Romanian Deadlift Demonstration

Recorded to demonstrate form.

OVERVIEW

This is a romanian deadlift, not a stiff-legged deadlift. The main distinction between the two is that the RDL is controlled from the hips -- the butt is "punched" backwards causing the torso to lower and then pulled back in to return to upright. In a SLDL, on the other hand, the movement is initiated by lowering the upper body in an attempt to maintain the hips' position in space; the butt is not punched backwards. In either movement, you want to minimize knee bend so that the posterior chain can take the brunt of the load; however, in a RDL, the knees are allowed to bend further if necessary, especially when flexibility is inadequate. This is unlike the eccentric of a conventional deadlift, where the knees bend further so that the quadriceps can be better used at the beginning of the next concentric, which is one of the reasons why more weight can be lifted in the conventional deadlift than the RDL (though at the cost of less "isolation" of the posterior chain).

METHOD

Bend the knees slightly to start and push the hips backwards to lower the bar. Ensure to keep the bar in contact with the thighs, sliding it down them until you reach a position slightly below knee height before allowing the bar to continue to lower straight down. For a weightlifter, this better strengthens the body, keeping the bar in close and placing the shoulders over/ahead it, as needed during the pull of a clean.

Notice how the bar stays in close against the thighs and lower legs and, consequently, the back must maintain a tight arch as the shoulders stay ahead of the bar. The chest also does not drop nor do the shoulders slouch as the bar lowers.

Also, notice the power that the glutes, as well as the rest of the posterior chain, provide on the concentric motion. The glutes are strongly flexed and the hips shoved forward, causing the barbell to accelerate very powerfully to lockout.

SAFETY

For the most part, never perform an RDL, SLDL, good morning, etc. (movements that involve hip flexion) with completely straight and locked knees. Unlock your knees and bend them slightly any time that your hip is bent and you are externally loading the body. Otherwise, the tendons at the back of the knee can take the grunt of the load, instead of the hamstrings, and the likelihood of injury greatly increases.

Lifting from the floor and lowering the barbell to the floor past a height just below the knees is not an essential part of this lift.

In particular, IF YOU'RE JUST LEARNING THIS MOVEMENT, do not lower the barbell completely to the floor, as you likely lack sufficient flexibility to do so. Likewise, I'd advise starting with an eccentric (negative motion) instead, using a conventional deadlift or lifting off of the rack in order to get the barbell to the top position before beginning your set. Finally, use a slower tempo until you get the hang of the lift.

FURTHER INFORMATION

There's a nice set of RDLs at the end of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFRn1JX0DA

This is also a good narrated tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnBREGM7pE0

This is a comparison of one lifter's bar path in the RDL vs. that of his clean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1taUuKre3w

(1/2/2009)

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• romanian
• deadlift
• form
• technique
• rdl
• olympic
• weight
• lifting
• training
• body
• building
• power
• strong
• man
• stiff
• straight
• legged
• sldl

[rdormer]

So what would de-loading the bar between reps vs. not touching the floor accomplish in terms of goals? What advantages and disadvantages does one have over the other? I ask because I do not deload between reps, and I'm wondering wether this is a good thing or not.

[chicanerous]

@rdormer Advantages: build concentric strength and increase the ROM of the movement. If you pause longer, you’ll diminish the stretch reflex more. Disadvantages: you probably don’t need any of that. Both variations are useful and I've seen good results with both. Pulling from the floor has the most application if you do (Olympic) weightlifting, but even there not pulling from the floor is very good too, especially if you're not doing many supplemental pulls.

[heenie]

great vid! thanks for sharing!!

though you say deloading the bar between reps "may or may not be warranted depending on your goals"

could you please explain which goals would have us better off deloading between reps??

that would be very helpful ^_^

[chicanerous]

@heenie Mainly if you use the RDL as assistance for other lifts (i.e. the Olympic lifts) that are pulled from the floor, you are weak off the floor (in other pulls), or have need to cultivate that much dynamic flexibility. It's one tool among many. For that second issue, for example, you could instead pull standing on a box, use a snatch grip, add reverse bands, etc. with the other movements.

[Alphonse1930]

cei care sunteti romani dati un Vote Up aici ! :D

[kLaOyYlOeLeA]

i was always told to not touch the weights to the floor until the desired number of reps is complete...

[snow49032]

hmm i never take the weight all the way down to the floor on my romanian deadlifts. this just looks like a standard deadlift with no crouching

[krzxalien]

This is a normal deadlift, you just have really flexible hammies.

[TheUnholyPosole]

@boby6 Pshh.... I deadlifted that WITH my wiener!

[CubJayAnthony]

Yea this would be a normal DL......Romanians you do NOT deload to the floor.

[boby6]

i did these today and my wiener got beat up by the bar

[mdybowski]

oh its romanian not classic :O nvm then

[mdybowski]

@rdormer actually you remove some tension from the spine which is big adventage. Additional adventage is that all your lifts should be done the same way. It means that if you start from floor - every rep is the same on other hand you can lift more if you do it without deload but i strongly advise not to do so... If you lift 100kgs it wont matter but later on you'll thank me.

[HrJeps]

I dispute the fact that this is a Romanian deadlift. In a RDL you have to keep your back arched at all times, whilst not deloading the bar off the floor. You descend the bar until you lose the arch and then ascend till lockout.

Thank you.