Squats and deadlifts on the same day?

**Liffguard** · Posted On: 10/22/2006 2:45pm

Quick question. Are there any major problems in doing squats and deadlifts as part of the same session? I know they utlilise similar muscles and up to now I've been doing them as part of different sessions, recovering from one before doing the other. However, I want to reduce my split from four to three (so that I can do each body part more frequently) and that might mean putting squats and deadlifts togethr. So like I said, does anyone think this could be problematic?

**smillard** · Posted On: 10/22/2006 2:56pm

there shouldn't be any problem. Bent leg dead lifts work the lower back where the stiff leg dead lifts work the hamstrings. Squats are a good all around leg excercise but hamstrings are not as affected as your quadraceps, additionally doing squats does work your lower back some but not to a great extent, mostly as a stabalizing muscle. You might find you can't deadlift as much for as many reps for the first few sessions, so just be careful on that. Good luck

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 10/22/2006 3:45pm

Depends. If you go extremelly heavy with one (say, the heaviest, hardest sets of squats you can do in proper form), I would not advise to attempt the same intensity with deadlifts (and viceversa). You'll be too tired to the later with the same intensity and keeping proper form. It's not impossible, but very unlikely for most mortals.

If, on the other hand, you use a medium intensity, I don't see why not do both. I do that sometimes, set of squats, 60 seconds rest, set of deadlifts, repeat nonstop for a total of 5 sets each. It makes me sweat by the gallons. But for that, I have to use like 60%-70% of the weight and volume I would use if I were doing them on separate days. More than that, and I find I can't recover well.

**Liffguard** · Posted On: 10/22/2006 3:54pm

I was thinking of doing two sessions a week and alternating which one I did heavy. i.e. session 1 - heavy deadlifts, medium squats
session 2 - heavy squats, medium deadlifts

I also usually do lunges as part of a leg workout but I'll probably be keeping these at a fairly moderate intensity after the first two exercises.

**Bang!** · Posted On: 10/22/2006 4:03pm

Sounds good -- although it's probably advisable to work variations of each once every couple of weeks to avoid over-training.

**smillard** · Posted On: 10/23/2006 1:38pm

the common belief is it takes the muscles three days to recover from a work out so wait about that amount of time between split program you are describing.

**PirateJon** · Posted On: 10/23/2006 2:39pm

You guys make with the good advice. :thumbsup:

**LI GUY 1** · Posted On: 10/25/2006 12:26am

I never dead 2x a week and have made good gains. I remember some powerlifting guy at the gym saying deads take so much out of you you should only do it once a week. I squat 2x a week. Mon-squat wed- dead fri- squat.

If thats too much and you only have 2 days i would do heavy of one, and the other in an active recovery or "greasing the groove" type. When i only worked out 2x a week i did one day squat and one day dead.

**cosai1** · Posted On: 10/25/2006 5:01pm

why not squat for one workout and deadlift in another? whats your routine like and what are you trying to achieve?

**Liffguard** · Posted On: 10/25/2006 5:19pm

Previously I had a four way split and was deadlifting and squatting on different days. However, that meant I was only working each body part on average just over once a week. What I'm trying to do at the moment is consolodate my training into a three way split so I hit each bodypart more frequently. I'll keep an eye on my results and either keep the new routine or go back to my old one accordingly.