Muscle Gain Forum

Honest question, no agenda. Do I need to hit below parallel, or is parallel/just-above fine for building legs? My below-parallel weight is way lower and my back rounds at the very bottom.

Depth is great IF you can hit it without your pelvis tucking (butt wink) or back rounding. If you're rounding at the bottom, that depth is currently costing you more than it's giving. Train the depth you can control and expand it over time.

So the rounding means I'm forcing depth I don't own yet?

Exactly. Mobility, stance and control set your usable depth. Forcing past it under load is where people get hurt for no extra benefit.

For muscle, parallel-ish (hip crease to knee) already gets you the vast majority of quad and glute development. Below parallel adds a bit more glute/adductor but it's not make-or-break. Control beats depth for hypertrophy.

Try widening your stance slightly and pointing the toes out a touch - a lot of 'I can't hit depth' is just stance. Also heeled lifting shoes helped me reach a clean depth I couldn't barefoot.

I squat in flat shoes with a fairly narrow stance, maybe that's limiting me.

Very likely. Narrow + flat demands the most ankle and hip mobility. Widen up and try a small heel and you might find depth opens up overnight.

Worth saying: 'parallel' for powerlifting (hip crease below knee) is a rule for a sport. For general muscle building you don't need to obsess over a judge's standard. Full range you can control, progressively loaded, is the goal.

Also work the mobility outside of squats - ankle dorsiflexion and hip work. Your controllable depth will improve over a few months and then the heavier below-parallel squats come naturally without rounding.