Bodyweight Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

intermediate · hinge

Setup

Stand about an arm's length from a solid, empty wall — a real wall, not a thin partition or a glass cabinet front — with nothing hanging within reach that could break. Balance on one leg, with the other foot lifting lightly off the floor as you start, and let the hand nearest the wall rest with just the fingertips on it for balance feedback — a light touch to feel with, not something you lean your body weight on.

Execution

Shift your weight onto one leg, lift the other foot lightly off the floor, and rest just the fingertips of the hand nearest the wall on it for balance feedback.
Keep your hips square to the floor and hinge forward at the hip as the back leg reaches straight behind you, torso and back leg rising and falling together like a see-saw around the hip.
Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor, or stop the instant your hips start to twist open to one side.
Exhale and squeeze the standing-leg glute to reverse the motion, bringing the torso and back leg up to standing together.
Touch the back toes lightly down between reps if your balance isn't steady yet, then remove that touch-down once it feels controlled.
Finish the reps on one leg, then switch sides and match the count.
If you wobble hard two times in a row, put both feet down, reset your balance, and either continue from there or finish that set with the two-leg version.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower, exhale as you squeeze the glute to stand. Do not hold your breath to hold your balance; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or are pregnant, exhale steadily as you stand and favor touching the back foot down between reps.

Quick cues

Hips square to the floor, no twist.
Back leg and torso, one straight line.
Just fingertips on the wall.
Like a see-saw around the hip.
Squeeze the standing glute to rise.

Common faults

Fault: The hips rotating open to one side to fake balance
Fix: Check the hips against a mirror or the wall's line, keep both hip points level, and slow down until they stay square.
Fault: Leaning real body weight on the wall instead of a light balance touch
Fix: Reduce the finger pressure on the wall until it is barely touching, and if that's not possible yet, regress to the two-leg version for this session.
Fault: The standing knee locking straight and hyperextending at the bottom
Fix: Keep a small, soft bend in the standing knee for the whole rep.
Fault: Rushing between reps so the back leg never comes under control before the next one
Fix: Touch the back foot lightly down between each rep until balance feels steady, then remove that touch-down.

Equipment

bodyweight, wall

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back