For hamstring growth
For hamstring growth, the two are close. Romanian deadlift rates slightly higher: easier to progress, more stretch.
Glute-ham raise keeps more of the work on the hamstrings.
Both are good choices, and they train the hamstrings differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Glute-Ham Raise. Trains the hamstrings at the knee and hip together, but bodyweight is a lot to start with and hard to add to.
Romanian Deadlift. Hinging with soft knees loads the hamstrings deep in their stretch. Heavy sets tire the lower back and grip.
For hamstring growth, the two are close. Romanian deadlift rates slightly higher: easier to progress, more stretch. Glute-ham raise keeps more of the work on the hamstrings. Both are good choices, and they train the hamstrings differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both take some practice.
Glute-ham raise needs a GHD or back-extension bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Romanian deadlift needs a barbell, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Glute-ham raise: it rates Strong for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Good for Romanian deadlift.