Hinge

Romanian deadlift

The posterior chain lift: hamstrings and glutes. Teaches you to bend at the hips instead of the back — the most useful pattern you can own.

Equipment: Barbell, Dumbbells
Level: Beginner
Primary muscles: Hamstrings, Gluteus maximus
Secondary muscles: Spinal erectors, Lats
Working range: 6–12 reps · RIR 2

Step by step

A movement diagram, not a photograph. It shows the sequence of joint angles and the path of the load — body proportions are schematic. If you have reduced motion enabled, you will see both positions side by side.

1Stand holding the bar with straight arms, feet hip-width.
2Bend your knees slightly and lock that angle — they neither straighten nor bend further for the whole rep.
3Push your hips back, letting the bar slide down along your thighs.
4Go until you feel a strong stretch in the back of your thighs while the back stays flat. For most people that is around knee height.
5Come back by squeezing the glutes and driving the hips forward.

What makes the biggest difference

This is a loaded-stretch exercise, not a max-weight lift. Lighter and deeper works better.
Range is decided by the stretch you feel, not by how close the bar gets to the floor.

Common mistakes

Bending the knees instead of the hips

The lift turns into a squat and the posterior chain stops working. Stand near a wall and hinge until your glutes touch it.

Going too low at the cost of the back

The range ends where hamstring flexibility ends — beyond that the spine flexes. A shorter range with a flat back is better.

The bar drifts away from the legs

Keep the bar brushing your legs. The further from the hips, the more load on the lower back.

What to do instead

Lower back pain

Lying leg curl

Isolates the hamstrings with no spinal involvement. You lose the hinge pattern, but the muscle still works.

No barbell available

Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

Same movement, easier to set up, and it allows single-leg work if you have a side-to-side difference.

Contraindications

A recent hamstring strain — loaded stretching will delay healing.
Acute pain radiating down the leg — get it assessed before training.

This is not medical advice. If any of these apply to you, or the exercise causes pain, talk to a doctor or physiotherapist before returning to training.

Similar exercises

Deadlift Hip thrust

Log your sets and watch the progression

You enter weight, reps and RIR — the app computes your estimated 1RM, plots the strength curve and suggests the next session’s load along with the reasoning.

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