Letting the hip rotate open at the bottom.
Fix. Square the hips down to the floor. Open hips means you're rotating instead of hinging.
Single-Leg RDL: setup, top form cues, common mistakes, and how to program it for strength, hypertrophy, or conditioning. Used in The Training Notes.
The single-leg RDL is the RDL's balance-tax cousin: one leg loaded, the other extending behind for counterbalance. It hammers the hamstring of the working leg and trains hip stability the bilateral version can't.
When to pick it. Pick the SL RDL when you want unilateral hamstring/glute work, balance development, or as a primary hinge when heavy bilateral hinging isn't available.
Primary muscle: Hamstrings. Secondary: Glutes, ankle stabilizers. Equipment: Dumbbell or kettlebell. Difficulty: intermediate.
Fix. Square the hips down to the floor. Open hips means you're rotating instead of hinging.
Fix. Stop where balance and hamstring tension end — usually shorter range than you'd expect.
Fix. Push hips back first, let knees bend as a consequence. Bar should travel straight up the shins.
Fix. Drop the load. Cue 'long spine' from head to tailbone and brace before the bar leaves the floor.
Prescription. 4–5 sets of 3–6 reps, 3–5 min rest, 1–2× per week.
Heavy enough to drive neural and structural strength adaptations without burying recovery.
Prescription. 3–4 sets of 8–12 reps, 90–120s rest, 2× per week.
Volume-rep zone where most muscle growth happens; spread across two sessions for frequency.
Prescription. 2–3 sets of 12–20 reps, 60–90s rest, 1–2× per week.
Higher reps build capacity and joint conditioning — useful for accessories and conditioning work.
The Single-Leg RDL develops strength and stability in a way the bilateral Barbell RDL cannot. By standing on one leg, you introduce a significant balance component, forcing the ankle, knee, and hip to control movement in all three planes, not just the sagittal plane. This requires high levels of frontal plane control to keep your pelvis level, engaging the gluteus medius to a much greater degree than a two-legged stance. The objective is not maximal load, but maximal control. Focus on a deep stretch in the hamstring of the standing leg, reaching a hip-hinge position where your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. A typical prescription involves 6-10 reps per side at an RIR of 2-3, using a load that allows for perfect form.
Programming nuance. The Single-Leg RDL carries a high neurological cost due to its stability demand. Do not program it the day before a heavy bilateral squat or deadlift day. It pairs better as a primary hamstring exercise on a lower-volume day or an upper-body focused day. To emphasize motor control and hypertrophy, use a deliberate tempo, such as a 3-second eccentric (lowering) phase. If balance is a limiting factor, use the B-stance variation to get a similar training effect with reduced stability demand.
Lower-back rounding is the single biggest deadlift risk. Drop the load and rebuild form before reps in the lower back ever feel heroic.
The Single-Leg RDL is a intermediate hamstrings exercise using dumbbell or kettlebell. It's part of the hinge pattern.
Anyone training the hamstrings pattern with access to dumbbell or kettlebell. It also suits lifters aliased searches like SL RDL, B-stance RDL.
Not as a first exercise in the hinge pattern. Build to it from an easier variation before adding load.
Once or twice a week in most programs. Frequency depends on the training goal, the total weekly volume for hamstrings, and how much other work is already stressing the same pattern.