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Exercises

Warm up for deadlifts: groove the hinge, then ramp the bar

Published October 24, 2026

To warm up for deadlifts, ride the air bike easily for 3 minutes, then do 12 band good mornings, 12 band pull-throughs, 8 kettlebell deadlifts, 10 light kettlebell swings and a 20-second side plank per side. Then pull 135 lb (or two 25s for lighter lifters) for 5, and add weight in 2 or 3 more jumps of 3, 2 and 1 reps up to your first working set. Deadlifts need fewer warm-up sets than squats because each heavy pull costs more.

  1. Air Bike Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes
  2. Band Good Morning Hamstrings, Lower Back
  3. Band Pull-Through Glutes
  4. Kettlebell Deadlift Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back
  5. Kettlebell Swing Glutes, Hamstrings
  6. Side Plank Abs
  7. Barbell Deadlift Glutes, Lower Back

Three minutes on the air bike

Easy pushing and pulling on the air bike warms your legs and your grip at the same time. Stay at a pace you could keep for twenty minutes.

Easy cardio with arms and legs

Air Bike

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes

Moving the handles with your arms warms your upper back and grip, which a deadlift needs as much as your legs.

How to do it

  1. Sit with the seat set so your knee stays slightly bent at the bottom.
  2. Work the handles while you pedal at an easy pace.
  3. Keep it steady for 3 minutes.

Cues

  • Easy, steady
  • Arms and legs together

Common mistakes

  • Sprinting: a hard effort here only tires you before the bar.

Swap for: Rowing Machine, Stationary Bike

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Groove the hip hinge with a band

Band good mornings and pull-throughs teach you to push the hips back and snap them forward while your back stays flat, the core of every deadlift. The band gives light tension without loading your spine.

Hinge pattern

Band Good Morning

Hamstrings, Lower Back

With a band under your feet and behind your neck, pushing the hips back against light tension teaches the hinge without load on the spine.

How to do it

  1. Stand on a long band and loop the top over the back of your neck and shoulders.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back, letting your chest fold forward with a flat back.
  3. Bring the hips through to stand tall against the band. Do 12.

Cues

  • Hips back like closing a door
  • Flat back

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat: keep the shins nearly vertical.

Swap for: Dumbbell Good Morning, Band Pull-Through

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Hip snap

Band Pull-Through

Glutes

Facing away from a band anchor and pulling it through your legs trains the hip lockout that finishes the deadlift.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a band low behind you, face away, and hold it between your legs.
  2. Hinge back so your hands travel between your thighs.
  3. Squeeze the glutes and bring your hips through to stand tall. Do 12.

Cues

  • Lock out with the glutes
  • Arms just hold the band

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back at the top: finish standing straight, not arched.

Swap for: Cable Pull-Through, Kettlebell Swing

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Hinge with a light weight

A kettlebell deadlift is a full deadlift with a weight you can barely feel, and swings teach a fast hip drive. Both bridge the band work and the barbell.

Light full deadlift

Kettlebell Deadlift

Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back

One kettlebell between your feet lets you rehearse the setup, the brace and the pull with almost no load.

How to do it

  1. Set a kettlebell between your feet, stance at hip width.
  2. Hinge down and take the handle with both hands, back flat and shoulders over the bell.
  3. Stand up by pushing the floor away, then lower it along the same line. Do 8.

Cues

  • Shoulders over the bell
  • Push the floor away

Common mistakes

  • Lifting with the arms: they stay straight like hooks.

Swap for: Band Deadlift, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Kettlebell Deadlift

Fast hips

Kettlebell Swing

Glutes, Hamstrings

Ten light swings make the hips snap through hard, which carries over to locking out a heavy pull.

How to do it

  1. Stand a little behind a kettlebell, hinge, and hike it back between your legs.
  2. Drive your hips forward hard so the bell floats up to about chest height.
  3. Let it fall back into the hinge and repeat for 10.

Cues

  • Snap the hips
  • Arms are ropes

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the swing: hinge back, keep the knees soft.

Swap for: Dumbbell Swing, Band Pull-Through

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Brace the trunk

A side plank wakes up the muscles along the sides of your trunk that keep you from twisting or bending as the bar leaves the floor. Twenty seconds a side is enough.

Trunk brace

Side Plank

Abs

Holding a straight side plank switches on the sides of your trunk, which resist bending as you pull.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your side with your elbow under your shoulder and legs stacked.
  2. Lift your hips until your body forms a straight line.
  3. Hold for 20 seconds, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Straight line, head to heels
  • Hips high

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag toward the floor: push the floor away with the forearm.

Swap for: Dead Bug, Copenhagen Plank

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Hip opener for sumo

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Sumo pulling needs wide, open hips. A set of cossack squats before the bar makes a wide stance feel normal.

How to do it

  1. Take your sumo-width stance or a little wider.
  2. Shift into one bent knee with the other leg straight, heel down.
  3. Shift across to the other side, 6 per side.

Cues

  • Chest up
  • Bent knee follows the toes

Common mistakes

  • Going faster than your hips allow: move slowly.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Gorilla Walk

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Ramp-up pulls

Pull the bar 3 or 4 times with rising weight and falling reps, resetting fully between reps. Sumo pullers add cossack squats before this to open the hips. The plans cover conventional, sumo, and a short version for deadlifting after squats.

Conventional deadlift ramp

Barbell Deadlift

Glutes, Lower Back

Most lifters need 3 or 4 ramp-up pulls. Each one is a full rep from the floor, reset between reps, so you rehearse the setup as often as the pull.

How to do it

  1. Stand with the bar over your mid-foot, feet about hip width.
  2. Hinge and grip just outside your legs, pull the slack out of the bar, and brace.
  3. Push the floor away until you stand tall, then lower the bar to the floor and reset.

Cues

  • Pull the slack out first
  • Bar stays against the legs

Common mistakes

  • Doing touch-and-go reps on warm-up sets: set the bar down and reset each time.

Swap for: Trap Bar Deadlift, Rack Pull

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Sumo deadlift ramp

Sumo Deadlift

Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads

A wide stance and a narrow grip shorten the pull. The ramp-up sets let your hips find the wide position before heavy weight goes on.

How to do it

  1. Stand wide with your toes turned out and the bar touching your shins.
  2. Grip inside your knees, push your knees out over your toes and lift your chest.
  3. Push your feet apart into the floor to stand up, then lower the bar to the floor.

Cues

  • Spread the floor
  • Hips close to the bar

Common mistakes

  • Hips rising first so it turns into a stiff-legged pull: push the knees out and keep the chest up.

Swap for: Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift, Sumo Romanian Deadlift

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Hinge from the top

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

Starting from standing lets you warm up the hamstrings in a long stretch without a pull from the floor, a good finisher or a ramp substitute after squats.

How to do it

  1. Take the bar from a rack at hip height with a shoulder-width grip.
  2. Push your hips back with a slight knee bend until the bar reaches just below your knees.
  3. Stand back up by bringing the hips through. Do 6 to 8 per set.

Cues

  • Bar slides down the thighs
  • Stretch, then stand

Common mistakes

  • Rounding the back to reach lower: stop where the back stays flat.

Swap for: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift, Stiff-Leg Deadlift

Build a session with Romanian Deadlift

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Heavy conventional deadlift day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets14 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentAir Bike, Resistance Bands, Kettlebells, Barbells

The deadlift is your first and heaviest lift of the day.

The band and kettlebell work grooves the hinge, the side plank sets the brace, and four ramp-up pulls take you to the working weight. Work sets at 2 reps in reserve keep each heavy pull clean; deadlifts cost a lot of recovery, so stopping short of failure lets you train again within the week.

Heavy deadlift
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Air BikeSeconds. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Band Good Morning 1 × 12 4 0 s
Band Pull-Through 1 × 12 4 0 s
Kettlebell Deadlift 1 × 8 4 15 s
Kettlebell Swing 1 × 10 4 15 s
Side PlankSeconds per side. 1 × 20 4 15 s
Barbell Deadlift4 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3 min
Romanian Deadlift1 warm-up set first 3 × 6–8 2 2 min
How to run it
Do everything in order with short rests, then ramp the bar. Finish with romanian deadlifts with one lighter set.
How to progress
Add a ramp-up pull when your working weight goes up by 50 lb.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Sumo deadlift day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets11 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentAir Bike, Resistance Bands, Kettlebells, Barbells

You pull sumo and your hips feel tight in the wide stance.

Two sets of cossack squats replace the swings, because hip range limits sumo more than hip speed. The sumo deadlift gets three ramp-up pulls at your full stance width.

Sumo deadlift
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Air BikeSeconds. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Band Good Morning 1 × 12 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 2 × 6 4 0 s
Kettlebell DeadliftSumo stance. 1 × 8 4 15 s
Side PlankSeconds per side. 1 × 20 4 15 s
Sumo Deadlift3 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3 min
How to run it
Do the cossack squats after the band work, then the kettlebell deadlift in your sumo stance.
How to progress
Once the wide stance feels easy, go back to one set of cossack squats.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Deadlifting after squats

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets5 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Kettlebells, Barbells

You squat first and deadlift second in the same session.

Your legs and hips are already warm, so the warm-up shrinks to the hinge drills and two ramp-up pulls. The work sets sit at 2 to 3 reps in reserve because the squats already took some of your strength.

Deadlift after squats
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Band Pull-Through 1 × 12 4 0 s
Kettlebell Deadlift 1 × 8 4 15 s
Barbell Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 3 3 min
How to run it
Rest a few minutes after the squats, do the band work and kettlebell deadlifts, then pull.
How to progress
Add weight only when every set moves at the same speed.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How many warm-up sets for deadlifts?

Three or four for most lifters. Pull 5 reps on the first and drop to 3, 2 and 1 as the weight climbs.

How do you warm up for deadlifts?

Easy cardio, then band good mornings and pull-throughs for the hinge, a light kettlebell deadlift, a side plank for bracing, and ramp-up pulls from the floor.

Do I have to warm up for deadlifts if I already squatted?

Less, but still some. Two ramp-up pulls and a short hinge drill are usually enough after squats.

Should I stretch before deadlifts?

Move rather than hold: good mornings and swings take the hamstrings through their range under light load.

Why warm up with lower reps on heavy deadlift sets?

So the warm-up does not tire you. Each heavy deadlift rep costs energy you want for your working sets.