Ok I am on stage 6 of the program, working on the strength aspect. I have seen wonderful improvements in my upper body, I am extremely muscular and proud of my beefy arms, defined abs, and muscular rear end. However my legs have really bulked up. I have always been prone to bulk when lifting weights. I was up to 165 lbs on the squat, 155 on the deadlift. 100 lbs on the step up, 70 on the bulgarian split squat. I also started running on on my off days to increase my cardio. Do I need to decrease the weights to make my legs smaller, I feel they are out of proportion to my upper body.
I don't know if I'd decrease the weight - but I am wondering how your DL weight is less than your squat - usually DL is higher than squat... and 100# step-up - how high is your step???
How low are you squatting? Have you tried a mixed grip on the DL?
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I suspect that if you really get low in your squats, and try a different DL grip, you'll see those numbers shift... and you'll be doing yourself a big favor in doing the exercises with better range of motion and form.
I can't get anywhere near my squat weight with my DL. At this point doing 2 sets of 12 reps I can squat 110 lbs (going down to parallel) and at 85lbs I'm maxed for my deadlift. My lower arms (the grip) is my weakest point (I am also limited in the step-ups and lunges by how LONG I can hold onto the weights rather than how many times my legs can handle the weight). My lower back also starts to protest on the DL if I try to match my squat weight.
I thought this was the norm, but then I don't have any friends that lift heavy weights.
I have seen the squat number higher than the deadlift before and it always blows me away. Are you ladies setting the bar back down on the ground before each rep? I can see grip as an issue for a lot of reps or if you're just touching the ground and not actually resetting the weight for each rep.
I squat more than I deadlift too. My legs could do more weight on the deadlift, but my back and shoulders get too stressed if I try to put on enough to really challenge just my legs and butt. I see the deadlift as an exercise for many different muscle groups, so I feel like I need to get my back strong enough to handle the weight my legs can handle before I pile it on.
Boy, those charts are discouraging. After a good 5 years of exercising regularly and running 2 half marathons, I started NROL4W way below the "untrained" level for my weight! I just made it up to 30 lbs press at the end of stage 1 and 85 lb deadlifts and I thought I was gaining major power! (after years of lifting light)!! And we won't even go to squats - I have trouble going parallel if I try more than the oly bar). According to these charts, I am still below untrained for presses and just above untrained for deadlifts. Luckily I am not too much of a number cruncher! I'll just keep trying to progress and not worry about the "norms".
Mary
Just a comparison for fun, to explain why I asked about the squat / DL ratios: my DL 1-rep max was 200#. I can squat full range of motion about 115# (my squats, admittedly, are not my strongest lift), and my front squat (what I focus on now) I almost couldn't get back up with 95# (for 4 reps, with a trainer standing there to help catch me). My bench press 1RM is 140#...
Please understand the intent of my post is just to give an example - it's fascinating to me to see how different people's strengths are, as far as which lifts they do stronger. I think my upper body strength is proportionally stronger than my lower body, especially for being female...
Just for the record, I do put the bar on the ground and re-adjust my grip for the DL. I have short arms and a long torso, so perhaps that influences things. When I first started I tried to keep my squat and deadlifts the same, but at the stage 1, workout 9 I got bored doing the squats before I got tired (I stopped at 70) and I could barely do 40 DLs with the same weight.
I am in stage 4 so I haven't plain ol' squatting and deadlifts for a while (since after stage 1, we have switched to squat w/push-press and wide-grip deadlifts from box). But from what I remember in stage 1, I could squat much heavier than I could deadlift and I feel it was due to weak grip strength. My grip and lower arms just seem to give out much quicker than the rest of my body. Now with the wide-grip-from-box, I can't handle as much weight because I'm not able to set the bar fully down between reps.
The box I use to step up is about 18-20" and my grip does give out on the deadlifts, and the step ups. I was just curious if I was trying to go too heavy. I just finished up stage 6 and on the split squat I was up to 115lbs. Everyone that sees me lifting says if I want smaller legs to lift smaller weights, and do more reps.......ugghhh.
I guess I was just getting discouraged. But I do feel better. Thanks for all your help.
Lifting too heavy?
Linear Mode
