Quick Squat/Deadlift Questions (cliffs too)

[Nitsua24]

I've been having a lot of trouble hitting proper depth on squats. It's not due to the amount of weight (I'm hardly using any). If I can get down below parallel, I can easily get back up. Leg strength is not the problem, just initially getting low enough. These are high bar.

I've been playing with my form quite a bit recently trying to fix this by using a wider stance with toes pointed out. I'm also going barefoot now, and I'm arching my back more and I'm tucking my torso in more on the way down instead of attempting to stay more upright. This is all working together to help me get much closer to the depth I want, but I still don't think I'm going deep enough.

I have not been progressively overloading on squats because I don't want to bump up the weight before I can do the exercise correctly. Today was supposed to be an off day but I practiced form and ended up going for a one rep max since I was more easily getting closer to the depth I wanted. I went 50lbs heavier for the 1RM than the weight I've been using for five reps trying to get form down. Significant weight increase, but it wasn't difficult. Depth was close to what I wanted, but still not deep enough. My legs have been growing and getting stronger (probably due to the other exercises I do, which I am using progressive overload with), but I need to fix my squat form and start working a lot harder on them. I want to start doing front squats but I need to improve my form on those and get stronger in general first.

So the above adjustments to my form have helped, and I'm wondering if the last step to take is increasing flexibility. I've read about flexibility being a problem when trying to go deep. My hamstrings and glutes are stronger than my friend's, who squats more weight than me, for the depth I want. I taught him to squat and he's never seen a video or read an article etc, and somehow he can do it perfectly. His quads are bigger than mine, but I have 15-20 pounds on him. With the wider stance, I can feel my adductors working at the bottom. Glutes take over a lot, but hamstrings feel stretched. I know the exercise is working and effective, but I'm thinking the depth problem may be caused by either a lack of hamstring flexibility and hip adductor strength/flexibility or by a simple flaw in the form; pushing my knees out instead of bending my torso over more to create a center of gravity that allows me to lower my butt. My legs can go to parallel or so with the ground, but not much lower. I don't need to go ATG, I just need to hit the proper definition of "parallel". I'll play around with form again, but will stretches help me out at the bottom? What can I do, and how should I do it?

for clarification - this is the EXRX gif for barbell squat:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...s/BBSquat.html
I can go a tiny bit deeper than him, but honestly I want to go below parallel. He doesn't even seem to be going parallel according to misc standards.

In this image, my squat form ends up looking like the low bar squat, even though I have the bar on my traps. The more I let my torso lower, the lower I can get my butt, instead of just pushing my knees out. It's hard to explain lol. Is that okay, if that's what I have to do to hit the depth I want? Or, what should I change/stretch/etc to fix my form to be more like the high bar form while hitting depth?


Next: Deadlifts. I used to deadlift twice a week, and stopped for a while because my form was bad and I didn't want to hurt myself. I've been reading about them a lot and I'm trying to get the form down so I can do them again. I did them the other day and they worked great, but basically I want to confirm I'm doing them correctly (or at least without risk of injury), because I'm honestly scared ****less of messing up my back from them. I want to start adding in one max-effort set of 3-5 reps each week. For the most part I think I'm doing them "right" now, but just to make sure I'm getting the right feeling - after/during, lower back should feel tight, correct? Not tight like something popped/muscle pulled, no burn, just tight. Also, should you ideally drive your hips forward to get "under" the weight while standing up, lifting torso up, and pushing chest out/retracting scapula, all at the same time? Is that right?


cliffs:
-OP is trying to go deeper on squats
-widened stance, went barefoot, bent torso over more, dropped arse farther
-OP is hitting better depth easier, but not entirely satisfactory.
-OP's legs are more than strong enough for the weight he is using; getting in to the hole has proven much more difficult than getting out.
-OP's wondering if stretches can help flexibility and successfully getting into the hole.
-OP wants to make sure he doesn't kill himself deadlifting, and that the lower back should feel tight/"clenched" during/after deadlifts, but not like a muscle was pulled/something popped.

[phrali]

high bar squats - your torso is supposed to be as upright as possible, not leaned forward.

high bar is associated with a narrow stance and toes slightly out, not wide stance and toes pointed far out.

high bar requires forward travel of the knee, because the ass is not going as far backwards as in low bar, this is also associated with the more upright position of the torso.

high bar atg is best performed with a weightlifting shoe with a raised heel, or by putting small plates under the heels to raise them. this will make a drastic difference in your ability to touch hams to calves.

high bar is supposed to go atg. if you just want to break parallel, you might as well go low bar. high bar is perfect for touching your hamstrings to your calves on every rep.

deadlifts - your best bet is to post a video. you cannot see your own lower back while deadlifting. you need to video it.