Single-leg RDL: proper form, muscles worked and common mistakes

Home › Exercises › Hamstrings › Single-leg RDL

How to do it

Single-leg hip hinge lowering the dumbbell while the free leg extends back into a T. Neutral spine and level hips; it trains hamstring, glute and balance.

Muscles worked

Main muscle: hamstrings. Also worked: glutes. When it plans weekly volume, the generator counts each set of this exercise as one full set for hamstrings and half a set for each secondary muscle (what is known as fractional counting).

Single-leg RDL: the same pattern as the Romanian deadlift, but with balance as the limit

Compared with the barbell Romanian deadlift, the limit here isn't maximum weight but balance. Standing on one leg, the gluteus medius on that side works to keep the hip from opening or dropping to one side, and the ankle and foot make a constant effort to steady you. That's why you use light dumbbells, much lighter than with the barbell, and the work is shared between hamstrings, glutes and stabilizers. Each leg works alone, which helps you see if one side is lagging.

Choose it when you want to vary the bilateral RDL, when your lower back complains with heavy bars, or when you want unilateral work without machines. It's also useful for practicing the hip hinge with less load. If balance holds you back, rest your fingertips on a wall or a support, or touch the floor with the toe of your back foot.

You can hold the dumbbell in the hand on the same side as your standing leg or the opposite one; it changes the balance a little, so it's worth trying both. Keep your hips square to the floor. To progress, start with no weight, then use a light dumbbell, lengthen the lowering to three seconds, and only then add weight.

Recommended sets and reps

As a compound lift, it fits in 3–5 sets of 5–12 reps leaving 1–3 reps in reserve (RIR). Prioritize it at the start of the session, when you're fresh.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Rounding the lower back when hinging: the movement should come from the hips, not the spine.
• Letting your dominant side do more of the work: each arm or leg completes the same range, at the same pace.
• Always starting with your good side and doing fewer reps on the other: start with the weaker side and match its reps on the strong one.

What the research says

This is a multi-joint lift, and with these the rep range matters less than it seems: Schoenfeld and colleagues (2021) concluded that muscle growth is similar with heavy or moderate loads as long as sets end close to failure, while maximal strength improves more with heavy loads.

It loads the muscle in the stretched position, which is where several trials find more growth: more hypertrophy from seated than lying leg curls (Maeo and colleagues, 2021) and better quad results from training the long part of the range (Pedrosa and colleagues, 2022). So do not cut the bottom of the rep short.

Being unilateral, it lets you spot and fix differences between sides. In the study by Speirs and colleagues (2016), five weeks of Bulgarian split squats produced strength gains similar to the back squat in rugby players.

On how hard to push: the meta-analysis by Refalo and colleagues (2023) found no clear advantage in going to failure over stopping just short of it. That is why the generator programs it with reps in reserve (RIR) instead of asking for failure on every set.

Single-leg deadlift: what it actually gains over bilateral, per the meta-analysis

The unilateral deadlift — single-leg deadlift, single-leg Romanian deadlift — carries a promise that gets repeated a lot and checked rarely: that training one leg at a time corrects asymmetries and grows more muscle than training both. A recent meta-analysis separates the true part from the overstated one.

Kassiano, Nunes, Costa, Ribeiro, Loenneke and Cyrino published a systematic review with meta-analysis in Sports Medicine in 2025 across nine studies comparing unilateral and bilateral training. Two results, and they should not be conflated:

For hypertrophy there were no significant differences. Training one leg at a time does not grow more than training both, at equated volume. The idea that unilateral work is superior for gaining muscle does not hold up in this data.

For strength, specificity ruled. Bilateral training produced greater gains measured in bilateral tests, and unilateral training greater gains measured in unilateral tests. Improvements show up mostly when the way you measure matches the way you train.

Translated into why you would do this exercise: do not pick it expecting more muscle than a regular Romanian deadlift would give you, because the meta-analysis says there isn't any. Pick it for what it does offer and what is not in that table — the balance and hip-control demand of standing on one leg, which is the pattern of real life and of sport, and the far lower spinal load from moving half the weight.

And a note on asymmetries, which is what brings many people here: training one leg at a time lets you see the difference between sides, something the bilateral deadlift hides because the strong leg compensates. Detecting it is already useful. That unilateral work corrects it by itself is a different claim, and not the one this meta-analysis supports.

Related guide

Deadlift: correct technique, variations and safety

Alternative exercises

• Romanian deadlift
• Glute-ham raise
• Lying leg curl
• Seated leg curl

More hip hinge exercises

• Conventional deadlift
• Romanian deadlift
• Band Romanian deadlift
• Sumo deadlift
• Reverse hyper on bench

Add it to your routine

Progrevia can generate a personalized routine that includes Single-leg RDL based on your level, goal and available days.

Frequently asked questions

What muscles does Single-leg RDL work?

Single-leg RDL mainly works the hamstrings muscle group, plus synergist and stabilizer muscles depending on the variation.

How many sets of Single-leg RDL should I do?

Between 3 and 5 sets per session, adjusting the total weekly volume for hamstrings to your level (about 10–20 sets per muscle per week).

Which hand should I hold the dumbbell in for a single-leg RDL?

You can hold it in the hand on the same side as your standing leg or on the opposite side, and both versions are valid. The opposite side feels more natural to many people, while the same side asks for a bit more hip control. Try both and keep whichever lets you keep your hips level.

Create my free routine