Deadlift vs. Squat:
I've long been a staunch advocate of the squat, and I'll always remain
one. For most people the squat is the single most important exercise for
building size and strength. The dead-lift
is also one heck of an exercise, however, and shouldn't be sidelined by
the squat. For some people the deadlift may be a more productive
exercise on which to focus. Note that it is the bent-leg, not the
stiff-legged, deadlift that approaches the squat in terms of overall
gains.
We cannot fairly compare the squat and deadlift by
considering how many people have gained well from the squat compared to
those who have gained well from the dead-lift. The squat wins hands
down, primarily because more people have used the squat as the linchpin
in their gaining routines than have used the deadlift. Just think how
much promotion the squat has been given and how little the deadlift has
received.
If, for argument's sake, 100,000 people have given
the 20-rep squat program a fair trial, while only 1,000 have given the
20-rep deadlift program a fair trial, there will obviously be a lot of
successful squat stories but a relatively small number of successful
deadlift stories. If the comparison were between similar numbers of
equally serious test cases, the numbers of success stories would be
closer, although I believe the squat would still come out on top.
Let's not think of this as a squat vs. deadlift situation but rather a
dead-lift-squat teamwork situation, with the understanding that for a
minority of people the deadlift may be more productive than the squat in
a straight comparison. Some people, due to leverage factors, have
greater potential as deadlifters than as squatters. No matter how much
they work on the squat, they do better on the deadlift, even when they
give less effort, the deadlift remains well ahead of the squat. Others
have a more natural propensity for the squat, and still others have
lousy leverages for both lifts, although these folks will likely have
one that is less weaker than the other.
Tall and very thin
neophytes in particular may have a far easier time pulling a weight than
squatting it. Focusing on the deadlift will enable them to pack on more
initial mass and strength than will the squat. With a large
accumulation of mass and more attention to form and flexibility, they
will become better squatters and be able to prosper on the squat, though
they may always be better deadlifters.
Some people will gain
fastest when they squat and deadlift, setting the frequency of training
each lift according to their individual recovery ability. Others,
however (both beginners and advanced lifters) will find this to be too
much and will need to back off from one of the lifts to be able to gain
well on the other. I know this from personal experience, and I'm sure my
findings are shared by many others.
Let's suppose you're a
typical hardgainer wanting the best from both the squat and the
deadlift. Squat on Tuesday and perhaps moderately on Fridays, and
deadlift on Fridays, doing no more than a handful of other exercises at
each workout. If both your squat and deadlift move just about equally in
terms of poundage gained, keep at it. You may find that one of the two
dries up once you're at or beyond your previous best lifts in both
exercises. If this happens, the chances are that it's your naturally
stronger lift that is gaining, unless of course you were previously
slacking on the weaker lift and you're now just getting the balance
right. You may, of course, find that both lifts dry up, not just one of
them. Assuming that you've been working equally hard on both lifts, what
happens at the end of a cycle can tell you a lot.
For example,
suppose you're an advanced trainee and you spent a few weeks getting
used to the routine. Then during the past nine weeks you slowly built up
to 365 x 20 in the rest/pause deadlift and 275 x 20 in the rest/pause
squat, up from previous bests of 350 x 20 and 270 x 20, respectively.
Rest/pause means that after each rep you pause for a few breaths before
continuing, keeping the bar on your back when squatting and not taking
your hands from the bar when you're deadlifting. These lifts show a
natural bias toward the deadlift.
In the final stage of this
cycle-training absolutely full-bore, suppose your poundage gain for the
deadlift has been moving at a rate of five pounds per week recently, but
the squat has only been moving 2 1/2 pounds per week. An extra 2 1/2
pounds on the squat (up to 277 1/2) makes you fail to get all 20, and
you struggle for a few weeks to build up to all 20; however, as brutally
hard as the work undoubtedly is, the deadlift keeps moving at five
pounds per week.
By the time you've actually worked to getting
all 20 squats out, you're deadlifting 380 x 20. The squat is suffering
from the effort (both in the gym and in recovery) that you're pouring
into the deadlift. In this case, there's no way you're going to gain on
the squat while working so hard on the deadlift, so back off on the
squat and focus on peaking on the deadlift. Cut back your squat poundage
by 20 percent or more for the same reps, and hold it there while going
as far as you can in the deadlift, to say, 400 x 20 for this example.
Anything from about 350 for 15 rest/pause reps is great deadlifting for a
hardgainer.
On the other hand, if despite the fact that you're
taking both lifts equally seriously, your deadlift poundage is the same
or a little more than you're lifting for the squat (for the same reps),
then you're more naturally suited to the squat and the poundages given
above would be adjusted accordingly. In this case the chances are that
the deadlift would fall behind the squat in terms of poundage gained at
the end of the cycle.
In both cases rather than knocking
yourself out on both the squat and the deadlift in the same cycle focus
on only one of these exercises and work the other moderately to hold
style and some conditioning there, but drop it in the very final weeks
of the cycle. This will enable you to make good progress on the other
lift as you move into new poundages. By reducing the demands on your
body, you'll be able to train the priority lift twice a week rather than
just once. Make one your full-bore day and the other a light day. This
will help reduce the severity of soreness from the heavy day. For your
next cycle reverse the focus.
Set a realistic poundage target
for a squat-dominated cycle and then realize it. (Advanced lifters
should target a smaller percentage increase than less-experienced
lifters.) Next set a target for a deadlift-dominated cycle and give your
all to realizing it. Then go back to the squat, etc. This is better
than training both lifts with equal priority in the same cycle and
getting very little on either.
Neglect neither the squat nor
the deadlift, regardless of how well or not so well you may be suited to
them. Get the best from both.
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