maratoolRomanian Deadlift from Deficit
How to do the romanian deadlift from deficit
- Begin standing while holding a bar at arm's length in front of you. You can stand on a raised platform to increase the range of motion.
- Begin by flexing the knees slightly, and then flex at the hip, moving your butt back as far as possible, lowering the torso as far as flexibility allows. The back should remain in absolute extension at all times, and the bar should remain in contact with the legs. If done properly, there should be heavy tension felt in the hamstrings.
- Reverse the motion to return to the starting position.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee, frequently at both joints in the same repetition.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first; the glutes finish hip extension; the lower back keeps the spine from rounding.
The traps take a share of the work as well.
Every exercise for:HamstringsForearmsGlutesLower backTraps
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under olympic weightlifting. The bar must move fast enough for you to get underneath it, which makes this a skill rather than a grind: low repetitions, well short of where fatigue starts editing technique.
What you need
A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.
Every exercise using:Barbell
These train the hamstrings too, using equipment this one does not:
- Seated Leg Curlmachine
- Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadliftdumbbell
- 90/90 Hamstringbody only
- Alternating Hang Cleankettlebell
- Ball Leg Curlexercise ball
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 86 hamstrings exercises in this database, 35 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.