Deadlift vs. RDL

It’s the battle of the leg day moves: RDL vs. deadlift!

What’s better for building toned glutes and strong hamstrings: conventional deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts (RDLs)?

On first glance, both deadlift variations seem to be quite similar.

But if you zoom in a bit, you’ll see that these moves work very differently to target slightly different muscles in your legs.

Let’s get familiar with the differences between the conventional barbell deadlift and the RDL.

We’ll look at what muscles both moves work, how to perform these deadlift variations with expert form and go through a few tips and tricks for perfecting your deadlift.

Plus, learn which move is right for you based on your fitness goals.

What is a Conventional Deadlift?

A conventional deadlift or barbell deadlift is a great balanced move that works the muscles of your legs roughly equally.

Unlike an RDL, this deadlift variation requires a deeper knee bend to activate your quadriceps.

Let’s walk through the steps of a conventional deadlift.

• Load your barbell.
• Hinge from your hips, sending your butt back to bend down. Don’t lock out your knees. They can bend slightly but don’t think of this as a bent-knee move. It should feel like a hip hinge.
• Bend over and grasp the barbell with a shoulder-width grip.
• Brace your core and exhale at the bottom of your movement.
• Keeping a straight spine, drive through your heels and feet to lift your barbell, maintaining straight arms.
• Lift the weight off the ground. Focus on keeping a straight spine and not rounding out your back. Reverse the direction of your hip hinge to come up.
• Squeeze your glutes at the top of this movement to drive your hips forward once your barbell comes past your knees.
• Hold at the top for a moment, then slowly hinge back through your hips for another rep.
• Continue this move as needed.
• New lifters should aim for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps with medium weight. If you’re going heavy or aiming for a PR, try 3 x 5 heavy reps.

What is a Romanian Deadlift?

Although both exercises are phenomenal at building leg muscle for a sculpted lower body, RDLs are more glute-focused than conventional deadlifts.

Romanian deadlifts require less bend in your knees than conventional deadlifts.

To perform a proper RDL:

• Load your barbell. Set it on the ground in front of you.
• Hinge from your hips, sending your butt back to bend down. Don’t lock out your knees (they can bend slightly) but don’t think of this as a bent-knee move. It should feel like a hip hinge.
• Bend over and grasp the barbell with a shoulder-width grip. Here’s where you’ll begin your rep. Slowly send your hips backward, hinging over to bring your body down.
• Keep a straight spine. Don’t bring your weight to the ground, but sink it down below knee level. You should feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings.
• Drive through your heels and feet to lift your barbell, maintaining straight arms.
• Focus on keeping a totally straight spine and not rounding out your back. Reverse the direction of your hip hinge to come up.
• Squeeze your glutes at the top of this movement to drive your hips forward once your barbell comes past your knees.
• Hold at the top for a moment, then slowly hinge back through your hips for another rep.
• Continue this move as needed.
• New lifters should aim for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps with medium weight. If you’re going heavy or aiming for a PR, try 3 x 5 heavy reps.

What Muscles Do You Work in a Deadlift?

Glutes

The gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus help you extend your hips, keep your pelvis stable and perform daily movements like walking or squatting down to pick things up.

Although any variation of deadlift should give you a glute workout, the RDL variation is more centred on building your booty than a conventional deadlift

Hamstrings

The muscles at the backs of your thighs, the hamstrings, help to extend your hips and flex your knees. You use these for everyday activities like walking upstairs, yet many of us don’t focus on maintaining strong or flexible hamstrings.

Deadlifting is one of the best moves you can do to support your hamstring health.

Low Back

The lower back muscles, particularly the Erector spinae help you to keep a straight spine. One of the biggest mistakes new lifters make in their deadlifts is hinging through the waist rather than the hips.

A strong and straight low back helps you mitigate this problem and hinge properly from your hips.

Core

The abdominal muscles of the core stabilize your body and help with internal processes like digestion. Keeping your abdominal muscles strong and engaged throughout your deadlifts helps you stay stable and connects your lower body muscles to your arms which hold your weight.

Strong abs also help you maintain good posture with a straight spine.

Trapezius

The trapezius muscles of your upper back help your head and shoulders to move. These muscles go to work to support you while holding your bar in a deadlift.

Hip Flexors

The hip flexor muscles bring your legs up and towards your body. Because you need to hinge in a deadlift, the hip flexor muscles go to work making sure you have the proper hip mobility to send your butt behind you to drop it low for a good lift.

Differences Between a Conventional Deadlift and RDL

Think of these exercises as cousins, not twins.

You probably picked up on a few major differences when reading the instructions for both these moves.

Although they work similar muscles and have similar exercise mechanisms, a conventional deadlift requires the lifter to pick their barbell up off the ground.

In an RDL, however, you start your lift from a standing position.

A Romanian deadlift is also far more glute- and hamstring-focused when compared to a conventional deadlift. This is because the conventional barbell deadlift takes more of a knee bend.

This engages your quads more while using a deeper hip hinge instead of a knee bend (in the RDL variation) focuses the work on the backs of your legs and butt.

If you are working with more knee flexion, in the case of the deeper knee bend you use in a conventional deadlift, the activation of the knee flexors puts more strain on the quads.

Who Should Do Deadlifts vs. RDLs?

If you’re new to weight training or lifting recreationally, these can both be fantastic options for your weightlifting toolkit.

That being said, if you have specific goals in the gym or are working through injuries, it may be more beneficial to choose one over the other.

Here are a few cases where you may prefer to opt for one variation over the other.

Back Pain

Conventional deadlifts put a lot of strain on your lower back. If you suffer from any kind of lower back pain, it can be a good idea to build a more RDL-focused workout program or simply go lighter when performing conventional deadlifts.

New Lifters

Technique in any deadlift type can be harder for gym newbies. If you struggle to understand what “hinge from the hips” means, starting with an RDL might let you make the connection to your movement a bit easier.

For a Bigger Butt

RDLs all the way! These moves require a lot more glute activation. If you’re looking at aesthetics and want to transform your body into one with a heart-shaped or round butt, the RDL variation is for you.

Big Picture

Both conventional barbell deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts can be great for developing the muscles in your lower body.

That being said, these moves are similar but there are particular cases where each is preferable to strengthen the lower body.

Remember to always keep a straight spine and engage your core no matter which variation you choose.

And work with a spotter if you’re lifting heavy or going for a one-rep max.

You can also pair deadlifts with heavy squats for a total low-body routine.

Whatever variation you prefer, Flex offers an all-in-one workout platform to help you learn new exercises, visualize your fitness journey and keep all your PRs in one place.

Get simple customized fitness plans or introduce a little friendly competition to your fitness community by sharing exercises with your friends. Try it for free through the Flex fitness app.

References :

Afonso, J., Rocha-Rodrigues, S., Clemente, F. M., Aquino, M., Nikolaidis, P. T., Sarmento, H., Fílter, A., Olivares-Jabalera, J., & Ramirez-Campillo, R. (2021). The Hamstrings: Anatomic and Physiologic Variations and Their Potential Relationships With Injury Risk. Frontiers in physiology, 12, 694604. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.694604

Elzanie A, Borger J. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Maximus Muscle. [Updated 2023 Apr 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538193/

Gupton M, Imonugo O, Black AC, et al. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Knee. [Updated 2023 Nov 5]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK500017/

​​Henson B, Kadiyala B, Edens MA. Anatomy, Back, Muscles. [Updated 2023 Aug 14]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537074/

Ourieff J, Scheckel B, Agarwal A. Anatomy, Back, Trapezius. [Updated 2023 Mar 11]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518994/