Deadlifts or squats ?
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Have gotten back into doing deadlifts in the garage ( now that Bart has returned my weights xzxcool ) and I like them a whole heap more than squats for a variety of reasons. <br />
<br />- I can lift a whole heap more than I can squat.<br />
<br /> - They're much safer considering I train on my own. I've virtually given up squats at the moment until I can buy myself a rack. <br />
<br /> - They "feel" more manly and I think they are a slightly better "whole body" exercise ( although obviously legs hurt more with squats afterwards )<br />
<br /> - DId I mention I can lift heaps more ?<br />
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I'm interested in other peoples opinions, whichever way you go I'm sure we all agree you ache well and good for a couple of days afterwards if you lift heavy.
- I can lift a whole heap more than I can squat.<br />
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Deadlifts are extremely effective in building overall strength. But so are squats. My advice on both is to avoid wraps and focus on perfecting your form. Only nancy boys need to wrap their knees when squatting or deadlifting.<br />
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Deadlifts are much safer, particularly if you train alone. They also build your shoulders and arms. Squats are great for building a foundation of leg strength and core stability. There is no machine exercise that comes close to squats for building power in the legs and trunk.<br />
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That said, you are talking to a guy who had to have back surgery after years of squatting with weights ranging up to 180 kilos. At my peak, I was doing sets of 8 with 180 kilos. That will compress your spine over the years, no matter how safely you train. -
I wouldn't even know what lifting wraps were. I've got a decent grip and my philosophy is if you can't lift it with your hands normally then don't bother !
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[quote name='MN5']I wouldn't even know what lifting wraps were. I've got a decent grip and my philosophy is if you can't lift it with your hands normally then don't bother ![/quote]<br />
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That's the spirit. <br />
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Occasionally in some bodybuilding gyms, you'll see the Tit Queens wrapping their knees tightly using elastic bandages. Between that, adjusting the lifting belt, copious drinks of water and talking to anybody within a 20 foot distance, you can take a good 1/2 hour between sets.<br />
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Or, you can forget all of that bullshit, and just lift. And time your rest periods between sets to make sure they are brief, and that you are pushing your anaerobic capacity to the limit. -
[quote name='davidav'][quote name='MN5']I wouldn't even know what lifting wraps were. I've got a decent grip and my philosophy is if you can't lift it with your hands normally then don't bother ![/quote]<br />
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That's the spirit. <br />
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Occasionally in some bodybuilding gyms, you'll see the Tit Queens wrapping their knees tightly using elastic bandages. Between that, adjusting the lifting belt, copious drinks of water and talking to anybody within a 20 foot distance, you can take a good 1/2 hour between sets.<br />
<br />
Or, you can forget all of that bullshit, and just lift. And time your rest periods between sets to make sure they are brief, and that you are pushing your anaerobic capacity to the limit.[/quote]<br />
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No one for me to chat to in the garage at home ! I generally take the recommended 3-5 minutes between sets. I have had a couple of concerned neighbours enquiring about my safely each time I drop the weights, it does make a hell of a noise. <br />
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gonna give these a miss for a couple of days as I have a slight pain in my side, was gonna do some last night but it was a tiny bit sore even warming up with 90kg so better to be safe than sorry. -
Ive stopped using straps now for grip as well. Have got the go ahead to bring chalk into the gym if I mop up afterwards. Met a guy called Kevin Strachan who owns Get Strength in Auckland, he fabricates customised strength training gear for NZRU, S14, NPC, NRL and AFL clubs. Strachan is also a former NZ powerlifting champ. He showed me techniques that has massively improved my squat, bench and deadlift in just 15 minutes of quality coaching. Awesome.
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I'm also a big fan of deadlifts. I mentioned in another thread that both deadlifts and squats are great for building your arms when superset with an isolation "arm" exercise.<br />
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Only started getting into heavy-ish squats about a month ago. Nothing outrageous by any stretch, but enough weight to get 4-5 reps out. Combine that with a barbell bicep curl (12-15 reps) to get the pump and its a great.<br />
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On the deads I'm really glad I got a personal trainer to show me how before I had ever tried doing them. I had no preconceived methods on how to do them, I had never attempted to make a deadlift at all. Best bit of advice I got from my PT was to show me correct form and the mechanics of it. -
Good advice on the deadlifts and squats to work with a trainer. Both are very technical lifts and doing either one wrong, or having your body alignment even a few centimeters in the wrong direction could lead to devastating injuries.<br />
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They look easy if you watch them. And you see a lot of people doing them wrong. You can get away with that if you're using lighter weights. But start adding the poundage and the risks of injury through poor form skyrocket.<br />
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A personal trainer or coach can save you a lot of pain. <br />
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Fortunately for me, my former training partner was an ex-Olympic athlete and coached club rugby in Ireland. He had a very good working knowledge of training technique. -
[quote name='davidav']Good advice on the deadlifts and squats to work with a trainer. Both are very technical lifts and doing either one wrong, or having your body alignment even a few centimeters in the wrong direction could lead to devastating injuries.<br />
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They look easy if you watch them. And you see a lot of people doing them wrong. You can get away with that if you're using lighter weights. But start adding the poundage and the risks of injury through poor form skyrocket.<br />
<br />
A personal trainer or coach can save you a lot of pain. <br />
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Fortunately for me, my former training partner was an ex-Olympic athlete and coached club rugby in Ireland. He had a very good working knowledge of training technique.[/quote]<br />
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Taking a video of yourself doing it ( lifting weights that is eusa_whistle ) is a good idea as well to see how your form is....( when lifting weights eusa_whistle ) -
I used to do weight lifting at college. Deads were always my favourite. Youre right you lift more and you do feel more manly. I had to give it away though, weight lifting, I started too early and had bicep separation( and not the good kind) where the tendon aponeurosis started to stretch. you end up with big gaps between the inner elbow and the bicep. Fine now though.<br />
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I had a pretty good lift coach who was cracking on about form all the time. It got to the point I was pulling Mexteds and dreaming about producing the right form. -
love them both, and at the moment my programme has squats twice a week, and stiff legged deadlifts. I have to strap myself to the bar for the deadlifts, as by the third set my hands are giving away. And as the exrescise is not for my hand grip strength, I have no qualms about using the straps!!<br />
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I agree though with the no need for lifting belts and knee straps and all that pallaver. I have not used a lifting belt for years now, and squatting up to 140kg at the moment with not a problem - well apart from the ability to breath and walk after the sets that is...!! -
I'm big on the squats but I dont use weights at all I just try to do a huge amount but I dont squat for muscle mass either though.
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Now this is one from the archives!
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@JK said in Deadlifts or squats ?:
Now this is one from the archives!
When we were all so young and full of dreams.....
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