift

illustration of dumbbell romanian deadlift exercise
Lio Putra / Adobe Stock

Here’s how to do the dumbbell Romanian deadlift:

  1. Start in a standing position with your feet about hip-width apart and your toes pointing straight ahead. Hold the dumbbells down in front of your thighs with a closed overhand grip. Your palms should be facing your thighs.
  2. Hinge at your hips, engage your core, and push your hips back.
  3. With a slight bend in your knees, start lowering the dumbbells down along your legs with control. Keep the dumbbells close to your body.
  4. Lower the dumbbells down until you feel a sufficient stretch in your hamstrings on the back of your thighs.
  5. Bring your hips forward and bring the dumbbells back up to return to the starting position.
  6. Repeat until you complete the set.

Common mistakes to avoid

man closeup hand holding dumbbell
Engin Akyurt / Unsplash

Get the most out of RDLs by avoiding these common mistakes:

  • Locking your knees. 
  • Not maintaining good posture.
  • Not taking the dumbbells through the maximum range.
  • Hunching or slouching your back.
  • Focusing more on momentum rather than muscle engagement and control.
  • Holding the dumbbells incorrectly.

Tips for proper form

man does dumbbell romanian deadlift exercise RDL in gym MDV Edwards Adobe
MDV Edwards / Adobe Stock

These tips will help you maintain proper form to maximize your results:

  • Maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement.
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades.
  • Focus on control rather than momentum.
  • Start with a lighter weight and perfect your technique before incorporating progressive overload and using heavier weights.
  • Make sure you’re using your hip hinge movement properly.
  • Plant your feet firmly on the floor with your weight distributed evenly.

Variations

Dumbbell single leg, straight leg Romanian deadlift
Red Bull / Red Bull

The following are the best dumbbell Romanian deadlift variations to level up your fitness:

  • Single-leg Romanian deadlift — You’ll increase your balance and stability with the single-leg Romanian deadlift because you have to perform the move on one leg, which heightens the challenge.
  • B stance Romanian deadlift — The B stance RDL involves a staggered stance where you’re shifting most of your weight to challenge just one leg.
Steph Green
Steph Green is a content writer specializing in healthcare, wellness, and nutrition. With over ten years of experience, she…
Topics
Here’s what the growing research shows about Parkinson’s disease and exercise
Are dancing and aerobic exercise beneficial for those with Parkinsons?
older man dancing

As someone with an Autoimmune bone disease, I know how exercise and moving my body helps with pain, stiffness, and other symptoms. Depending on the day, I gravitate toward different types of exercise, from jogging to yoga and bodyweight moves. Mounting research highlights how being physically active can improve symptoms and lower the risk of a range of chronic conditions. I wasn’t surprised to see that studies reveal exercises like running, yoga, and stretching are beneficial for ankylosing spondylitis, which is my autoimmune condition that primarily affects the bones.

Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder involving a decline in dopamine production in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in coordinating movement, and people with Parkinson’s have several related symptoms, including stiffness, tremors, and issues with balance. Growing research also unveils the benefits of physical activity for those with Parkinson’s disease, including improving daily symptoms. Let’s explore.

Read more
Beginner’s guide to glute step-ups: reps, variations, and tips
It's time to step-up and torch those glutes.
Close-up man legs wearing blue sneakers doing step-up exercise in gym

One of the main muscle groups lots of people want to accentuate and strengthen is the glutes, or shall we say, the buttocks, or the derrière. For those wanting a firm, pronounced, rounded, and muscular rear end, specific glute-focused exercises are part of the picture. Honestly, I noticed the strength and shape of my glutes enhanced over a few months of physical therapy as I was working my way through countless reps of glute bridges, squats, and glute step-ups. It’s pretty impressive what our bodies can do when we put the work in.

Strong glutes can improve your posture, athletic performance, and balance, and reduce back pain. These important muscles support your lower body joints and help to evenly distribute forces as you do your daily functional activities. Glute step-ups are an excellent choice to activate your glutes. In fact, researchers found that performing step-ups resulted in the highest gluteus maximus activation levels compared to all other exercises tested in the study, including hip thrusts, split squats, lunges, and deadlifts. It’s definitely worth including step-ups in your routine. Here’s what you need to know about step-ups, including how to do them properly, the benefits, common mistakes to avoid, top tips, and FAQs.

Read more
Here’s why fitness buffs do dead bugs for a strong core — growing research
The research is growing showing the many benefits of the dead bug exercise
Man doing dead bug exercise on floor on blue mat

If you play a lot of sports and want to level up your game, it’s time to work on your core strength. Researchers found that core training improves several variables of performance, including balance, throwing and hitting, and horizontal jumping power. You can jump higher, balance better, throw further, and more if you prioritize exercises that specifically train the muscles in your core. Studies also show core training improves posture, balance, stability, and reduces the risk of lower back pain.

Your erector spinae, obliques, transverse abdominis, and other core muscles help you do your day-to-day activities as well as play the sports you love. As the center of your body, you’ll definitely feel a difference when you stay dedicated to your core training. You might think of core moves like the plank, and it’s certainly effective and worthy of your routine. One of the best moves to try is the dead bug, which has a terrible name but is popular for good reason. Let’s look at the mounting research on the benefits of the dead bug and how it torches your core.

Read more