moderate
20-Minute Deadlift Fundamentals
Learning to hinge from the hips properly is one of the most transferable skills in fitness — it protects the lower back during every daily lift.
20 min · Kit: Dumbbells or kettlebell (or a loaded bag)
The session
- 13 min: Hip hinge drill — stand 30cm from a wall, push hips back to touch the wall; 15 reps
- 23 min: Romanian deadlift with light weight — hinge, maintain long spine, feel hamstrings load; 3×10
- 33 min: Stiff-leg deadlift with moderate weight — 3×10
- 43 min: Single-leg Romanian deadlift (bodyweight then lightly loaded) — 3×6 each side
- 53 min: Full grip-width deadlift to standing — 3×8 at a moderate challenge
- 62 min: Hamstring, spinal decompression (hang or child's pose)
- 73 min: Q&A self-check: Did the lower back round? Did you hold your breath? Could you feel your hamstrings?
Worth knowing
- The back could be neutral (long), not round — if the back rounds, the weight is too heavy
- Breathe in before you pull, out on the way up — this is called Valsalva technique (moderate version)
- Deadlifts are one of the helpful exercises for posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings) and grip strength
- Grip strength is independently associated with healthy aging — deadlifts train it directly
