For glute growth
For glute growth, the two are close. Romanian deadlift rates slightly higher: more stretch.
Glute kickback machine is easier on the joints.
Both are good choices, and they train the glutes 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 Kickback Machine. Isolates one glute at a time on a fixed path. Simple to load and easy to recover from.
Romanian Deadlift. Loads the glutes and hamstrings at the bottom of the hinge, where both are stretched. Heavy sets tax the lower back.
For glute growth, the two are close. Romanian deadlift rates slightly higher: more stretch. Glute kickback machine is easier on the joints. Both are good choices, and they train the glutes 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.
Glute kickback machine is easier: it’s easy to learn, while Romanian deadlift takes some practice.
Glute kickback machine needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Romanian deadlift needs a barbell, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Glute kickback machine: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Good for Romanian deadlift.