When you are trying to figure out what other exercises should be done with deadlifts, you need to consider your goals and what you want to accomplish during your workout.
Whether you need a deadlift supplemental exercise, deadlift complementary exercise, deadlift combination exercise, or deadlift preparation exercise to complete the set, you will need to deliberate as to how each of these exercises will improve your deadlift.
Deciding on which exercise to choose will depend on whether you want to improve your deadlift max, strength or endurance over the course of months weeks or years.
What Other Exercises Should Be Done with Deadlifts?
What Exercise to Pair with Deadlifts
There are many exercises you can pair with deadlifts.
You can pair the deadlift with the bench press, squats, pull ups, thrusters, or burpees.
There are also exercises like RDL’s, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and stationary bicycle sprints.
It will all depend on what your goals are for the workout.
Do you want to bulk up, create endurance and a stronger base of support?
You should be asking yourself all these questions when deciding on what exercise to pair with your deadlift.
Also, you need to decide on frequency, intensity, time, and type of deadlift.
In other words, how often are you deadlifting, how explosive are you on contraction, how long are you doing these for, and are you doing a standard, sumo or Romanian deadlift.
All these things come into play when you are trying to decide what exercise to pair with your deadlift.
Other exercises that should be done with a deadlift include:
- Pistol squats
- Curtsy Lunges
- Wide Grip Pullups
- Romanian split squats
- Mountain Climbers
- Push-up Jacks
- Bench Press
- Bicep Curls
- Dips
- Planks
Deadlift Supplemental Exercises
When you are trying to figure out what other exercises should be done with deadlifts, you might consider doing a deadlift supplemental exercise.
A supplemental exercise to the deadlift is going to be anything that mimics the standard deadlift and enhances your ability to do the deadlift.
This could be something like a sumo squat, sumo deadlift, Romanian Deadlift (RDL), front squat or back squat.
You are essentially doing the same basic movement pattern but with a slight emphasis on other muscle groups.
A list of supplemental exercises for the deadlift includes:
- Power Clean
- Sumo Squat
- Sumo Deadlift
- Jump Squats
- Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
- Front Squat
- Back Squat
- Thrusters
- Wall Balls
- Banded or Chained Deadlifts
Deadlift Complementary Exercises
Another exercise that should be done with deadlifts is the deadlift complementary exercise.
These exercises are going to build up the accessory muscles that will aid in producing a powerful deadlift.
The stronger your complementary muscles are, the easier it will be for the major muscle movers like the quads, glutes, and back to lift a large amount of weight.
Pick exercises like band walks, lunges, and hip flexor exercises.
These exercises will target the muscles of the inner and outer thigh, lower back, quads and glutes.
A list of deadlift complementary exercises includes:
- Reverse Lunges
- Curtsy Lunges
- Band Walks
- Glute Ham Raise
- Hip Abduction and Adduction
- Plank
- Side Lunges
- Clams
- Jump Lunges
- Kettlebell Swings
Deadlift Combination Exercise
A different type of exercise that can be done with the deadlift is the deadlift combination exercise.
This is an exercise you can transition to immediately after your deadlift to make a superset.
It could include exercises like the hang clean, thrusters, or renegade rows.
Most of these deadlift combination exercises will require you to either use dumbbells for your deadlift or transition to dumbbells following your deadlift.
Some of them allow you to use the barbell to go straight into the next exercise.
Some other exercises to be included with the deadlift combination exercise include:
- Power Clean
- Thrusters
- Hang Clean
- Renegade Rows
- Situps
- Glute Raises
- Ab Rolls
- RDL’s
- Standing Rows
- Reverse Flies
Deadlift Preparation Exercises
Some other exercises you should do with a deadlift are deadlift preparation exercises.
These will prepare and warm your body up for a challenging deadlift workout.
Do things like ride a stationary bike, walk on the stair climber, do some air squats, or jog for 10 minutes.
This will get the muscles of your legs and back ready for your deadlift workout.
Other deadlift preparation exercises include:
- Run or Jog
- Ride a Stationary Bike
- Walk on the stair climber
- Air squats
- Jumping Jacks
- Jump Rope
- Walking Lunges
- Elliptical
Best Exercises to Improve Deadlift
Last is the best exercises to improve the deadlift.
These exercises will primarily work your quads, glutes, back and hamstrings in a challenging manner.
They will work multiple muscle groups and be effective in creating total leg stability.
Some of the best exercises to improve deadlift include:
- Banded or Chained Box Squats
- Split Squats
- RDL’s
- Glute Raises
- Nordic Ham Curls
- Jump Squats
- Weighted Lunges
- Kettlebell Swings
Romanian Deadlift
A great exercise to do with the deadlift is the Romanian deadlift.
It’s ideal to do these with a single leg and dumbbells.
They will more thoroughly target the posterior chain including the hamstrings and glutes.
Mix this in with your standard deadlift for more robust deadlift workout.
Don’t forget to check out: How to PROPERLY Do a Romanian Deadlift with Dumbbells (RDL’s)
Workouts to Increase Deadlift Max
If you are looking for exercises to improve deadlift strength and workouts to increase your deadlift max, combine the exercises from above to formulate a tough and challenging workout.
Superset your deadlifts with other exercises to turn your workout into a HIIT workout.
Make sure to increase reps, sets, intensity and type over time to increase your deadlift max.
Do full body workouts. Add bands and chains to your exercises to get a more complete lift.
If you consistently work hard throughout the year, you can realistically increase your deadlift by 100 to 200 pounds in a single year.
Summary: What Other Exercises Should Be Done with Deadlifts?
Once you figure out exactly what other exercises you should be doing with your deadlifts based on your goals, it should become easier to create a workout that will build muscle and endurance, challenge your body, help you burn fat, and give you a strong and sturdy set of legs. Your back strength will improve, as well as your posture and balance. Remember to not only do a deadlift, do other supplemental, complementary, combination, and deadlift preparation exercises to improve your deadlift week after week.
