The weighted barbell The Romanian deadlift is one of the most popular exercises performed in the gym, and there is a good reason for this. It’s not hard to understand why the simple lower-body action is such a fan favourite when one considers the myriad advantages it provides for one’s physique.
Romanian deadlifts are my favourite movement to program and execute personally. The exercise is said to be a wonderful glute movement when done correctly, hits your hamstrings extremely nicely, and builds great overall strength.
One of the most important exercises for developing strength in the legs and lower back is the Romanian dumbbell deadlift, often called the dumbbell RDL. Not only will performing this exercise increase the strength in your lower body, but it will also help you establish appropriate form when performing other exercises.
If you put in the effort to learn the Romanian deadlift, you will soon notice improvements in your strength and fitness.
What is the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift?
The weighted barbell The Romanian deadlift is a closed kinetic chain complex exercise intended to develop or rehabilitate the numerous muscle groups along the posterior chain. The posterior chain is also known as the back of the legs, the buttocks, and the rear of the torso.
This exercise is performed while standing up with a pair of dumbbells gripped in the hands of the exerciser. It requires the exerciser to be capable and flexible enough to bend at the hips and knees, which may be difficult for untrained members of the population or individuals who have sustained injuries.
Always remember to use the correct form when performing the Romanian dumbbell deadlift. It will help limit or eliminate the possibility of injury, improve the total training stimulation on the targeted muscles, and ingrain the movement pattern into the exerciser’s neurology.
The Romanian deadlift with dumbbells may even help the exerciser gain control of their lower body, which may be difficult for untrained people or people who are normally sedentary to accomplish at will. This information can then be applied to other workouts, such as those that call for more direct activation of the muscle areas targeted by the Romanian dumbbell deadlift.
How To Do The Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift — Mistakes, Variations, And More
How to Do the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian dumbbell deadlift is a versatile exercise that can be done virtually anywhere, whether at home, in a gym, or even in the great outdoors. To get started, you only need a set of dumbbells and a clean room to work out in.
Step 1 — Stand Up With the Dumbbells
Stand up straight with your feet slightly wider than your hips apart and your toes pointed toward the front of the room. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
When you stand up with the dumbbells, the trainer will tell you to maintain your chest up to keep your back flat.
Step 2 — Inhale And Hinge
As you flex through your hips and descend the dumbbells down the front of your thighs, ensure you breathe in through your nose. Then, when your lumbar spine begins to circle over, when you feel a significant stretch in the back of your thigh, or when you reach the point where your back is parallel to the floor, stop the movement.
Advice from the trainer: Instead of bending at the knees, you should bend at the hips to maximise the exercise for your glutes and hamstrings. Imagine that you are leaning against a wall behind you while pulling your hips backward.
Step 3 — Stand and Thrust
As you come up to a standing position, you should finish the movement by thrusting your hips forward and firmly exhaling as you do so. The weights ought to finish back where they started, at your sides, with you holding them.
A helpful hint from your trainer is that you should not forcefully press your hips forward at the top of the exercise to engage your glutes. Instead, as you would normally do, stand up straight and check to see that your knees don’t go any higher than your hips.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Sets and Reps
You can accomplish various fitness objectives by performing Romanian dumbbell deadlifts, one of the exercises’ many benefits. When working toward different goals, your trainer may recommend performing the same exercise with slightly altered sets, reps, and intensities.
The following is an illustration of one possible programming option for the Romanian dumbbell deadlift:
- For increased muscle mass, complete three sets of eight to twelve repetitions, saving one to two repetitions for the reserve at the end of each set.
- For increased strength, complete four sets of five to seven repetitions, saving two to three repetitions for the reserve at the end of each set.
- For increased muscular endurance, perform two to three sets of fifteen to twenty-five repetitions, saving three to four repetitions at the end of each set.
What are the Benefits of the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift?
If done correctly, the Romanian dumbbell deadlift can benefit the exerciser, ranging from increased bone density to a discernible improvement in athletic ability. These effects, however, depend on the intensity of the exercise and the training method utilised within the context of the exercise.
Health Benefits
When performed repeatedly for many different workout sessions, the Romanian dumbbell deadlift significantly changes the human body. These changes include the strengthening of joints, the reinforcement of musculoskeletal tissue, and the improvement of the circulatory system. Like most weighted resistance exercises, the Romanian dumbbell deadlift provides these benefits.
However, this does not mean that Romanian dumbbell deadlifts do not provide any short-term benefits, even after a single repetition. This exercise can impart certain anabolic hormone improvements and increase cellular insulin sensitivity, both of which improve the exerciser’s overall health and well-being.
Posture Benefits
The lumbar spine and the gluteal muscle groups are the foundation of healthy human posture. Exercising the muscles surrounding these areas helps distribute the weight of the torso uniformly across the body, resulting in improved posture and a decreased risk of injuries connected to posture.
Athletic Benefits
The enhancements in athletic performance brought about by performing Romanian dumbbell deadlifts are the most significant positive benefit of the exercise.
The posterior chain is responsible for much of the explosive power generated during certain movements, primarily in athletic endeavours. One such movement is jumping, which generates significant force from the gluteus maximus and other nearby muscle groups. The posterior chain is responsible for this force.
Therefore, including Romanian dumbbell deadlifts in an athlete’s training program can be directly responsible for noticeable improvements in the athlete’s athletic abilities and general performance during sporting events. These improvements can be made by triggering muscular hypertrophy in the posterior chain and improving neuromuscular fibre recruitment on command.
Training Benefits
By strengthening the basic brain-muscle connection to the posterior chain and its following musculature, the Romanian dumbbell deadlift has the potential to enhance performance in various aspects of strength training. For example, keeping your form correct during bigger and more severe compound exercises, like the regular barbell deadlift, can be made easier with the help of this.
In addition, the natural motion of keeping one’s spinal cord and core braced while subjected to mechanical stress is imprinted into the exerciser’s muscle memory as they practice this exercise repeatedly. It helps the exerciser avoid injury and improve their overall fitness.
The nature of dumbbell exercises allows them to operate as a unilateral training stimulus, even though both sides of the body are working while performing this exercise. It may be of assistance in the rehabilitation of muscular imbalances in particular muscle groups of the body.
What Muscles Are Involved in the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift?
The weighted barbell The Romanian deadlift is a type of exercise known as a complex exercise, and as such, it requires more than one muscle group to do it correctly. Therefore, it can be useful in exercise routines that call for the recruitment of a large number of muscles or in the case of persons who have only a limited amount of time to do their activities.
When performing a Romanian dumbbell deadlift, the primary movers are the various muscles found in the hamstrings. These include the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris, which should not be confused with the biceps brachii on the anterior portion of the upper arms. The semimembranosus and semitendinosus are located in the hamstrings.
Gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius are all considered primary mover muscles because they each contribute a significant amount of driving force and a stretching reflex to the exercise during both the concentric and eccentric portions of the movement. The Gluteus medius is the largest of the three gluteus muscles.
As the exerciser bends forward, the many smaller muscles distributed throughout the forearms act as stabilisers to help balance the dumbbells. Additionally, the erector spinal and abdominal stabilisers are brought into play to stabilise the torso and reduce the risk of the exerciser injuring themselves.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 101 | How To Workout Your Hamstrings!
How To Do The Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
EQUIPMENT:
You will need a set of dumbbells to complete this exercise.
SETUP:
- a) Start by standing with your feet about the width of your shoulders apart and holding the dumbbells with your palms facing inward. It is the starting posture.
- b) Contract your abdominal muscles, bring your shoulder blades closer together, and keep your chest as high as possible.
ACTION:
a) Start standing with your knees bent slightly and your back straight. Next, hinge at the waist while keeping your back straight and descend the weights toward the ground. As you move your hips rearward, you should get a significant deep stretch in your hamstrings.
b) Next, bring yourself back up to a standing position while contracting your glutes, and then reverse the motion you just made.
c) Keep your abdominal muscles contracted and repeat the exercise!
RECOMMENDATION:
If you start with the Romanian dumbbell deadlift, start with a light weight and perform three to four sets of ten to twelve repetitions.
Once you feel more confident in your form, grab a pair of heavier dumbbells and perform six to eight repetitions for three to four sets.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Mistakes
1. ROUNDING OF THE BACK
When performing a Romanian dumbbell deadlift, the most typical mistake that people make is that they round their back. Therefore, before beginning any athletic activity, it is first essential to stabilise your body to prevent injury.
When bending forward at the waist, you should bring your shoulder blades together to maintain a straight back, then tighten your core to keep your abdominal muscles active.
Doing the dumbbell RDL with this precaution will significantly lower the likelihood of sustaining an injury.
2. LOOKING UP AS YOU MOVE DOWN
Most lifters will keep their gaze directed upward when they hinge at the waist. Not only does this put unnecessary strain on the neck, but it also compels you to arch your lower back. When bending at the waist and lowering the dumbbells, turn your head so your eyes look down at the ground.
During a Romanian dumbbell deadlift, this emphasises correct body posture and helps to prevent injury.
3. LOCKING OUT THE KNEES
While we don’t want to lock our knees out completely during the dumbbell RDL because it can put us in danger, we also don’t want to bend our knees too far. Because of this, the dumbbells may end up swinging a great distance in front of our knees, which puts a great deal of strain on the lower back.
Instead, it would help if you focused on maintaining the dumbbells close to your body while you tilt at the waist and gently unlock your knees.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Variations
Here are some possibilities to offer a different effect if you want to try a different form of the Romanian dumbbell deadlift. If you want to try something different, you can click here.
Toes-Elevated Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
The squat with the toes lifted dumbbell To perform a variation of the Romanian deadlift; you must place a wedge or a tiny plate underneath your forefoot. It will be helpful for anyone who struggles with rounding through the back, bending their knees, or leaning forward too far in the Romanian deadlift.
Your glutes and hamstrings should be able to feel more of a stretch due to the toe elevation because it effectively places you in a position where they may be stretched further.
Staggered-Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
The dumbbell with the staggered stance To perform a Romanian deadlift, you must position your feet in a staggered stance, with one foot slightly behind the other, as if you were using the other foot as a kickstand for a bicycle. In addition, you must retain most of your body weight on the foot you are working with as you perform this action.
If you want to concentrate on muscle imbalances or postural shifting, use this modification to turn the Romanian dumbbell deadlift into a partial unilateral movement.
Single-Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
You can perform a Romanian dumbbell deadlift in a completely unilateral manner by focusing your attention on one leg at a time as you perform the exercise. The Romanian deadlift on one leg is a great exercise for simultaneously testing your hip strength and balance.
It’s a terrific way to build strong stability and coordination, which you should be able to bring to workouts using bigger weights.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Alternatives
The weighted barbell It’s possible that the Romanian deadlift isn’t the best choice for everyone; perhaps you find it too challenging, or you need a wider selection of dumbbells. The following are some alternate options that will assist you in achieving the same stimulus on the same parts of your body:
Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift
The Smith machine, as it were, The Romanian deadlift puts everything, quite literally, “on rails.” Because the Smith has a set bar path, you must correct your bar movement and monitor where your centre of gravity is to perform the exercise successfully.
You may also quickly and easily load the Smith machine with high weights for maximum mechanical strain, which is excellent for growing hypertrophy. This feature makes using the Smith machine quite convenient.
Barbell Romanian Deadlift
The barbell that was used. The Romanian deadlift is the variation of the Romanian that is performed the most frequently. Instead of using dumbbells at your sides, you will hold a barbell in front of your body while performing this exercise.
The benefit of utilising this version is that it helps you concentrate on loading as much weight as possible. Using the barbell in your workouts is one of the most effective ways to train for maximum strength.
Snatch-Grip Romanian Deadlift
The only difference between the barbell Romanian deadlift and the snatch-grip Romanian deadlift is the barbell Romanian deadlift uses a much wider grip. This variation is popular among Olympic lifters because of its connection to the snatch exercise; nevertheless, any gymgoer can benefit from performing this action because it is a great accessory exercise.
You can engage a greater range of motion and train your posterior chain in a more stretched posture if you grab the barbell as comfortably as possible (the bar should rest against the crease of your hip when you stand up).
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: Benefits, Muscles Worked, and More
How is the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Performed?
The weighted barbell The initial step in doing a Romanian deadlift involves positioning the exerciser’s feet so that they are roughly shoulder-width apart and grabbing a set of dumbbells of equal weight in both hands. Remember that preserving a straight spine by keeping the exerciser’s back and neck flat is extremely important to limit the risk of injury while executing this exercise. It can be accomplished by maintaining a flat back and straight spine.
It can be made easier by retracting the scapula, ensuring the chest is puffed outwards, and fixing the exerciser’s head forward to retain the spinal cord in a braced yet neutral position.
The exerciser is then required to simultaneously bend at the waist and knees, allowing their torso to fall forwards a little bit as the dumbbells are brought towards the ground in a slow and controlled action. Any lifting of the feet, especially the heels, may indicate hamstring tightness. Thus, the exerciser should always keep their feet firmly on the ground.
A sensation of stretching along the back of the legs, particularly in the muscles beneath the buttocks and the buttock muscles themselves, is a helpful indicator for the exerciser to pay attention to and is a good place to start.
Once the dumbbells have reached a position approximately halfway below the knee, depending on the individual exerciser’s biomechanics, the exerciser is required to begin the concentric portion of the exercise by reversing the movement of the dumbbells. It will cause the muscles to contract more intensely.
The exerciser accomplishes this by straightening both their hips and knees, effectively returning to the starting posture while simultaneously squeezing their gluteal muscles and maintaining the same straight spine.
One repetition of the Romanian dumbbell deadlift has been finished with this movement.
Who Should Perform the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift?
The Romanian deadlift with dumbbells is an exercise that most healthy people can safely perform if the movement is executed with the correct form and the right amount of weight. On the other hand, certain people who have injuries, inflexibilities, or a particular training emphasis may be better off picking alternate exercises to practice instead of the recommended ones.
Before attempting the Romanian dumbbell deadlift, individuals who have suffered from hip injuries, quadriceps femoris impingements, a history of patellar dislocations, lumbar spine injuries, or any other kind of injury involving the tissues located throughout the legs and lower back should first consult a physical therapist or another qualified professional.
In addition, people who lack flexibility in their hamstrings and gluteal muscles, in particular, should exercise extreme caution before attempting the Romanian dumbbell deadlift. A lack of flexibility in these particular muscle groups can result in injury due to the stresses placed upon them during the exercise. Therefore, when you start working out these muscles, it is recommended to warm them up and stretch them out completely.
However, for athletes who wish to train their posterior chain, certain other types of exercises may provide a more impactful and intense training stimulus, which may be more beneficial to the athlete’s training regimen, depending on the particular goals that the athlete has set for themselves.
What is the Difference Between the Barbell and Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift?
The primary reason the barbell Romanian deadlift functions as a more bilateral exercise is that a barbell is a singular object. Because of this, the exerciser must engage the muscles on both sides of their body simultaneously to complete the movement.
Although this may also be true when executing a Romanian deadlift with dumbbells, the specific weight distribution that results from using two different dumbbells significantly modifies this exercise’s biomechanics.
The utilisation of dumbbells during the performance of the Romanian deadlift helps to ensure a reduced risk of injury by providing a more balanced distribution of mechanical stress over the torso and spinal cord of the exerciser. It, in turn, reduces the likelihood of the exerciser developing muscular imbalances for multiple training sessions.
A barbell, on the other hand, can be used during a Romanian deadlift, and this will allow for a somewhat more intense level of training stimuli to be applied to the exerciser because a greater amount of weight can be used during the exercise, with both sides of the body working in tandem. However, it can be countered by the fact that the exercise can be performed with both sides of the body working in tandem.
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Alternatives
Check out these other leg and glute exercises to increase your lower body training if you found the Romanian dumbbell deadlift to be fun:
1. STRAIGHT-LEGGED DEADLIFT
The Romanian and straight-legged deadlifts are extremely comparable variations of the same exercise. On the other hand, when performing this exercise, ensure that your knees are locked and that you bring the weight closer to the ground (if your flexibility allows).
The Romanian dumbbell deadlift places more emphasis on hip flexion, whereas the straight-legged deadlift emphasises hamstring activation.
2. GLUTE HAM RAISE
An additional workout that targets your glutes and hamstrings is the glute-ham lift. This exercise is an option. Start in a vertical position on the glute-ham machine to get things started. As you lower yourself until your body is parallel to the ground, contract your core and glutes.
After then, contract your hamstrings to bring your body back up to a vertical position. Repeat!
3. BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
The Bulgarian split squat places significant emphasis on the legs and the glutes. Squat down while keeping your back straight and raising one leg. To return to the starting posture, thrust your hips upwards through your legs.
Repeat!
Conclusion
One of the most well-known hip-dominant exercises, the Romanian deadlift targets not only the glutes and hamstrings but also the back extensors, hence assisting in developing and maintaining good posture. When you execute the conventional Romanian with dumbbells, you open yourself up to various possibilities for personalisation. You will have much leeway in how your setup and execution are carried out, but the advantages continue beyond there.
The Romanian dumbbell deadlift is a great exercise for athletes and bodybuilders alike since it helps create power through the hips, increases muscle mass, and improves overall muscular strength.