What’s the best thing for you to do between heavy sets of squat, bench press and deadlift?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Powerlifters understand this.
I’d say 99 percent of the time your best bet is to sit down, sip some water, relax and mentally prepare for the next set. Heavy barbell lifts are not meant to be done within a superset – at least not if maximal strength is your goal.
But if you absolutely insist on doing something between sets of squat, bench and deadlift, you want to check a few boxes. The paired exercise should:
- Be non-fatiguing
- Do something to improve your performance in your heavy lift
- Be done quickly
- Require minimal equipment
Here are my top picks for exercises to do between sets of your main lifts.
Squat: Side Planks
Squats require a lot of hip internal rotation range of motion, especially if you’re squatting well below parallel. Many lifters lack hip internal rotation due to stiffness in the lower back and glutes from years of slinging around heavy iron. It comes with the territory.
We can temporarily restore hip internal rotation by using side planks to stack the ribs and pelvis and fire up the obliques. They require no equipment and are relatively non-fatiguing as long as you don’t hold them for an eternity.
Do This: 2-3 sets of 5 breaths/side between squat warm-up sets. Breathe in through your nose and exhale fully through your mouth.
Bench Press: Couch Stretch
At first glance it might seem strange to pair the bench press with a lower body stretch. But anybody who benches with a big arch and lots of leg drive understands how tough it can be to get your feet in the ideal position to press big weights. The couch stretch can buy you some extra range of motion in your hips, quads and ankles so you can really crank yourself into position.
Just be sure you’re actually doing the stretch correctly. Most hip flexor stretches get butchered and turn into a stretch for the anterior hip ligaments. Ligaments aren’t meant to be stretched and need to maintain some level of stiffness to provide end range support to your joints. We want to keep the stretch in the belly of the quad, so make sure you’re taking note of all the technique points in the above video.
Do This: 2-3 sets of 5 breaths/side between bench warm-up sets. Breathe in through your nose and exhale fully through your mouth.
Deadlift: Box Jumps
If there’s one common trait among elite deadlifters, it’s that they’re incredibly powerful off the floor. They’re insanely fast at putting force into the ground, and few exercises teach you to do that like jumps.
What’s more, your ideal jumping stance is likely exactly the same as the stance you’d use to conventional deadlift, so as long as you’re not a sumo nerd, there should be lots of carryover between the two movements.
Box jumps are my preferred choice over other jumping variations because there’s minimal joint stress when you land on an object higher than your takeoff, so you won’t build up unnecessary fatigue. Also, landing from a jump teaches you to quickly organize into a hip hinge position, which will help you find your ideal deadlift technique.
Do This: 10-15 total jumps, broken up into sets of 1-5 reps between deadlift warm-up sets. Use a height that’s challenging but still allows you to land in a hip hinge (if you have to land in a deep squat, the box is too high). Rest as needed to make sure you can put maximal effort into each rep.