How do you keep the barbell close to your legs when doing the Romanian Deadlift? - Project Sports
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How do you keep the barbell close to your legs when doing the Romanian Deadlift?

6 min read

Asked by: Dulce Ramirez

It’s about creating a hip hinge so that you can lower the bar while maintaining a flat back. You shouldn’t be lowering your body as you would in a squat. If you push your butt back, you’ll bend your knees, your femurs will move back with your hips and your shins will stay straight.

Should the bar touch your legs when Deadlifting?

The bar should stay in contact with your shins and thighs the entire way up. This leg contact makes sure the bar path is over the middle of your foot. To lock out the deadlift, stand up completely straight with your shoulders slightly behind the bar and your hips and knees straight.

How do I keep my bar close deadlift?

Here are my 11 tips for maintaining the right bar path for deadlifts:

  1. Engage your lats.
  2. Push the floor.
  3. Start with shins close to the bar.
  4. Keep your chest over the bar.
  5. Keep your arms long.
  6. Adjust your back angle.
  7. Look for scraping or use baby powder.
  8. Record your lifts.

How do you hold a bar for Romanian deadlift?

The Romanian deadlift starts from the rack at about the height of your mid-thigh. Use the normal grip width you would for deadlifts, and use straps so grip strength isn’t a distraction. Flatten your back, take the bar out of the rack and take a step back. Stand with your feet in a normal deadlift stance.

Do you keep legs straight during Romanian deadlift?


Without pausing at the bottom. Stand back up by dragging the barbell up your legs. If you feel your back starting to excessively round over as you reach the bottom.

Should knees be over bar deadlift?

So, how do you deadlift without hitting your knees? To stop a barbell from hitting your knees in the deadlift, you need to keep your armpits above the bar in the start position and ensure your knees extend first during the bottom half of the lift, rather than your hips.

Should you push your knees out when deadlifting?

Just try pointing your toes out if you dead left with a wider stance. You might benefit from just bringing your heels in the idea is to push your knees out against the crease your elbows.

How do I keep my bar near my body snatch?

The initial motion of the pole under the bar is a shrug up and back and a pull of the elbows up and out among other things this helps preserve the bar's proximity. After it's contacted the hips.

Where should deadlift bar be positioned?

So you have to get the bar to go straight up and you're pretty much shutting off all your quad strength. So the best thing to do is start over start the bar over your mid foot.

How far off the ground should the bar be for deadlifts?

Jan Todd who came to this conclusion: A bar loaded with standard 45 pound plates is 8.75″ off the floor because the original manufacturers wanted there to be enough room that if a lifter doing Olympic lifting fell with the bar overhead that the plates would be tall enough so that his head would not be crushed.

Do you bend knees in RDL?

The mechanics of the RDL and conventional Deadlift are similar. But the RDL calls for almost no knee bend—your legs are essentially straight. Do your best to maintain a flat or slightly arched back as you lower, because your back needs to control the movement.

What’s the difference between RDL and DL?

The Barbell Romanian Deadlift



The primary difference between the standard deadlift and the RDL is that the former starts with the weight on the floor, while the latter starts with the weight held in front of the hips.

Why don’t you feel Romanian deadlifts?

To feel the hamstrings working in a Romanian deadlift, we need to maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement. If our spine is not neutral we increase the risk of injury, and impact our ability to engage the hamstrings properly.

Do you squeeze your glutes during RDL?

And then you come up by squeezing the butt you're helping to extend the hip joint. But. It can also pull your pelvis this way and create your or make your low back round.

How do you know if you’re doing RDLs correctly?

Looking forward throughout the entire movement which causes your spine to not be neutral your head should move in unison with your body as you see on the left.

How do you know if you are doing RDLs correctly?

  1. Once your hips have bent, push your butt back as far as you can – focus on trying to touch the wall behind you with your butt.
  2. Maintain a very slight bend in the knee.
  3. Keep pushing your hips back until you feel a stretch along the hamstrings muscles.
  4. Keep the bar as close to your body as you can.
  5. How do I stop RDL arching back?

    Forward instead of bending at the hips. So this is going to be really bad because as that bar gets out in front of her. All of that stress is going to go right into her back.

    How heavy should you go on Romanian deadlifts?

    Entire Community

    Strength Level Weight
    Beginner 64 lb
    Novice 100 lb
    Intermediate 146 lb
    Advanced 201 lb

    Is Romanian deadlift harder than deadlift?

    This variation requires more core strength and works your glutes, hamstrings, and calves more than traditional deadlifts. This enhances squatting performance and overall leg strength.

    What is a good starting weight for RDLs?

    Set-Up for Romanian Deadlifts. Dumbbells: Choose a Weight: If you are just starting out, I recommend starting with 10s or 15s.

    Should you feel RDL in lower back?

    Form Tip: When done correctly, you should feel tension developing in the hamstrings and across the back (lower and middle, especially around the shoulder blades).

    What is a Russian deadlift?

    Keep the majority of your weight back on your heels. While still applying pressure through the balls of your feet. Focus on using your legs to lift engage your core to protect your back.

    How do you breathe in a Romanian deadlift?

    Keep the bar close to your shins and your weight shift should be back on the heels. Proper breathing is also very important through the RDL. You want to inhale as the bar is lowered eccentrically and exhale as you come back to standing.

    Why do I only feel RDLs in my back?

    There are a couple of factors that could play into you always feeling your lower back when doing RDLs. Typically, the lower back comes into play when you’re unable to properly brace your abs and your pelvis rotates a little too much.

    Why do I not feel deadlifts in my legs?

    You should feel your hamstrings get tighter and at some point you will not be able to bend forwards anymore without rounding your lower back. So if you get in your deadlift position and then set your arch it should pull your hams tight, preparing you for the lift.