Box Squat... How high should the box be?

[Brampton_Boy]

My left knee has been giving me a little trouble as of late, so I have transitioned to box squats for the time being.

However, what height should the box be to ensure that I am still achieving adequate depth?

Right now I use a standard weight bench (Which I would guess is about 18" off the ground). Too high? Too low?

Your thoughts and input are greatly appreciated.

 

[Klotz]

12 inches is what I've read.

 

[younggunz]

My left knee has been giving me a little trouble as of late, so I have transitioned to box squats for the time being.

However, what height should the box be to ensure that I am still achieving adequate depth?

Right now I use a standard weight bench (Which I would guess is about 18" off the ground). Too high? Too low?

Your thoughts and input are greatly appreciated.

how tall are you?

inseem length will play a part here...

I would suggest looking in the mirror while you sit on the bench...
If you hit 45 degrees or less..youre golden.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

how tall are you?

inseem length will play a part here...

I would suggest looking in the mirror while you sit on the bench...
If you hit 45 degrees or less..youre golden.

5'10.

However, I am definately breaking 45 degrees, so I guess I'm good to go . Thanks for the help guys

 

[younggunz]

5'10.

However, I am definately breaking 45 degrees, so I guess I'm good to go . Thanks for the help guys

well, some say the box should be "in the hole"
but if you are having knee issues due to ATG movements, I would say that a clean parallel break is very acceptable.

 

[Green Monkey]

Depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

If you want to be sure that you're going below parallel, the box must be that low.

If you're working on the transition from hole to lockout, raise the box accordingly.

There is no set height - it depends on your knee height, shin length, and squat form.

My advice would be that you should work around your knee for right now - do squats on as low a box as is possible without pain.

 

[DEVILsSON]

Anything from inch or two above parallel to several inches or more in the hole. So 12-20 inch box is good. I believe bench is right at parallel or inch or so below. I generally prefer 12-15" boxes.

 

[SmashiusClay]

Unless you have deeply freaky tibia length you need a lower bench, I was working off a 12" box at same height and was only an inch or two below parallel. Put the box near a full length mirror, sit on box so you're side on to mirror, is fold at top of hip above top of knee? If so you need a lower box.

Yes you can use a higher bench for lockout work but if it's your primary squatting exercise make sure it's at a proper depth.

BTW make sure you descend slowly and under control, if you drop onto the box then you're putting your spine between an immovable object and a moving heavy weight, nothing else can give but your back and you can get severly fucked up this way, mate of mine lost his balance and ended up with a herniated disc which took over a year to heal fully.

 

[SmashiusClay]

Unless you have deeply freaky tibia length you need a lower bench, I was working off a 12" box at same height and was only an inch or two below parallel. Put the box near a full length mirror, sit on box so you're side on to mirror, is fold at top of hip above top of knee? If so you need a lower box.

Yes you can use a higher bench for lockout work but if it's your primary squatting exercise make sure it's at a proper depth.

BTW make sure you descend slowly and under control, if you drop onto the box then you're putting your spine between an immovable object and a moving heavy weight, nothing else can give but your back and you can get severly fucked up this way, mate of mine lost his balance and ended up with a herniated disc which took over a year to heal fully.

 

[bloodangel90]

Might start with a 12" box then get a hand full of 1'' boards to place on top of the box so you can use varying heights.

 

[vision1]

For me 16'' is parallel, but I'm 6'3

 

[CanadianRage43]

I just use a bench to sit on

 

[erco]

If you're in a commercial gym, go grab the "Stepaerobic" stackable steps, stack it to desired height and sit on one of those. I figure, if they're strong enough for a 250lbs. woman to hop on and off, they'll support me +225.

If you're doing ME sets of Box Squats, uh, I dunno then.

 

[Green Monkey]

For me 16'' is parallel, but I'm 6'3

Even at 6' 1" or 2" I can use a 16" bench as well - there are probably 5' 10" guys with some extra long shins out there, but I'm guessing that they're few and far between.

 

[Green Monkey]

If you're in a commercial gym, go grab the "Stepaerobic" stackable steps, stack it to desired height and sit on one of those. I figure, if they're strong enough for a 250lbs. woman to hop on and off, they'll support me +225.

If you're doing ME sets of Box Squats, uh, I dunno then.

If you use an aerobic step, use the middle, not the end - you might be able to flip them.

 

[vision1]

If you use an aerobic step, use the middle, not the end - you might be able to flip them.

I don't think it would be possible to flip one of those. The supports are at the very edge. You may even get most support lining yourself above the edge so all the purple(or pink?) pieces are below you.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Went to the gym today and turns out the height of the bench is 13 inches. My ability to guage height is apparently off LOL.

With this, it looks like I break parallel by about 2-3 inches.

 

[Donut62]

13 inches should be about perfect, I'm 5'11" and I use a 14" to put me 2-3" below parallel.

 

[JRT6]

For me 16'' is parallel, but I'm 6'3

Ditto but I like to move around in the 11-15.5 range. My transition stength has gone down but I'm not comfortable breaking at parallel anymore. I don't train for absolute strength anymore anyway, I'm working on work capacity with a set minimum weight.

I built four boxes this past year to do different depths and then someone here suggested just using rubber floor mats for height adjustment and that was friggin brilliant. I can take a certain weight and work on lowering the depth by half inch increments.