Romanian Deadlift
RDL, Barbell Romanian Deadlift
Hamstrings
Hinge
Compound
Intermediate
Set it up
Lift the bar out of the rack at hip height, or stand it up from the floor.
Take a shoulder-width double-overhand grip and stand tall with the bar against your thighs.
Soften your knees a few degrees and leave them there for the whole set.
Pull your shoulder blades down and take a breath into your belly.
What I say while you lift
Push your hips back at the wall behind you.
Drag the bar down your legs — it never loses contact.
Stop where your hamstrings stop you, not where the plates would touch.
Finish by driving your hips into the bar, not by leaning back.
What goes wrong
Letting the knees travel forward until it becomes a squat.
Chasing the floor and rounding the low back to get there.
Yanking the bar up with the arms instead of pushing the hips through.
40X1
default tempo
Breathe in at the top, hold the whole descent, exhale after your hips lock out.
breathing
Before you load it
Keep the bar touching your legs — every inch it drifts forward multiplies the load on your low back.
Not for an acute disc irritation, or any back pain that shows up when you bend forward with no weight at all.