Heavy lifters: dead lifting vs squats

MityMax96

I do them both.....
I don't prefer one over the other...

I will say this about squats, if you do heavy enough weight, you tend to engage a lot of stabilizing muscles you normally would not with DLs.

But do whichever you like....and enjoy

MityMax96

Why not both? I love deadlifts (obviously - profile pic), but squats are awesome too. My husband likes what squats are doing to my booty - just saying.

How much weight is that in your pic?

Leadfoot_Lewis

Can't good wrong with either. I do both but much prefer Deadlifts to Squats.

tpligon

The ones that you will do consistently.

JoRocka

neither is better than the other.

you should be pulling more weight than you squat.

you should be doing both.

this guy.

nails it.

Andrey Malanichev squats more than he pulls. Pretty sure there's no "should" about it. Most people do pull more, but it's not an absolute.

Fred Hatfield- 1014 squat. Something silly like a 766 lb dead lift.

It is what it is.

it happens. But yes- as a general rule of thumb- for the average lifter- you should be able to pull more than you squat. There will always be outliers. The average person who is squatting more than dead lifting has form issues and isn't much over the 2 or 300 mark.

MityMax96

Ok for my numbers I guess at this time I fall into the outlier area...
On my heavy squat days, I will squat ~275....trying to get that up more....I am weak.
For my DLs.....I do 225.....again i am weak, so trying to get that up as well.....

RunHardBeStrong

Another opinion for BOTH. I love deadlifting and I don't love squats. But, I do both.

Same here.

Kirk_R

Not true. Bench press has been around since barbells were invented back in the 1800s. It became more popular with the advent of powerlifting competitions in the 1950s, but it's been around far longer.

In a sense, perhaps, although I've not come across bench press (aka, prone press, pull over and press, etc) stuff from before the 1920s (not that I'm a historian). The modern bench press with the bar starting on racks resting above the lifter rather than the lifter picking it up from the floor first seems to be less than 100 years old. I would be curious to see evidence to the contrary (not trying to be argumentative, seriously, I just think it's interesting to see how this stuff developed). The old site I used to look at for lifting history no longer exists and I can't even remember the name of it right now.

BarbellApprentice

Redundant.. Do both. Squat and DL are foundational lifts.
I have found that the lift I do not enjoy is the lift I need to work on more...and you know what? Over time, I usually grow to love that lift. This has happened for me with squats. I am working through this now with front squats. I will be be good at them and enjoy them sooner rather than later.

bcf7683

Outlier here!

I prefer squats to deadlifts.
I can squat more than I can deadlift.

But I also think I need to switch from Stiff legged to Romanian.
Because when I did SL5x5 (before my injuries), I was deadlifting more than I was squatting.

I've been doing Romanian deads for a looong time... You'd be surprised how different they are. I felt like such a baby switching from regular deads to Romanians because there was hardly any weight on the bar in comparison... But after about 10 reps it's easy to see why you have to lift so much lighter on Romanians

Danny_Boy13

I think everyone prefers deadlifts . I hate squats but I still do them

Not everyone... I prefer squats to DL's. For me personally Squats carry over better for my sport.

tomcornhole

Fred Hatfield- 1014 squat. Something silly like a 766 lb dead lift.

Those are probably equipped numbers. I think the squat gear adds a lot more for squats than it does to DL. I wonder how Fred's raw numbers compare? They might be closer to each other.

I do think biomechanics matter when it comes to squat vs. DL numbers. Not sure which build is better for which, but I bet there is a study somewhere that does.

lilRicki

I'm way better at squats than deadlifting...but I don't use the squat rack yet, I'm just doing dumbell squats right now. I also prefer lunges over squats lol. But I do all of it :ohwell:

JoRocka

Fred Hatfield- 1014 squat. Something silly like a 766 lb dead lift.

Those are probably equipped numbers. I think the squat gear adds a lot more for squats than it does to DL. I wonder how Fred's raw numbers compare? They might be closer to each other.

I do think biomechanics matter when it comes to squat vs. DL numbers. Not sure which build is better for which, but I bet there is a study somewhere that does.

Dunno

There is a video embedded here- I can't watch it from my computer- just read the article and I dont' see it mentioned.

http://stronglifts.com/the-10-most-impressive-squats-of-all-times/

fun article none the less!

danimalkeys

I prefer squats to deads, but do them both. I find I can squat heavy with more frequency than deadlifts though- more recovery time needed on heavy deads.

Beginner/intermediate lifters seem to generally be a good bit better at deadlifts. As you get more experienced that gap will close some. Squats are a more technical lift where changes in form will have more of an effect on what you can lift.

jwdieter

Deadlifts make me tired.

jorralee

As someone who plans to compete one day in a powerlifting meet I do them both regularly.
Still working on proper form and technique though.

Sarah4fitness

OP:
Do them both. They're both great. Mastering the form is challenging, but once you have it, the gains are spectacular if you do them regularly and heavily.

justinproulx1

both are essential

Roadie2000

Superior for what? They both work different muscle groups.