Deadlift 1x5 = Squat 3x5???

[cph]

I had a long run of additional novice progress by dropping to 2x5. But I am oldish.

This is deadlift, so I'm already at 1x5.

[tfranc]

Fair enough, but I don't mean "feels" in a purely emotional sense. I just mean if I can squat it for 3 sets of 5, It just seems strange that I can only pull the same weight for 1 set of 5.

Maybe you just have good anthropometry to be a good squatter, but not as good of a puller.

I've got long arms, legs, short torso. My squats fucking suck and they always have. My pulls on the other hand have always been pretty problem-less. I pull about 120 lb more than I squat as I reach the end of my LP.

[stuffedsuperdud]

I know the argument circa 2011 was that DLs are way more taxing than anything else and thus 1x5 is plenty, but I'm not sure if that's actually true: the ROM is generally less than in a squat, and the whole movement depends more on back than legs. A gnarly squat day can leave me badly shaken for the next day or two, but I haven't ever had trouble recovering from DLs. The only issue might be that one can spend forever struggling with the sticking point of a 1RM DL whereas with a squat, the struggle only lasts a few seconds at worst before either he gets through or fails, but that sort of grinding doesn't come up with a set of 5 on LP or, say, TM. All this is particularly relevant in light of the increasing consensus that volume is king, and 1x5 isn't voluminous at all. Even at my gym, we DL 2x a week (clean grip and snatch grip) and do something like three sets of 8 at 70% during the hypertrophy phase and multiple sets of 2-3 at 90%+ during the strength and power blocks, and it doesn't seem to interfere much with snatch/CJ. For actual PL'ers, Lamar Gant, that crooked GOAT, would do something absurd like 15 sets of 3 at 90%+ for the lulz. So....just for my meathead curiosity, does anyone know exactly where the 1x5 comes from? Did Starr or Reg Park or someone say it? I guess I need to reread the book?

[Tom Narvaez]

Reg Park/Starr's 5x5 used ramped deadlift sets but there was only one top set. So he agreed. Sort of.

I do find deadlifts to be harder to recover from personally. Mostly conventional ones.

The squat does a really good job of driving deadlift progress as a novice. As you specialize more and more in the squat, beyond the novice level, the general carryover is increasingly reduced. This is where more deadlift specific training means need to be introduced. This happens more quickly for some than others.

And, as always, more is better as long as you can recover.