Progress With Squats & Deadlifts

So today was squat+deadlift day.
Both are at 215 pounds. Needless to say i pretty much got raped.
I felt my form seriously suffer. How far down in the hole are you supposed to go. I literally went down as far as i could. Is this bad? Should by hamstrings completely touch my calves?
Also, i am really starting to feel the weight more and more.
Is this normal? I can still do my sets and reps for the squat but it’s really hard.

Also, my deadlift is uber failure. I couldn’t do more than 2 sets of 3 with 215.

HALP!

Is this a joke?
You read and post on this forum enough, you should have the answers to all those questions by now.

[quote]blazindave wrote:
How far down in the hole are you supposed to go. I literally went down as far as i could. Is this bad? Should by hamstrings completely touch my calves?
[/quote]

I’d really like to know peoples opinion on this as i am going low enough that my hamstrings can touch my calfs,

with deadlifts is it your whole body feeling like its giving out?

Better to look the fool and learn, than to act the wise man and be wrong.

This site is the only place i can go to to ease my mind on these matters. The answers tend to be helpful and there’s little things that i sometimes miss.

[quote]jtg987 wrote:
blazindave wrote:
How far down in the hole are you supposed to go. I literally went down as far as i could. Is this bad? Should by hamstrings completely touch my calves?

I’d really like to know peoples opinion on this as i am going low enough that my hamstrings can touch my calfs,

with deadlifts is it your whole body feeling like its giving out? [/quote]

The hamstring calf thing was for the squats.
This is my deadlift position.
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4449/img0101un3.jpg

I try to have the scapula over the bar but i think i’m too forward. Looking now, it seems my knee angle is way too large, and my hip angle is too small.

This is stuff that “reading and posting on the internet” won’t help me with.

Also, in that pic, i am trying to have the most natural curve possible. I am actually trying to curve my back inwards but you can still see my lower back popping out like crazy.

hmmm this might sounds completely retarded the way i word this but it helped me, i take the stance as if its almost a pulling squat from the ground so i try to keep the same position i would as a squat…if that makes sense

yeh sorry i understood what you meant by the hamstring to calf on squats, i do the same thing and see less than desirable numbers for my squat cause of it and am wondering if everyone else who puts up such high squat numbers does it

You look way too bent-over to me. I’d try to sit back more and stay more upright. Try to keep your shoulders behind the bar or at least over it, too.

Also, without knowing precisely what your goals are, in my opinion anyone looking for general strength or performance who does not participate in powerlifting or something like that should squat hams to calves if possible.

[quote]blazindave wrote:
jtg987 wrote:
blazindave wrote:
How far down in the hole are you supposed to go. I literally went down as far as i could. Is this bad? Should by hamstrings completely touch my calves?

I’d really like to know peoples opinion on this as i am going low enough that my hamstrings can touch my calfs,

with deadlifts is it your whole body feeling like its giving out?

The hamstring calf thing was for the squats.
This is my deadlift position.
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4449/img0101un3.jpg

I try to have the scapula over the bar but i think i’m too forward. Looking now, it seems my knee angle is way too large, and my hip angle is too small.

This is stuff that “reading and posting on the internet” won’t help me with.

Also, in that pic, i am trying to have the most natural curve possible. I am actually trying to curve my back inwards but you can still see my lower back popping out like crazy.[/quote]

Are those the plates you usually lift with? They look smaller than the 45 pound plates you would normally have on the bar, which means that your bar would be closer to the ground, which in turn means that you have to bend over more. Finding larger plates or doing some kind of rack pull may be helpful to you.

You do seem to be too far forward to me. One thing that helps me is the be sure to keep my weight on the heels and to focus on pulling backwards as much as am pulling up.

Just my two cents.

[quote]timbofirstblood wrote:
blazindave wrote:
jtg987 wrote:
blazindave wrote:
How far down in the hole are you supposed to go. I literally went down as far as i could. Is this bad? Should by hamstrings completely touch my calves?

I’d really like to know peoples opinion on this as i am going low enough that my hamstrings can touch my calfs,

with deadlifts is it your whole body feeling like its giving out?

The hamstring calf thing was for the squats.
This is my deadlift position.
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4449/img0101un3.jpg

I try to have the scapula over the bar but i think i’m too forward. Looking now, it seems my knee angle is way too large, and my hip angle is too small.

This is stuff that “reading and posting on the internet” won’t help me with.

Also, in that pic, i am trying to have the most natural curve possible. I am actually trying to curve my back inwards but you can still see my lower back popping out like crazy.

Are those the plates you usually lift with? They look smaller than the 45 pound plates you would normally have on the bar, which means that your bar would be closer to the ground, which in turn means that you have to bend over more. Finding larger plates or doing some kind of rack pull may be helpful to you.

You do seem to be too far forward to me. One thing that helps me is the be sure to keep my weight on the heels and to focus on pulling backwards as much as am pulling up.

Just my two cents.[/quote]

No they arent. It’s just some i have at home. The weight there is 128 pounds.
I use the normal plates you’d find in any gym.
Thanks, ill try to pull more up and back.

Do a little searching on this forum,
and you will find a shit ton on what you need
Power GNP does have a point. but here you go

the second one is excellent pay close attention to what he has people do.

And no offense but aren’t you a smaller guy,
like under 150? its fine to cut the weight back, to something you can manage with GOOD form. bigger weights come with time.

kmc