Squat stronger than deadlift.

[Carlos Daniel]

Background:
22 years old, doing SS for the last 9 months (hip injury and life got in the way, it shouldn't have taken this long), BW 180 lbs, 5'7". Probably ready for TM in the very near future.

Current lifts:
squat: 330x5 (hard), 345x1 (easy)
Deadlift: 305x5 (very hard, more like a triple and 2 singles)
Bench:190x5x3
OHP: 145x5x3
No PC in quite a while but managed a decent 145 a couple of weeks ago. Gym has bars with fucking rubber sleeves that don't spin. I plan on power snatching on the near future when I go back home (currently on vacation in Peru, hard to train properly)

Current problem: As you can see my deadlift is behind my squat for reasons that will be described in the following section.

Relevant past training history: This is the short version of the story, I don't want to bother you with somewhat irrelevant details.
I did a lot of squatting in the form of 20 rep squats in the last three weeks, which kept me from training my deadlift properly (I could barely press, let alone deadlift), which resulted in my deadlifts being quite weaker than my squats. For some reason the 20 reps ended up helping my strength in the 5 rep range. I'm positive my squats aren't high, and while my deadlift technique might not be perfect it's certainly not bad enough that it costs me 50 lbs on my deads and I have a rather deadlift favorable anthopometry.

Question: what to do with my deads to make them stronger than my squats, which is how they should be? Just go ahead and well... deadlift? pick up at a lighter weight (say 285) and make 20 pound jumps, then 10, deadlifting once a week? I have considered doing Pavel's Power to the People program, which some guys around here have had some nice progress in the deadlift in a short amount of time, but I know you said you like your program better.

Other question: How is it possible that my legs, back, testicular fortitude, etc...got stronger by means of the squats, yet my deadlift remained stationary? Is this some neural motor thing?

thanks, Carlos Daniel

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'd like to see a video of your squats from a good angle to judge depth.

[Carlos Daniel]

I'd like to see a video of your squats from a good angle to judge depth.

Ok, I'll do that tomorrow.

[hamburgerfan]

I have this problem as well, and I'm very curious to see what factors may have caused it and how I can fix it. I know insufficient squat depth is the most common cause, but that's not the case for me.

[Subsistence]

I recall a situation like this occurring on Lyle McDonald's forum where, instead of the squat being too high, the deadlift starting position was actually too high so it was almost all back and no quad. Could be something to consider.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Well, one of them is probably fucked up. We'll see.

[The Sun]

I recall a situation like this occurring on Lyle McDonald's forum where, instead of the squat being too high, the deadlift starting position was actually too high so it was almost all back and no quad. Could be something to consider.

this should not happen if you read the book. the angle between the hip and the torso is easy to achieve if you only do your setup correctly.

[Carlos Daniel]

I recall a situation like this occurring on Lyle McDonald's forum where, instead of the squat being too high, the deadlift starting position was actually too high so it was almost all back and no quad. Could be something to consider.

I'll get a video of the DL too, but I plan on doing my first TM volume workout today and since I've never done 5x5 before I don't know if I'll be fucked up from the squats. I'll see how I feel.

[SmokingSnake]

My case isn't the same, deadlifts for RM3 are at 150KG(145 for RM5) and squats at 125 for 5, but I think in a couple of months the gap won't be that big.

IDK about you guys, but to me the deadlifts are a lot more demanding then the squats no matter the weights and even though the ROM is a lot shorter it's still a very different kind of load, most certainly has to do with the stretch reflex Rip keeps mentioning...

[Carlos Daniel]

Here are some squat sets from my volume day on TM.

This is the first set of squats, at 295 lbs.

My critique: those are some bad squats. Not deep enough and no hip drive whatsoever. But there is hope. Looking up instead of down on some reps

Another set of squats from another angle

Critique: I focused on getting deep, it seems it worked. Hip drive is better, knees are moving back on the beginning of the ascent which is not by the book but probably not huge. Looking up instead of down on some reps.

Yet another

Same thing as last set.

Deadlift

Could only get two reps with 295 lbs. The bar just wouldn't leave the floor. Didn't fully lockout because of DOH grip, bar was sliding down my hands. Should have done hook grip.

So Rip, any idea what the fuck is wrong with my lifts and how to fix them?