I’m glad it helped.
Look, with bracing there’s a lot more going on that just squeezing the abs. It took hurting my back some to learn that.
Bracing for the squat and deadlift is very similar, and starts at the neck, going all the way down to your butt. The abs getting squeezed is just one part of it, and if that isn’t accompanied by the remaining parts it is much less effective.
The way I was taught to do it effectively is simple, but goes in steps. First of, pull your abs inwards away from your belly button. Then make like you’re holding your pee. Now take a big breath, forcing air into your flexed abs and lower back. Then you squeeze your glutes.
Applying that to the squat and deadlift just means adding your upper and middle back in. You do that by making a double chin so that you drive your head back into your neck. Then you squeeze oranges in your armpits, aka squeeze your lats. You do NOT initiate this by gripping the bar hard and pulling it down. All that does is create a false sense of tightness and places a lot more strain on your wrists and elbows than necessary.
The sequence for squatting I find works starts as I set up, before unracking the bar. It goes abs in, hold pee, double chin, squeeze lats, breathe in, glutes, unrack. If you’re in a monolift the next step is squatting, and repeating that process each rep. If you’re walking out, you walk out and let the bar settle and then repeat the whole process before descending.
For deadlifting it’s almost identical except the double chin isn’t as important.