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  1. #1
    Registered User DudeMartin's Avatar
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    Question Squat lagging behind deadlift

    I have been training for about a year and a half now, starting with no previous experience or any form of athleticism. Over this period, I have improved my lifts from a measly 95 pound squat to a 255 pound squat, and my 135 pound deadlift to a 385 for a double. However, that being said, I have compared my numbers to other peoples' and I feel that my squat is substantially lower than it should be considering my deadlift. When I squat, I go all the way down ("ass to grass"), which a friend recently told me that it is the reason why my squat is not as strong as it could be. I tried going down to just below parallel but it feels very unnatural, so I'm going to try to stick to what feels right for me. The other issue that I have is that at my gym, the pins on the racks are configured so that the lowest pin is too low to safely catch me, and the next pin up is too high, so it stops me before I reach the bottom, so I usually squat with the bottom pin or with the safety bars removed at all. I feel that this hinders me from pushing myself to the absolute limit because I'm afraid I can't fail safely.

    Has anyone else had this issue? Where your squat is lagging behind your deadlift perhaps more than it should? Is it a problem with my programming? Could it be my form? Or, could I actually just squat more if I tried? I'm really interested to hear your responses.

    (Oh, and for the record, I am 6'3", 200 pounds; male.)

    Thanks.
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  2. #2
    Personal Record Holder Rags85's Avatar
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    So, there is a ton of reasons why squat will lag for a beginner. Programming, leverages, confidence, etc..., But I think the most common is form. The squat is a far more technical lift than the deadlift and thus has much more room for error. It takes much longer to learn, especially doing it on your own. You basically gave us no relevant details, so there's not much else to say, other than those numbers are not out of the ordinary for a beginner.
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    Leave the pins in at the lowest setting, and learn how to dump the weight off your back. I had to do it yesterday with 525, because I stalled on the fourth rep.

    Like has already been stated, the most important thing on a squat is good form. Without at least a video, nobody here will be able to help you.
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    There is no way one pin is really too low and the other is really too high. Worst case scenario in a commercial gym is 3" spacing.

    Try the lower of the two, and practice bailing on the weight under the safety with only 135 on the bar. I bet you'll discover it's not a problem.

    Feeing like you're not afraid to fail is crucial. I was terrified to squat anything past RPE 8 for a long time, because I didn't know what it would be like missing a lift and having to rely on the safeties. When I eventually missed a lift, it was a huge help, because I realized it was no big deal, and the fear went away. Added 65lbs to my max in about 3 months after that.
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    I found the biggest improvement with squats came after giving it a 7-10 day break from legs, walking a few miles a day, and then starting very light when you take it up again, i.e. first set is 90lbs, then slowly work up in 40lb increments. Safety pins are a great help however in their absence what you can do is try and go heavier but restrict your ROM: lower the weight 1/4 or 1/3 of the way and see how it feels as you come back up. As others mentioned it's extremely technical. There's essentially a check list I go through before beginning each squat set:

    -feet slightly wider than shoulder width (this will vary for some)
    -feet pointed slightly out
    -weight on heel of each foot
    -abs tensed
    -chest up
    -hold bar tight as you can

    Then very slowly lower it. Deadlift for me is a lot stronger than my squat too, however I think that has more to do with having the arms of an orangutan which means less ROM.
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    My squat is 375 while my deadlift is 535. To bring my squat up lately I've been doing singles at 315 to work on form. You could try focusing on single rep sets to build your form and a new one rep max.
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    My squat also lags way behind my deadlift. I think it's a leverage thing in my case; I have good limb lengths for deadlift. Something I've learned (for me; I'm really not sure if this also applies to other people too) is my deadlift responds very well to a large amount of deadlift volume and multiple deadlift sessions per week...and improving my squat doesn't always help my deadlift. The ever-so-popular "one top set of 5 deadlift per week lest you hurt yourself" strategy seems like a funny joke to me. And "focus on squat and the deadlift will follow" ended well for my squat but very badly for my deadlift.

    Learning how to bail a squat behind the back is a great idea too...watch some videos, practice it with light weight.

    A squat cue on the descent helps me avoid ATG depth: "The bar is falling and I'm pushing up against it to slow it down" - keeps a lot of muscles contracted that would otherwise relax, and it's easier for me to switch from down to up when everything is already in pushing-up mode.
    Last edited by kaleida; 08-28-2015 at 01:51 PM.
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