Exercise guide · Intermediate · Compound

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The dumbbell Romanian deadlift is a hip hinge with a dumbbell in each hand, lowering the weights down the front of your legs to stretch the hamstrings and glutes. It needs no rack or barbell, which makes it the go-to hamstring exercise for home training.

Primary muscles
Glutes
Secondary muscles
Hamstrings
Equipment
Dumbbell
Level · type
Intermediate · Compound

Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .

Demonstration of the dumbbell romanian deadlift
Front view: muscles worked by the dumbbell romanian deadlift. Primary: glutes. Secondary: hamstrings.
Back view: muscles worked by the dumbbell romanian deadlift. Primary: glutes. Secondary: hamstrings.
Primary Secondary

How to do the dumbbell romanian deadlift

  1. Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
  2. Step 2: Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, hinge at the hips and lower the dumbbells towards the ground, allowing your knees to bend slightly.
  3. Step 3: Lower the dumbbells until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then push through your heels and engage your glutes to return to the starting position.
  4. Step 4: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form cues

  • Stand tall holding the dumbbells in front of your thighs, palms facing you.
  • Unlock your knees, then push your hips back while the dumbbells slide down your legs.
  • Keep your neck in line with your spine and your shoulders pulled back.
  • At a deep hamstring stretch, squeeze your glutes and push the hips forward to stand.

Common dumbbell romanian deadlift mistakes

  • Letting the dumbbells hang out in front of you.

    Fix: Keep them close enough to brush your legs on every rep.

  • Looking up at a mirror, which bends the neck back.

    Fix: Look at the floor a couple of metres ahead as you hinge.

  • Moving too fast to feel the stretch.

    Fix: Take three seconds to lower and pause for one second at the bottom.

Sets, reps and programming

Do 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps. When your heaviest dumbbells feel light, switch to single-leg RDLs, which roughly doubles the load on each leg.

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the dumbbell romanian deadlift by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Variations and progressions

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift alternatives

More exercises that train the glutes as their main target:

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift FAQs

Are dumbbell RDLs as good as barbell RDLs?

Yes, as long as the dumbbells are heavy enough to make the last reps of each set hard. The barbell version simply lets you load more weight.

Do dumbbell RDLs work the glutes?

Yes. The glutes and hamstrings both extend the hip, so both work hard, with the hamstrings taking the most stretch.

More glutes exercises

See the best glute exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.