How To Master Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts

First time around, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts can feel a little awkward. Where do you look? How far down do you bend? Where are the dumbbells positioned? And where are you supposed to feel it? Use this guide to master this exercise with confidence and get the most out of every rep.

How to do a dumbbell Romanian deadlift

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip (palms facing towards your body) in front of your legs. Draw your shoulder blades down and back to push your chest out slightly and draw your belly button to your spine to engage your core. This is your starting position.

2. Bend your knees slightly hinge forward from your hips and allow the dumbbells to run along the length of your thighs and halfway down your shins. Ensure you keep a slight bend in your knees throughout the movement as you maintain a proud chest. Your body should form a nice straight line from torso to head and you should feel tension in your hamstrings (back of your legs).

3. As the dumbbells reach halfway down your shins, push through your heels and use your glutes and hamstrings to bring your body upright, then extend your knees and hips to return to the starting position. Ensure that the dumbbells remain in contact with your legs. Repeat for the specified number of repetitions.

Dumbbell Romanian deadlift technique tips

From your head to your toes, here are a few things to keep in mind throughout this exercise. If you’re not sure if you’ve got it right, it can help to film yourself, use a mirror, or ask for a form check from a personal trainer if you’re working out in a gym. 

Eyes

Throughout each rep, you want your body to form one nice straight line from your back to your head, so as you lower down, your eyes should start by looking straight ahead, but then move to a spot on the floor in front of you as you lower down. You want to avoid looking straight ahead the whole time as your neck will become strained and arched when you get to the bottom of the movement. 

Knees

A deadlift is very different to a squat in that you’re not bending your knees so deeply and they’re definitely not tracking over your toes. Master a soft bend and your knees should stay behind your toes throughout each rep. 

Hips

With each rep, think about pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you, rather than down towards the floor as you would with a squat. Focusing on pushing your hips back will also help your knees stay behind your toes and ensure you feel the movement in your hamstrings.

Back

No arched bananas around here! Start by standing tall, keep your back flat when you bend over, and keep your back flat as you stand up again. A common deadlift mistake is to think you’re using your back strength to stand up, leading to an arched back in the second half of each rep, but the strength to power the movement should be coming from your hamstrings and glutes and your back should remain in a neutral position. 

Arms and hands

Your arms really aren’t doing anything here beyond holding your weights - dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are not considered an arm exercise. Keep them straight and keep your hands close to your legs. You should feel like you’re almost grazing your legs with your dumbbells.

Hamstrings

As mentioned, this exercise heavily focuses on your hamstrings. As you lower your dumbbells down past your thighs towards your shins, you should feel the tension in the backs of your thighs. If you’re not feeling it, focus on pushing your hips back, or check that you only have a slight bend in your knees. 

Glutes

Deadlifts aren’t just about your hammies. As you come up from the bottom of the movement, you should also feel the power coming from your glutes as you pull your hips through and squeeze your glutes at the top before starting your next rep.

Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are an amazing compound movement that feature in many of Sweat’s strength training and HIIT programs. And for every exercise in the app, you get an instructional demo and a diagram of which muscle groups you should be working to take all the guesswork out of your workout!