Deadlift 1RM > Squat 1RM

Every powerlifting total I have seen from strong people has included a Squat max much greater than the Deadlift max.

Now I’m not a powerlifter, or a very strong person, but my Deadlift 1RM (415) is much higher than my Squat 1RM (325). Am I doing something wrong? I feel like there has to be some weakness in my Squat form or some supporting muscles that aren’t allowing me to Squat bigger numbers.

I Squat to the proper depth, thighs at least parallel to the ground, with a shoulder width, “bodybuilder”, stance. I think I would consider myself a high-bar squatter, the bar sits mostly on my traps and not really at all on my shoulder blades, I can’t seem to get my shoulders back enough to move the bar down.

Any suggestions or is it normal for my Squat to lag behind my Deadlift? Thanks.

I think the gear helps more in a competition squat than deadlift, skewing results toward higher squats. Are these raw lifts you are reporting?

I also think that raw, most people deadlift more than they squat. My numbers are pretty much the same as yours raw, just slightly higher on squat and slightlly lower on DL.

However, I am by no means an authority. Hopefully some guy with calves bigger than my thighs will chime in and confirm/deny.

I would think you are okay. The guys you are probably talking about, over 700 squatters, could prob deadlift more than their grip can hold. 800lbs on your shoulders is different than in your hands. Personally, right now my heaviest training squat is 425 but I would estimate my deadlift to be somewhere around 485-500. Most of the guys that i see doing squats and deads around here are in the same boat.

Hope that helps.

Are you looking at geared lifts? From what I’ve seen, its natural for the squat to be lower than the deadlift.

Eh… as far as I’m aware it’s compeletely and totally natural. The only raw lifters that tend to get squats near their deadlifts are the really sprogging strong ones like Stan Efferding. I think at that level it starts to even out.

From what I understand, there’s a lot more carryover with squat suits, power briefs and knee wraps and whatnot to the squat as opposed to the deadlift, which, I think doesn’t get a whole lot out of gear (this is just my guess–I have no real idea, so anyone knowledgable can feel free to correct me)

tl;dr: You have nothing to worry about. Just keep chugging along.

I think squatting strength versus deadlift strength has a lot to do with leverages as well.

Geared squats are normally higher than geared deadlifts because you can gearwhore the squat like no other lift. Raw, it’s not uncommon for the deadlift to be higher than the squat.

In the end it comes down to what you’re best built for doing, some people will be naturally stronger in the squat than the deadlift and some will be the other way around. There’s really nothing wrong with either of it so I think you should stop worrying. Just pay equal attention to all your lifts and I think you’ll be fine.

Yes, those are raw numbers. I never thought about geared lifts. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.

I’m completely opposite… I think I just suck at deadlift. Just assumed that one day my deadlift would catch up and pass my squat(no belts wraps etc…). But I also am not in the 400 plus ranges. Squat 360 deadlift 300(most recent 1rm)

Deadlift is also the last competition lift in the event. After you’ve done 3 max attempts at squat and bench, you’re going to be fatigued. Factor that with the fact that someone looking to win and not risk injury may simply pull enough to beat the next highest total, rather than go for an all out PR.

The vast majority of people will deadlift more if you’re talking about raw lifts. Gear changes everything.

[quote]jasondd wrote:
Yes, those are raw numbers. I never thought about geared lifts. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.[/quote]

Then you are reading the results backwards, or misconstruing them somehow. I would guess that more than 80% of raw totals include a deadlift that is higher than squat. Mine being the exception since I have awful deadlifting leverages!

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]jasondd wrote:
Yes, those are raw numbers. I never thought about geared lifts. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.[/quote]

Then you are reading the results backwards, or misconstruing them somehow. I would guess that more than 80% of raw totals include a deadlift that is higher than squat. Mine being the exception since I have awful deadlifting leverages![/quote]

hahaha exactly. I would say its closer to 95% Guys like Coker or Bartley, whose arms hang to approximately their bellybutton are the exceptions to the rule.

Jason

[quote]JPeggEFS wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]jasondd wrote:
Yes, those are raw numbers. I never thought about geared lifts. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.[/quote]

Then you are reading the results backwards, or misconstruing them somehow. I would guess that more than 80% of raw totals include a deadlift that is higher than squat. Mine being the exception since I have awful deadlifting leverages![/quote]

hahaha exactly. I would say its closer to 95% Guys like Coker or Bartley, whose arms hang to approximately their bellybutton are the exceptions to the rule.

Jason
[/quote]

I googled Coker and you are right, it looks like if he deadlifted conventional he might scrape his dick off. 804 Bench, 556 Deadlift.

I meant my numbers were raw. But the totals I have been seeing are geared.

[quote]jasondd wrote:
I meant my numbers were raw. But the totals I have been seeing are geared. [/quote]

exactly, you are looking at geared numbers. PL equipment helps a lot with the squat but little with the deadlift. if you look at raw numbers, most of the time the deadlift is higher than the squat.

Pretty common occurence to have DL > SQ. Usually the crazy benchers (i.e. short arms) have a squat bigger than their deadlift, or people with extremely small hands (grip issues).