You will eventually include pull exercises in your routine, whether you’re a weekend warrior or a strength-training competitor. Two premium pulling techniques are the traditional deadlift and the Romanian deadlift. How, then, do you decide which of them to pick?
The deadlift is a powerful exercise that increases strength, muscle mass, and pulling power. The Romanian deadlift (RDL), its cousin, is a pulling exercise that is still a rock star despite having a different start and finish location. RDLs only descend to shin height before the lifter pulls the bar back up, as opposed to the conventional deadlift, which begins and ends on the lifting platform.
In this article, I’ll discuss how to properly execute these two styles to maximize your strength gains as well as the key distinctions between them, their individual advantages, and how to perform them properly.
Table of Contents
Conventional Deadlift Vs Romanian Deadlift
When you do a conventional deadlift, you lift a weight from the floor to hip level. You move through the entire range of motion during a standard deadlift, usually with a barbell.
This is the purest form of deadlifting. Words will be added to all other variations, such as the Romanian deadlift.
The Romanian deadlift, on the other hand, involves a partial range of motion compared to the conventional deadlift. During a Romanian deadlift, you move the weight from just below your knees to hip level.
The Romanian deadlift is often abbreviated as “RDL.”
Differences Between the Romanian Deadlift and Deadlift
First things first: lifters can perform the RDL and deadlift pretty heavily. However, this does not equate to the sameness of them. These are the main variations.
Maximal Strength
Typically, you won’t use the RDL to develop your maximum strength. For brute strength, you’ll more often than not turn to the powerhouse of pulls — the traditional deadlift. A weight lifted off the ground, controlled back to shin height, and then repeated while remaining off the ground is a very different movement than tearing a loaded barbell off the platform and bringing it up to standing.
With the deadlift, you can typically lift a lot more weight because of the dead stop (or bouncing reps, if that’s more your style). You can really hammer in those overall strength gains because the starting position of the traditional deadlift recruits a ton more muscles than the RDL.
Muscle Engagement
Don’t get it twisted; the RDL and the deadlift both work your entire posterior chain. Both of these lifts require some involvement from your back, glutes, hamstrings, and even quadriceps. You won’t sacrifice gains by selecting either of these two exercises if you’re trying to recruit your lower body muscles.
However, if your goal is to build strength and size in your back, the conventional deadlift seems to work your glutes, quads, and erector spinae more than the RDL does. Conversely, research suggests that the RDL is better than the regular deadlift at engaging your hamstrings. This is not to say that the standard deadlift doesn’t work your hamstrings in some capacity. Simply put, the RDL has a stronger focus on the hamstrings.
Range of Motion
The lifter’s range of motion is the main distinction between the RDL and the deadlift. Romanian deadlifts stop around shin height, whereas conventional deadlifts go all the way back to touch the platform between each rep. Although it might not appear to be a big deal on paper, this essential adjustment forms the basis of every distinction between these lifts.
![Romanian Deadlift Vs Conventional Deadlift: Which is Better?](https://www.exerciseworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Romanian-Deadlift-Vs-Conventional-Deadlift-Which-is-Better-2.webp)
Competitions
You won’t be asked to perform the Romanian deadlift in a competition. The conventional deadlift, on the other hand, is a powerlifting competition lift that is used in both CrossFit and strongman/strongwoman competitions.
Even so, both varieties of deadlifts can still be extremely important to your training. Whether you believe the RDL or traditional deadlift will work better for you depends on your goals.
Concentric Vs. Eccentric Phases
Both the traditional deadlift and the RDL work your muscles through the concentric and eccentric lift phases, but they do so from very different starting positions.
The lifting portion of the exercise is known as the concentric phase. The lowering (or negative) portion of the exercise is known as the eccentric phase.
The focus is on lifting the weight, or the concentric phase, because the traditional deadlift begins from the floor. It then gently drops to the ground after that.
Alternatively, the Romanian deadlift concentrates on a controlled lowering of the weight to your shins (the eccentric phase), followed by a raise back to the starting position.
Which is Better at the Gym – Conventional Deadlifts Or Romanian Deadlifts?
You might be wondering which exercise will give you the most value for your money in the gym when you start contrasting the RDL with traditional deadlifts. The answer to this depends on your objectives because one is not always preferable to the other. Both types of deadlifts have advantages and disadvantages, so you might find that you want to mix them up in your workout routine.
![Romanian Deadlift Vs Conventional Deadlift: Which is Better?](https://www.exerciseworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Romanian-Deadlift-Vs-Conventional-Deadlift-Which-is-Better-1.webp)
Pros and Cons of the Conventional Deadlift
- Pros — The traditional deadlift ranks among the best exercises for developing all-around strength. You’ll be able to develop a strong back as a result. In comparison to the RDL, the conventional deadlift engages more muscle groups and increases calorie expenditure.
- Cons — Heavy loads are typically required for the traditional deadlift, which means the nervous system needs more time to recover.
Pros and Cons of the Romanian Deadlift
- Pros — The Romanian deadlift is excellent for hamstring and glute hypertrophy targeting. RDLs can also help you increase your gains from traditional deadlifts. The RDL is also less taxing on your nervous system because you don’t need to be as overweight to benefit from it.
- Cons – The conventional deadlift is better for increasing strength than the Romanian deadlift.
Summary
Regardless of the deadlift variation you select, both the deadlift and Romanian deadlift require the simultaneous activation of several muscle groups all over the body. Strength, hypertrophy, balance, and stability all increase as a result of this coordinated effort.
FAQs
How Much Weight Should You Do for Deadlift Vs Romanian Deadlift?
With the deadlift as opposed to the Romanian deadlift, you can lift more weight. Most people should be able to Romanian deadlift between 30-40% of their 1 rep max deadlift for 8-10 reps. Whereas most people should be able to deadlift between 60-70% of their 1 rep max deadlift for 8-10 reps.
Is the Romanian Deadlift the Same as Stiff Leg Deadlift?
The stiff leg deadlift is not the same as the Romanian deadlift. When performing the stiff leg deadlift, you bring the barbell to the floor as opposed to using a shorter range of motion. the Romanian deadlift, where you stop just below the knee. In contrast to the Romanian deadlift, where the barbell must remain on the body, the stiff leg deadlift permits the barbell to come off the body. Compared to the Romanian deadlift, the stiff leg deadlift more fully engages the hamstrings.