I was thinking about the upcoming two-a-days yesterday after I had finished a workout that included deadlifts and realized that I’m not so sure that it would be a great idea for me to squat and deadlift on the same day. I realize that many trainers are able to use the deadlift as a purely hip-dominant movement in order to hit the hamstrings primarily. I’m a little different. I’m not sure if it’s a matter of form or just genetics, but I always get a pump in my quads when I do them, and usually include them in back workouts because I feel them there the most. This brings me to my question: is there any way to separate squats and deadlifts by a day or more to avoid overtaxing my quads? Could I perform lower body work in the morning and upper body work in the afternoon on two day, and then two upper body days on the other? The only other thought I had was to eliminate bent-knee deadlifts and just use the stiff-leg version in the PM. I hate to get rid of them altogether, but I know I won’t get the most of the deadlifts if I do them after squats. Sorry for being the Growth Surge party pooper, but do you have any suggestions in this regard? Thanks for your time.
If you were talking about doing squats on one day and then deads then next, then I could see what you mean. There would be some overlap, form problem or not. But as long as they’re done in the same day, it shouldn’t be a problem i.e. you’re not overworking/overtraining the muscle group.
You can switch the split up a bit if needed though. No big worry there.
Have you tried different styles of deadlift- like wide leg sumos instead of narrow grip bodybuilder-style deads? How about trap bar deads? These could help switch the work more to the glutes and hams. Your other idea- stiff leg deads only- is fine too.
Thanks for the response. I’ve got a few weeks to put everything together, so I might wind up rearranging the split a little. I usually do my deadlifts with a trap bar anyway, but I’ve never tried sumos. I guess they’re worth a shot. We’ll see how it goes. Just out of curiosity, is anyone else going to try to adjust the stage 2 split and, if so, how?