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The answer to this question is not as obvious as it seems. For some elite lifters like Kirk Karwoski, their deadlift is a “squat with the bar in the hands”. For oth-ers, like Andy Bolton, their squat is a “deadlift with the bar on the back”.

Are you confused yet? You should be. The following technical discussion might make it worse. Feel free to skip it.

Let us forget for the moment where the bar is—on your back or in your hands. The variable to watch is the amount of knee flexion (and ankle dorsiflexion which comes with it) relative to the hip flexion in the bottom position. If we step away from the sport of powerlifting and speak in terms used by strength coaches from other sports, we could say that in the deadlift the hips do most of the bending with knee flexion happening as an afterthought. The extreme version of the deadlift is the Romanian deadlift. And in the squat the knees bend as much as the hips. The extreme version of the squat is the bolt upright rock bottom front squat.

Dan John, Master RKC, has drawn up a “hip displacement continuum” with the for-mer on the far left, the latter on the far right, and a lot of grey between these two black and white extremes. Bolton's deadlift is just a little to the right from the far left corner and his squat is center left. For comparison, Karwoski's deadlift would be flush in the middle and his squat a good deal right off center. Coan's lifts would be a little to the left of Captain Kirk's but not by far.

Some of these differences are due to individualization according to one’s body type. And the rest are rooted in a radically different SQ and DL technique in the Cassidy-Gallagher school of powerlifting. There is more than one way to the top.

Bolton’s DL

For all their apparent differences, Bolton's and Coan's approach to handling their SQ and DL in a synergistic manner is the same. The latter squatted and pulled in the same stance, thus "doubling the power of the groove", as his coach Marty Gallagher would say. At first glance it does not seem to be the case for Bolton: what could a super wide squat and a conventional pull have in common?

But for him they do: the vertical shins, the hip (as opposed to quad) dominance, and finally, the similarity in training poundages.

The vertical shins and hip dominance in Bolton’s SQ assures a carryover to his DL. I doubt his SQ would help Konstantinov’s quad dominant pull. No surprise, the Russian from Latvia does rock bottom Olympic squats as a deadlift assistance exercise.

Great Ed Coan squatting his deadlift. Photo courtesy Powerlifting USA

The wide stance strengthens the glutes big time. Powerful glutes are essen-tial for a world class pull—but it may be difficult to develop them to the max with conventional deads alone. One has two choices: go deep or go wide.

Coan did the former. Bolton does the latter. Coan had to squat very deep in the federations he competed in. Some ankle dorsiflexion, necessitated by a greater depth, was not a problem for his deadlift, as his technique, heavily relying on quad strength, demanded a knees forward start. If Bolton squatted this deep, his knees would have slipped forward considerably and his SQ would no longer assist his DL, as he uses his vertical shins as "gun sights", aiming his superhuman hip power straight down into the platform.

You could say that the similarity in training poundages is another condition for one's squat to have a great carryover on his deadlift. Coan finished his career squatting 1,000 and pulling 900. Very close. It is ironic and unfair that lifters who pull a lot more than they squat oftentimes get very little carryover to their pulls when they make a great effort to push their squat up. For the very simple reason that the poundages they squat are too light to make their pulls notice. It is a matter of specificity. Andy's approach assures that your squats will be heavy enough to help your pulls even if you are not built to squat. Watch Bolton's training DVD. The combination of the mono-lift, the supportive gear, and the reduced depth he practices on many of his sets, assure that he has to work heavy. Heavy enough for his dead.

Andy's squat is essentially a good morning. Which, naturally, makes it a killer deadlift developer.

Before tackling the power squat you have a lot of work to do. A professionally executed squat demands impressive hip mobility. Without it you are not going to reach your strength potential and will probably jack up your back, hips, or knees—if not all of the above. The fol-lowing proven methods will quickly loosen you up. Patiently work through the steps and do not rush to the bar.