RDL vs Deadlift: Differences, Key Benefits and More

Deadlifts are perhaps the most important exercise in any strength training routine. They incorporate the hip hinge, a core functional movement pattern, and provide benefits for multiple muscle groups, helping you build all-round strength and size.

Along with the conventional deadlift, there are many deadlift variations that are popular with today’s lifters, including the RDL. RDLs are probably the most popular deadlift variation, with some people ditching regular deadlifts altogether in favor of RDLs.

In this article we’ll walk you through all the differences between RDL and regular deadlifts, and help you understand which you should incorporate into your training routine.

What is RDL?

RDL stands for Romanian deadlift. It’s called a Romanian deadlift because it was popularized by a Romanian weightlifter named Nicu Vlad, around the time he was competing in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

The Romanian deadlift is a deadlift variation that puts more emphasis on the posterior chain and has a slower, more controlled range of motion than the conventional deadlift.

RDLs maintain more of a stiff legged position with minimal knee bend, and focus primarily on lowering the weight, rather than lifting it.

Keep reading below and we’ll go into more detail on the differences, and why you would want to do Romanian deadlift vs traditional deadlift.

What’s the Difference Between Deadlift and Romanian Deadlift?

There are obviously a lot of similarities between the deadlift and Romanian deadlift, as well as some key differences you should be aware of. Let’s dive into how they differ from each other.

Romanian Deadlift vs Conventional Deadlift: Technique

There are some small differences in technique between RDLs and deadlifts, which are not obvious at first but become clear when you examine the moves more closely.

Starting Position

The conventional deadlift starts with the bar on the floor, rising up to a standing position and then lowering the bar to complete the rep.

The movement pattern is the opposite for Romanian deadlifts. You start with the bar elevated, around hip level, in a standing position. For the first half of the rep you lower the bar towards the ground, then rise back up to your starting position.

Between Reps

Generally, with the Romanian deadlift, the bar won’t touch the floor. You start holding the bar, lower it close to the ground but not to the ground, then rise up again. With a regular deadlift, you generally pick the bar off the floor for each rep.

Knee Extension

The other main difference in technique is the knee extension. With traditional deadlifts, you start in a more contracted position, with knees bent and torso close to a vertical angle. From here, you drive through your feet and straighten your knees as you lift the weight.

With the RDL, you don’t bend your knees as much (there is a slight bend in your knees), keeping your legs more or less straight the entire way. Your torso becomes almost horizontal at the bottom of the movement. When you raise the bar back to the starting position, it’s more from driving your hips forward than generating power from your feet.

Romanian Deadlift vs Conventional Deadlift: Muscles Worked

Both Romanian and conventional deadlifts work the posterior chain muscles, including your glutes, hamstrings and lower back.

Both also provide benefits for grip strength, forearms, core strength, traps, hip adductors and calves.

Compared to the regular deadlift exercise, the Romanian deadlift targets the glutes and the hamstrings more extensively. The latter in particular – the stretch you get in the hamstrings from the Romanian deadlift is better than almost any other exercise.

Deadlifts have more of an even distribution of muscles worked, with more work for the upper body, such as the upper back and traps.

Benefits of Conventional Deadlift

The benefits of conventional deadlifts over RDLs include:

• Deadlifts are great for building power and strength.
• Deadlifts replicate a functional movement, and translate well into real-world activities and other sports.
• They build full-body strength, power and size.
• You can lift heavier with conventional deadlifts, which make it easier to build size.

As always, to get the most out of your workouts, make sure to eat enough protein each day to support muscle recovery, or consider taking a clean protein supplement like the whey isolate protein from Naked.

Benefits of Romanian Deadlift

Here are some of the benefits of Romanian deadlifts:

• RDLs tend to be safer.
• More benefits for the glutes and hamstrings.
• There’s more time under tension, which may be better for hypertrophy.
• RDLs are better for mobility and flexibility.
• RDLs are more versatile; you can do more or less the same movement and get the same benefits with dumbbells, kettlebells, plates etc as you would with a barbell.

Is RDL Better than Conventional Deadlift?

It’s impossible to say that one exercise is better than the other, between conventional and Romanian deadlifts.

The best exercise to do depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to build all-round size and strength, deadlifts are the way to go.

If you want to focus specifically on the lower body, and build strength and flexibility in the hamstrings, Romanian deadlifts are better. RDLs are also better if you want to incorporate a hip hinge exercise in your workout without going too heavy in weight.

Is RDL Safer than Conventional Deadlift?

Romanian deadlifts are generally perceived to be safer than conventional deadlifts.

They put less pressure on the lower back, and focus more on form and time under tension than weight, which usually means less risk.

Still, both Romanian and conventional deadlifts can be dangerous if done incorrectly, and are also safe to do regularly if done with proper form and manageable weight.

How Heavy to Go With RDL?

You’ll typically go lower in weight with the Romanian deadlift than conventional deadlifts.

According to Strength Level’s benchmarks, the average lift for RDLs (compared to conventional deadlifts) is 21% lighter for men, and 24% lighter for women.

They put the average RDL for a 174 lb male at 265.6 lb, compared to 335.8 lb for conventional deadlift (145.6 lb vs 192.6 lb for females).

With that as a guideline, take 20-30% off your regular deadlift weight for a Romanian deadlift. The great thing about RDLs, however, is you could go even lower in weight (if, for example, you don’t have access to heavier weights, or you have any injury concerns) and still get similar benefits by doing more reps/sets.

Can You Replace Deadlifts With RDL?

RDLs are not so much a replacement for conventional deadlifts, as they are a complement.

Sure, you could do RDLs instead of deadlifts if you’re worried about injuries, if you want to focus more on your hamstrings, or perhaps if you’re in a small or busy gym and access to a barbell is spotty.

However, you may need to compensate with more upper body exercises to get all the same benefits of the conventional deadlift – and understand you might not get the same benefits in terms of size and overall muscle growth.

When to Do Romanian Deadlift vs Regular Deadlift

It’s perfectly viable to incorporate both RDLs and regular deadlifts in your routine.

One idea would be to do RDLs on leg day, and deadlifts on back day.

You might also alternate days in which you lift heavy weights for low reps, and low weights for high reps, doing conventional deadlifts on the first day and low-weight RDLs on the second.

Otherwise, if you choose one or the other, choose whether you want to focus more on size and upper body strength (if so, go with deadlifts), or lower body strength and flexibility (if so, go with RDLs).

Other Deadlift Variations

The Romanian deadlift is just one of many deadlift variations you can try. Others include:

• Stiff-leg deadlift (similar to RDL but with even more focus on the hamstrings).
• Sumo deadlift (wide stance, less stress on lower back).
• Trap bar deadlift/hex bar deadlift (easier on the lower back, safer and easier for heavy weights).
• Suitcase deadlift (great for core muscles).
• Single-leg deadlift (more benefits for core, balance and stability, more benefits with lower weights).

If you’re looking to build out your repertoire of hip-hinge exercises, if you want a safer and more controlled alternative to conventional deadlifts, or you want to focus more on the hamstrings and glutes, give RDLs a try.

Otherwise, look at some of the deadlift variations above, or stick with the classic, tried and true, conventional deadlift.

There’s no wrong answers here – experiment with whatever exercise that delivers results for you.