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Tonal Coach Kendall Woody perfoming a single leg RDL.

Single Leg RDL Guide: Balance, Stability, and Strength

Boost balance and develop hamstring and glute strength using this single leg Romanian deadlift guide, with form tips and expert insights.

The single leg RDL is a revealing movement, one that immediately shows how your body handles balance, strength, and coordination across a hinge. At least, that's its goal.

It's a unique single-leg challenge that works both body and mind. As soon as you lift one foot, everything — from your standing ankle to your hips to your deep core muscles — needs to work together. This exercise slows you down in the best way possible, giving you space to notice especially how your body handles a controlled hip hinge.

Unlike a traditional two-legged Romanian deadlift, the single-leg version adds an element of extra stability training that can feel almost meditative once you find your rhythm and good form.

You don't muscle your way through this one. You pay full attention to posture and alignment, keeping tension through your form, and keeping your weight feeling balanced and grounded.

Whether you’re using a dumbbell, a resistance band, or Tonal’s own Smart Handles, practicing a single leg RDL's pattern can be rewarding.

If you’ve ever wanted a movement that teaches you where your strength and balance collide, this is for you. The single-leg RDL helps you explore a steady hinge, build strong hamstrings and glutes, and gain a deeper sense of body awareness that carries into running, lifting, and everyday life.

Contents
  1. Single Leg RDL: Step by Step
  2. Single Leg RDL: reps & intervals
    1. Average Duration of
    2. Estimated Calories Burned
    3. Recommended Number of exercises Per Week
    4. Warmup & Cool Down Exercises
    3.
  3. Muscle Groups Targeted
  4. Equipment Used for Single Leg RDL
  5. Who This Exercise is Best For
  6. Answers to FAQs about Single Leg RDL
  7. Concluding words on Single Leg RDL

Single Leg RDL: Step by Step
1. Set up your stance.
  • Stand upright and tall with your weight on one foot, keeping a soft bend in the standing knee.
  • If using a dumbbell or kettlebell: Hold your weight on your preferred side depending on your workout goals. Holding weight in the opposite hand of your working leg generally creates more need for core stability. Holding weight on the same side can support more hamstring engagement.
  • If using a resistance band: Loop your band beneath your working foot. It should "hook" right beneath the arch of your foot, preventing it from shifting. Hold the band with both hands, or choose a working hand depending on your goals.
2. Tuck in your chin.
  • Keep your chin tucked down, like you're holding a rubber ball with it.
  • Lock your gaze on a spot right in front of your working foot.

3. Begin hinging backward from the working hip.
  • Engage your glutes while slowly letting your torso tilt forward toward the working leg.
  • Keep your spine flat and neutral.
  • At the same time your torso tilts, allow your free leg to lift straight out behind you.
  • Imagine the movement as your upper and lower body connected in one long line. Both move in tangent.

4. Keep tilting steadily.
  • Maintain a neutral spine. No rounding, no arching.
  • Imagine lengthening your entire backside as your non-working leg extends backwards.
  • Keep hold of your band or dumbbell, arms pointed straight down beneath the shoulder.

5. Control hinge depth.
  • Hinge until you begin feeling tension in your working leg's hamstrings. This usually occurs when your torso is near parallel to the floor.
  • Tip: You don’t need to touch your weight to the ground.

6. Drive through your standing foot.
  • Press firmly through your mid-foot and heel to return to your starting position.
  • Ensure your hips are square and facing forward, rather than opening or wobbling to the side.


Reset at the top. Pause briefly, regain your balance as needed, and take a breath before executing the next rep.

Single Leg RDL: reps & intervals

While there's no "perfect" number of single leg RDL reps or sets to perform, there are some general guidelines based on your current balance and overall fitness levels:

  • For muscle growth: 6-20 reps per side, 3-4 working sets total.
  • For strength endurance: 8-12 reps per side, 3 working sets total
  • For max strength and power: 4-8 reps per side, 3-4 working sets total.

Average Duration of Single Leg RDL

Again, there's no set length of time a single leg RDL should take.

Your tempo will likely be guided by several things, including your balance capabilities, core control, rest times between working sets, and your overall ability to smoothly hinge while keeping your back leg, working leg, and spine in neutral alignment.

It takes time and practice to master these things. There's no need to rush.

In general, a single leg RDL tempo may fall into this range:

  • One single leg RDL rep: 5-7 seconds
  • One single leg RDL set (both sides completed): ~2-3 minutes

Estimated Calories Burned

Unilateral movements like single leg RDL tend to demand your balance and core control, but its overall intensity is adaptable.

Because of these individual workout factors, alongside key things like your weight, sex, age, and other variables, there's no guaranteed calories burned when doing this exercise, just estimated ranges. Keep that in mind as integrate single leg RDLs into your routine.

  • Women (140-180 lbs): ~25-40 calories
  • Men (170-210 lbs): ~35-55 calories
  • Adults above 210 lbs: ~40-60 calories

Recommended Number of exercises Per Week

You can perform single-leg RDLs generally 1-2x/week. The total number of times per week to do this exercise will of course vary. It depends on your fitness focus, training preferences, and ability to safely perform this move with focus and coordination.

Warmup & Cool Down Exercises

Preparing the hips, ankles, and hamstrings can help you settle into your hinge with more control.

Single Leg RDL Warm-Up (choose 1-2):

  • Hip airplane balance drill (30 secs each side of continual hinging, using your arms for balance)
  • Dynamic hamstring sweep (30 sec)
  • Any bodyweight hinge pattern (30 sec)

Cool-Down (choose 2-3, completed after your full routine):

  • Figure-four glute stretch (60 sec)
  • Standing hamstring stretch (30 sec)
  • Light hip rotations (30 sec)

Muscle Groups Targeted

Single leg RDLs help target the hamstrings and glutes on the standing leg, offering a strong blend of stability and strength work. As you hinge forward, your hamstrings lengthen under tension while your glutes help control both the descent and the return to your starting stand.

Your core plays a key role in keeping your torso steady across the entire hinge pattern, while your ankle and other lower-leg stabilizers adjust moment to moment to maintain balance.

Because your dumbbell's weight or resistance band will be loaded on one single leg, the movement can also help support the strength of certain smaller hip stabilizers.

When you combine steady breathing with all these intentional form notes, you experience a challenging but rewarding unilateral hinge pattern.

Equipment Used for Single Leg RDL

Single leg RDLs can be done using several types of common equipment, pieces you likely have at home or can access at a gym.

For weighted single leg RDLs, you'll need:

  • Dumbbell or kettlebell
  • Resistance band (looped under the standing foot)
  • Tonal Smart Handle or Smart Bar (with a Tonal system)

At-home-friendly alternatives and modifications:

  • Bodyweight-only single leg RDLs

Who This Workout is Most Effective For
  • Anyone building unilateral strength and coordination.
  • Runners, hikers, and field athletes who often rely on single-leg stability.
  • People working to better balance left-right strength differences.
  • Beginners learning how to hinge without overloading their lower backs.
  • Intermediate lifters seeking to refine and improve hip control and ankle stability.

Answers to FAQs about Single Leg RDL

"Effectiveness" depends on your fitness or training goals.

Generally speaking, a traditional weighted RDL can allow for more load, as both feet remain firmly planted on the floor. But single-leg variations can offer enhanced balance and hip stability given it's a unliteral exercise. Many people like and use both without overcomplicating things.

Yes! Single leg RDLs done with proper hinge form should help engage your hamstrings. The exercise places the hamstrings under controlled, lengthened tension. It's a reliable and flexible choice to work into your routine if you're looking for movements that engage the posterior chain of muscles, which technically includes the hamstrings.

With good form and alignment for your body, you'll primarily "feel" the challenge in your hamstrings and glutes, and likely your torso as your core works to keep you stable.

That said, there's no exact hinge depth where you will start to automatically feel tension. That varies person to person.

Absolutely! Using some extra support as a beginner new to single leg RDLs can let you grow familiar with the fundamentals of hinge patterns. If it helps you feel more confident and improve your form and stability over time, go ahead and use a wall, chair, or bench for early balance.

Concluding words on Single Leg RDL

The single-leg RDL is a movement that rewards patience. Once you find your rhythm, the pattern becomes a smooth blend of coordination and power.

Your grounded leg working with your hip and extended leg, your core helping your torso stay solid, and every rep teaching you something about how your body moves. This is the kind of exercise that stays useful throughout your entire training journey, on or off Tonal.

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