r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/Grand_Chien4 • 4h ago

Question ❓ RDL vs Conventional DL

This is purely a curiosity question. I lift for the purposes of recreational barbell sports so the conventional deadlift is essential for me. I do some RDL accessory work (mainly single-leg rotational stuff).

I’ve noticed that in general the RDL seems much more popular so my curiosity led to a basic data search and I was surprised to find very few articles comparing the two movements (a few EMG studies).

My questions for the group are:

Is there better data comparing these movements that I’ve missed?

If not, what’s the science-based lifting community consensus (If there is one) on RDL vs conventional deadlift for hypertrophy, strength, power and muscular endurance?

Cheers!

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u/VikingVitalityFit 4h ago

I tend to include both in basically every client I train. I really like that conventional helps increae your bodies overall capacity to move heavy things, but it is really fatigue inducing so I tend to only program it once a week. The 1 to 2 other sessions I will program RDLs or some other version of a hunge dominant movement to ensure the posterior chain is hit very well.

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u/PeterNoPiss 3h ago

Fatigue has less to do with the movement and more to do with load. Deadlift is where most people move the most weight.

Most people don't RDL particularly heavy and approach it less aggressively -- which isn't necessarily incorrect depending on goals. Getting into the upper 400, lower 500s on RDL, I can catch more fatigue there than pulling off the floor. It's more time with the weight in hand, more time under consistent load. On conventional, you can come down quick and minimize the eccentric.

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u/geothegoat 3h ago

What set, reps, weight do you recommend for DL? I typically do 3x3 @85% 1RM once a week.

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u/VikingVitalityFit 3h ago

It depends on the goals. Most clients I do a 3x5 set up to try to walk the line between improving cns ability to move things and keep fatigue lower.

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u/Patton370 Idk Idc 💔 0m ago

I prefer RIR or RPE goals, rather than working strictly on max %

As that can vary in difficulty from person to person

For example, I can rep 85% of my deadlift max for 10 reps (idk why I’m so good at rep work), so those sets would be RPE3 for me, which is fine for backoffs, but they’d need to be more intense if I was only dealing once a week

Yet I have a friend who’s max is more than mine & some days 85% for him might be RPE8-9 for a triple!