Squats and barbell deadlifts are two essential strength-training exercises that recruit large sections of muscle throughout the body. But which of the two exercises is better and why?
This article explains three advantages that deadlifts have over squats and how those advantages make deadlifts a better exercise in certain scenarios.
Three reasons why deadlifts are better than squats:
1. More weight. The moved weight is an important factor in exposing the muscles to the necessary tension that triggers muscle and strength building processes. A deadlift can move more weight than a deep squat. More weight = higher tension and therefore more potential for muscle and strength building from a global perspective.
2. More back chain and lower back. While squats offer a relatively even balance between working the full quads and hip extensors, deadlifts primarily work the posterior chain and lower back. Both are common weak points for customers and athletes, caused by a lack of strength, everyday posture and sport-specific imbalances.
3. More upper back. At best, squats train the upper back in the variant of the front squat and also there with significantly less weight than is the case with deadlifts. The upper back is a weak point for many lifters and a primary deficit from a muscular balance standpoint. The deadlift trains the retraction of the shoulder blades and thus the isometric contraction of the rhomboids, as well as the upper and middle parts of the trapezius, which leads to a more stable shoulder girdle and better posture.
These benefits don't mean deadlifts are necessarily better than squats. It's that deadlifts are better than squats in a given situation.
That's why in my article , 3 Reasons Why Squats Are Better Than Deadlifts, I explain the situations where the opposite is true.
Good luck with the deadlift!
More about squats in my latest book "The Perfect Squat"
Image: Bob athlete Frederick Luethcke LH deadlift in YPSI with 260kg.