How to do it
- Stand with the bar at your thighs, shoulder-width grip, knees slightly bent.
- Hinge the hips back, keeping the bar dragging down your legs, until the hamstrings are fully stretched.
- Drive the hips forward and stand tall without hyperextending.
Cues that matter
- Keep the shoulder blades pulled down so the bar stays close.
- Weight in the mid-foot to heel, never the toes.
Common mistakes
- Turning it into a squat by dropping the hips.
- Leaning back hard at the top.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Hamstrings
- All three heads
Also works
- Glutes
- Lower back
- Traps
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Barbell Romanian Deadlift in a session, with 150 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 4–6 reps
- Build muscle
- 6–10 reps
- Endurance
- 12–20 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the hamstrings with different equipment — for a day the barbell is taken, or a gym that does not have one.