Deadlift/Squat discrepancies

[carson]

Usually I see maybe a 15-20% difference between the reported lifting weight between DL and Squat. My discrepancy is quite a bit greater. My top DL is 315 but my top squat is 215. Are there other examples of such discrepancies in lifting? Is there some guess as to why such exists? Does it have anything with age?

[BrooklynJerry]

I at age 50 squatted 275 and DL 400 in a contest. I think my problem is fear.

[Adam Skillin]

Usually I see maybe a 15-20% difference between the reported lifting weight between DL and Squat. My discrepancy is quite a bit greater. My top DL is 315 but my top squat is 215. Are there other examples of such discrepancies in lifting? Is there some guess as to why such exists? Does it have anything with age?

Good chance it's your proportions, which make the shorter ROM of the deadlift much easier than the squat. I have always held about a 100# discrepancy between my squat and deadlift. Was true when I was squatting 185, is true now when I'm squatting in the upper 300's.

Just keep getting stronger, don't worry about lift:lift ratios. Make the weight on the bar go up across the board.

[hbriem]

I'd definitely agree not to worry about the ratio. I've always been a much better deadlifter than squatter myself but the squat has moved (a little) closer over the years.

[Gwyn Brookes]

Me too, my best deadlift has been at about 90 pounds more than best squat for years. :-)

[melody]

i'm the opposite. My squat is constantly trying to creep up to my deadlift. But to be fair I prefer squatting and put a lot more emphasis on it.

[Kyle Schuant]

I see this a lot with older lifters, 60+, especially those who took it up later in life. I don't know why. But as others have said, so long as everything's getting stronger, so what?

The other possibility which is not related to age is that you're not squatting as heavy as you could be. Squats we put the bar on our back and it tries to crush us to death, so we might hold back a bit on it, especially if we've neither spotters not safeties. Deadlift if you can't lift it the stupid thing just sits there on the ground, so you tend to be more confident about really grinding it out.

[carson]

I thank all of you. All of your advice makes sense to me. Onward and upward.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My best gym lift DL is 425. My best squat was 320 in a meet. As Jerry said, and Kyle sort of implied, I'm sure fear plays a role. I'm 5'11" so I have no advantage in the DL.

[rongoodman]

Usually I see maybe a 15-20% difference between the reported lifting weight between DL and Squat. My discrepancy is quite a bit greater. My top DL is 315 but my top squat is 215. Are there other examples of such discrepancies in lifting? Is there some guess as to why such exists? Does it have anything with age?

I have the same numbers as you. I've wondered about it too.