The Romanian deadlift is a hip hinge, not a lift from the floor, and almost every fault comes from forgetting that. Bend the knees a little too much and it becomes a bad squat; let the bar drift a few centimetres forward and the lower back takes over from the hamstrings.
These six faults cover nearly every RDL that trains the lumbar spine instead of the posterior chain.
Romanian Deadlift at a glance
Primary muscles
Hamstrings, gluteus maximus
Secondary muscles
Spinal erectors, lats, forearms
Equipment
Barbell or dumbbells
Level
Intermediate
Most common failure point
The bottom of the hinge, where the back rounds
Best camera angle for a form check
Side view, at hip height, full body in frame
Correct romanian deadlift technique, step by step
Start standing, not from the floor
Unrack or deadlift the bar to standing first. The RDL starts at the top and ends at the top — the floor is not part of the movement.
Set a soft knee
Unlock the knees to a fixed, slight bend, then keep that same angle for the entire rep. The knees do not travel further as you descend.
Engage the lats and brace
Pull the shoulders back and down and think of squeezing the bar into your thighs. Brace the abdominal wall before the hips move.
Push the hips back
Send the hips backward, not the chest downward. The bar should slide along the thighs, staying in contact the whole way.
Stop where the hamstrings stop you
Descend only until you feel a strong hamstring stretch with a neutral spine, usually just below the knee. Depth is set by your hamstrings, not by the floor.
Return by driving the hips forward
Reverse the hinge by pushing the hips into the bar and finish standing tall with the glutes squeezed, without leaning back.
The 6 most common romanian deadlift form mistakes
01Squatting instead of hinging
What it looks like
The knees keep bending as you descend and the bar travels straight down rather than back.
Why it happens
Treating the RDL like a conventional deadlift, or bending the knees to reach further down.
The fix
Fix the knee angle at the start and do not change it. Cue "hips back to the wall behind you" and stand about 30 cm from an actual wall as a drill — your glutes should touch it at the bottom.
02Rounding the lower back
What it looks like
The lumbar spine flexes in the bottom third and the bar drops faster than the hips move back.
Why it happens
Descending past the range your hamstrings allow, usually chasing a depth target.
The fix
Stop at the point where the spine would start rounding, not one centimetre further. Film from the side and find that point precisely. Most people gain more from a shorter, well-held range than from touching the floor.
03The bar drifting away from the legs
What it looks like
A gap opens between the bar and your thighs, and the load feels like it is pulling you forward.
Why it happens
Lats disengaging, which lets the bar swing out and lengthens the lever on the lower back.
The fix
Keep the shoulders pulled back and down and drag the bar along the thighs the entire way. Long socks or leggings make the contact obvious.
04Locking the knees straight
What it looks like
The knees are fully extended and you feel the stretch behind the knee rather than in the hamstring belly.
Why it happens
Confusing the RDL with a stiff-legged deadlift.
The fix
Keep a soft, unchanging knee bend of roughly 15 to 20 degrees. That is enough to keep the tension in the muscle instead of the tendon.
05Hyperextending at the top
What it looks like
You lean back at lockout with the ribs flared, hunting for a glute squeeze.
Why it happens
Believing the rep is not finished until you go past vertical.
The fix
Finish standing tall with the ribs down and the glutes squeezed. Standing upright is the end of the rep; leaning back only compresses the lumbar spine.
06Bouncing the bottom
What it looks like
The bar touches the floor or the plates tap down and the next rep starts from the rebound.
Why it happens
Using the floor as a reference point, which turns the RDL back into a deadlift.
The fix
Do not let the plates touch. Keep continuous tension and reverse at the end of your hamstring range. If the plates reach the floor, either the range is too deep or the bar is loaded with plates too large for the movement.
How to check your own form
Film from the side at hip height
The RDL is entirely a sagittal-plane movement. One clean side view shows the knee angle, the bar path and the spine position at once.
Watch the knees across the whole rep
Scrub the video and check whether the knee angle changes. If it does, you are squatting the movement rather than hinging it.
Find your exact stopping point
Step through the descent frame by frame and mark where the lower back first starts to round. That frame is your working depth.
Check the gap between bar and thigh
The bar should stay in contact with your legs. Any visible gap means the lats let go and the lower back is now carrying the load.
Angle
90° — side view
Height
Hip height
Distance
2 to 2.5 m away
Framing
Head to feet, with the bar never leaving frame
Stop guessing what your last set looked like
Film the set, and Stance returns the specific fault and the correction instead of a raw video to interpret yourself. The clip is analyzed and then deleted, never stored.
Coming soon
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Romanian deadlift and a conventional deadlift?
The conventional deadlift starts from the floor and uses substantial knee bend and leg drive. The Romanian deadlift starts standing, keeps a fixed soft knee throughout, and never returns to the floor — it trains the hip hinge and the hamstrings through a controlled stretch rather than moving maximum load.
How low should I go on a Romanian deadlift?
Only as far as your hamstrings allow while keeping a neutral spine, which for most people is somewhere just below the knee. There is no fixed target. Going deeper by rounding the back trades hamstring tension for lumbar loading, which is the opposite of what the exercise is for.
Why do I feel Romanian deadlifts in my lower back instead of my hamstrings?
Usually because the bar has drifted away from your legs, or because you are descending past the point where your spine can stay neutral. Keep the lats engaged and the bar dragging on the thighs, and cut the range back to where the spine holds. Both changes shift the load back onto the hamstrings immediately.
Should my knees be straight on a Romanian deadlift?
No. Keep a soft bend of roughly 15 to 20 degrees and hold that same angle for the entire rep. Fully locked knees turn the movement into a stiff-legged deadlift and put the stretch on the tendons behind the knee rather than the hamstring muscle itself.
Coming soon
