Hamstrings exercise
Smith Machine Romanian DeadliftHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Hamstrings, Glutes
- Also works
- Lower back
- Equipment
- Smith
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift?
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, the bar over your mid-foot.
- Grip just outside your thighs and unrack the bar.
- Soften your knees and push your hips back.
- Lower the bar close to your legs to about mid-shin.
- Drive your hips forward to stand tall.
Cues
- Feet set so the bar clears your knees.
- Hips go back, not down.
- Flat back, eyes on the floor ahead.
Common mistakes
- Standing too far forward, so the bar hits your knees.
- Rounding your back to reach lower.
- Bending your knees so it turns into a squat.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Set the safety stops just below mid-shin height. Stand inside the Smith machine, feet hip-width apart (about 25 cm between heel centres), toes forward to 10° out. Place the feet so the bar's vertical line runs over the middle of the foot, a few centimetres in front of the shins. Grip the bar overhand, hands just outside the thighs, about shoulder-width. Stand tall to unrack it with a twist of the wrists; the bar rests on the front of the thighs at about hip-crease level. Knees soft (10–15° flexion). Shoulders down and back, chest up, flat back, gaze ahead.
The movement
As the barbell RDL. Push the hips straight back and tip the trunk forward as one rigid piece with a flat back. The knees keep almost the same small bend. The bar can only move straight up and down, so the body works around it: the hips go back exactly as far as needed to keep the bar close to the thighs and in front of the knees. Arms stay straight and the bar stays within a few centimetres of the legs. The neck stays in line with the spine. To return, press the heels down, drive the hips forward and stand tall. Re-rack with a twist of the wrists at the end of the set.
End position
Bottom: hamstrings taut, back flat, bar at about mid-shin, trunk about 65° from vertical. With the bar line 11 cm ahead of the ankle, a 1.75 m body at 20° knee bend reaches mid-shin at a trunk angle of about 65°, and the gap to the legs opens a little around the knees.
Tempo
About 2 s down, a brief pause with no bounce, 1.5 s up, 0.5 s standing tall.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance width (heel centres) | 25 cm (hip-width) | 20–35 cm | |
| Grip width | just outside the thighs | shoulder-width to 1.3× shoulder-width | |
| Knee flexion at the start | 12° | 10–15° | [1][2] |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 20° | 15–33° | [2] |
| Bar height at the bottom | mid-shin | knee height to mid-shin | [1] |
| Bar gap to the legs, through the rep | 2 cm | 0–5 cm | [1][3] |
| Hip extension at the top | 0° | −5 to 0° (no lean back) | [1] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
