T Nation

Squats and Deads in the Same Week

Bodybuilding
#1

Hello.

I have been recently performing squats and deads in the same week. I train Legs on monday and Back (deads) on friday. I haven’t done this since my first year of training. My lower back has been screaming and my numbers are stagnating. I used to follow a 2 day split and rotated exercises but now i’m following a 4 day split.

I think I will rotate them every 4-6 weeks (or sooner if they stagnate). I know this is a situation where I will have to make an adjustment and see how it works out but I wanted to get some other opinions from anyone who has troubles training both deads and squats in the same week. I’ve read that some people simply train them both on the same day (ouch), or rotate them week to week…

thanks

#2

In the same WEEK??? Is there something wrong with you (serious question)? Are you maybe 65 years old? Because you have FOUR days in between squats and deads, and (I assume) TWO full rest days on the weekend between deads and squats, in which you are not training at all.

That is more than enough time to recover. If your low back is screaming with that set-up, then perhaps this isn’t for you.

#3

Is your form what it should be?

#4

I would put it Mon-Thurs or Tues-Fri, so it’s more evenly spaced apart, but unless you have absolutely horrendous recovery ability in your lower back, you might want to re-evaluate your form; I know my back felt pretty shitty when I had terrible squat and deadlift form.

#5

I think it depends. In the end, your progress is the #1 indicator of what you should be doing. If this was the only significant change that you made, and your numbers are stagnating, then you may need to only go heavy on 1 of them per week. You can probably get away with some lighter work on the other though. I personally only go heavy on one, squat or dead, per weak, as the overall systemic fatigue just destroys my recovery if I do both in the same week. Again, this is very individual. Some can go heavy on both in the same week, while others can’t. Trial and error will tell you which way to go here. Best of luck lifting.

#6

Hey…why You picking on us older lifters. LOL

When I was younger and at novice/intermediate level I could could squat and deadlift in the same week on different days and progress. As I became stronger and my working weight got to the > 2.5 bw level I found I had to squat and deadlift on the same day if I wanted to include both in the same week. As I reached 40 even this became difficult when routines contained multiple cardio sessions per week and I learned the benefits of rack pulls. Do not underestimate the impact of other exercise choices and total weekly volume when evaluating your program.

#7

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:
I think it depends. In the end, your progress is the #1 indicator of what you should be doing. If this was the only significant change that you made, and your numbers are stagnating, then you may need to only go heavy on 1 of them per week. You can probably get away with some lighter work on the other though. I personally only go heavy on one, squat or dead, per weak, as the overall systemic fatigue just destroys my recovery if I do both in the same week. Again, this is very individual. Some can go heavy on both in the same week, while others can’t. Trial and error will tell you which way to go here. Best of luck lifting.[/quote]

Yeah I can’t go heavy on BOTH the squat and deadlift each week. And if I hit a PR or a lot of reps in one I might take an extra day.

OP just go with how you feel. Start them 7 days apart if you want, and then do the next when you feel ready to go, might be 4 days, might be another 7. Eventually your body will adapt and you should be able to shrink the gap down.

#8

Dude, I’m cutting and squatting and deadlifting on the same schedule as you. Still hitting PRs. So it’s entirely possible to do them both, but maybe there’s some important factor you’ve left out.

#9

I would try reversing the days/lifts to give more time between deads and squats than squats and deads. A brutal dead session followed too closely by squats usually results in poor performance for me but I can power through the deads if I’ve squated two days ago. My guess is you lean forward too much on back squats which causes you to use your lower back more than you should and since you just did deads your lower back is toast. You’re probbaly too far forward on deads too or maybe I’ve just been talking about myself the whole time.

#10

[quote]Bingbeast wrote:
I used to follow a 2 day split and rotated exercises but now i’m following a 4 day split.
[/quote]

What is your four day split?

#11

I do max effort squats monday, max effort deads wednesday, and heavy bulgarian split squats friday. and about an hour or more of accessory lower body work after each one. And all my numbers are going up

That said the anaconda protocol may be part of that

I did do zerchers instead of bulgarian split squats for two weeks and my back did scream so there is some limit, though

#12

You probably have a musculoskeletal issue going on. Trigger points and or some structural issue could be preventing the muscles from completely recovering between sessions. I have similar issues like this all the time. Stretching, bodywork, foam rolling etc. all can help.