RDL vs conventional: Low fatigue 3-day powerlifting template

Training Q&A [Moderated]
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Hello BBM crew,

So starting up the 3-day powerlifting from the low fatigue templates, but wondering about switching the deaddlifts to romanian deadlifts.

First off, I lift mainly in my homegym which is in an apartment, so conventional deadlifting has to be done on a separate day in a commercial gym, which is a slight pain. Second, I tweaked my back two weeks ago and RDLs tend to irritate that much less than conventionally deadlifting.

I have no interest in competing, but I do like seeing numbers go up and to compare myself (very humbly) to friends who do compete in PL. So I AM interested in a big deadlift number, but more important goals currently are general strength that carries over to everyday life and grappling (BJJ), and not being in pain as it compromises those things.

I assume you have no strong opinions if a hobby lifter like myself switches from conventional to RDLs, but I have a few questions I would like advice on:

  1. Would you suggest doing the RDL with the same reps, sets and RPE as the DL in the program? Doing heavy singles on RDL seem… strange to me for some reason.
  2. For athletic carryover, do you think this will have any impact?
  3. What would you suggest for the supplemental deadlifting slot? Barbell good mornings? Jefferson curls (I’ve done them in the past with a barbell and zercher grip which allowed for pretty heavy loading)? Paused RDLs?

Kind regards

2 Likes
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Totally fine to do RDL’s here. I would probably pick RDL’s from pins/blocks to ensure the ROM is consistent over the weeks, but it would totally be fine with me :slight_smile:

3 Likes
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Thanks! You’d still do the heavy singles as written? And for supplemental movement any specific ideas?

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If someone isn’t competing or wanting to test 1RMs in the near future, I’d probably skip the singles unless someone really liked them otherwise. For the RDLs, I would not do the singles…not because they’re “risky”, but rather, I think training resources would be better allocated elsewhere.

I’m not sure what your question is regarding supplemental movements. Can you clarify?

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Not worrying about doing heavy singles is risking, just not used to the idea of doing that on RDLs. But I’ll follow your advice on it either way.

To clarify my question above: When following the program as written, conventional deadlift would be my main deadlift, and on day 1, after squat and bench, there is a supplemental deadlift slot. This usually prescribes things as banded deadlifts, block pulls, paused deadlifts, deficit deadlifts etc. When changing the main deadlift movement from conventional to RDL, are there any similar movements you’d recommend for the supplemental slot on day 1? Paused RDLs, reduced ROM RDLs, deficit RDLs etc, or a wider range of hip hinge movements as good mornings etc?

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Yea, I don’t think it’s risky, I just don’t think there’s a big payoff for the resoruces.

I would do a hip thrust, if possible. Otherwise, I’d be thinking about a rack/block pull.

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Unfortunately neither is easily set up in my apartment gym, don’t trust myself to not drop weights too hard. So I’ll freestyle that a little bit. Thanks for the advice and followup!

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