Proper Box Squat

I suck at getting out of the hole once there is any sort of real weight on my back so I decided to give box squats a try.

Proper box squat requires a pause on the box...not just a touch and go correct?

 

A slight pause and keep holding your breath.

 

Pause and release tension in your hip flexors. No touch and go and no rocking back. Drive hard off the box.

 

Also look into regular pause squats or rock bottom squats if you are weak of the bottom. All are good options.

 

Unless you have an injury, I would strongly recommend ditching the box and getting used to full ROM squats.

For years, I thought it was ok to use a box/bench to squat off of. That was until I started doing full cleans and realized how weak I was in the pocket.

It takes a while to get used to, and your ego might take a beating, but I would say doing full squats make a tremendous difference to overall power and lower body mass.

 

How is that different than using a small box?

 

Here is a good article. I guess you could use a smaller box. I think the westside guys started using the box squat, among other reasons, so that they would be training for the legal depth that they needed. If you set the box up for the heigth that you need and the go another inch or two lower...I think thats how it works (read the article) but dont quote me on it.

I think one of the key things that I have learned in training the squat is how many variations there is in the squat. I really like going all the way down but have a much easier time getting all the way down with a front squat. It seems I could be more comfortable with good weight in the back squat...so I'm gonna be working that in there as well.

Here's the westside article. Louie Simmons -

 

Iron Woody's is also the best place to get a good set of bands at a very reasonable price. I got the intermediate set and am very pleased. The intermediate set contains three pairs of bancs...so you have something like nine possible combinations of band strength. I would be buy from them again if they had anything that I needed.

 

You also dont want your bands to be loose at the bottom of the squat. I like to double the bands over.

 

The box is a couple of inches below parallel.

It was just something I thought I would try for a couple of weeks to become adjusted to sitting back and get more out of my hamstrings/ass.

My biggest problem is honestly just staying consistent in the gym.

 

WRONG.

 

Nothing wrong with full ROM squats. Box squats are fine, but hardly necessary or some holy grail of training.

 

Box squats are good for a couple of reasons:

• Less taxing on the CNS - not sure why this is true, but Louie claims it is and I'm willing to go along.
• Good for training form.
• Great for checking depth, if that's an issue.
• Help develop hip strength.

They will help you with out of the hole strength, but only if you use a box lower than your sticking point, or exactly at it (hard to get right, so just shoot low).

Bands or chains aren't a bad idea either. They both allow you to train with more resistance at the top of the ROM where you are stronger.

A2G squats will help as well, especially if you put in a pause at the bottom.

 

I was very impressed with Jumpstretch when I bought some of their bands. I initially left a message on their answering machine and the owner called me back while he was on the road and sent me a couple free videos on dif ways to use the bands. The bands were excellent quality and I still use them. Iron Woody has more reasonbable prices I think.

 

I didn't say that there was.

"Unless you have an injury, I would strongly recommend ditching the box and getting used to full ROM squats.

For years, I thought it was ok to use a box/bench to squat off of. That was until I started doing full cleans and realized how weak I was in the pocket."

That^^ is completely off base. Hence 'WRONG.' Why ditch the box because he is weak in the pocket? Just do box squats below parallel and train for the pocket. Box Squats aren't the holy grail; guys at Big Iron gym don't box squat; I'm pretty sure Sam Byrd doesn't box squat either. But, it works for a great majority of the people who do it.

 

Both Dave Tate and Louie Simmons disagree with you, as do pretty much all of Westside Barbell.

Box Squatting by Dave Tate

It seems that you may be misunderstanding the box squat (it can be done on things lower than a bench, there are people that box squat off of 4" boxes). If anything the box squat will help you MORE out of the pocket than a full ROM squat, you can work on developing the very bottom of your squat without taking advantage of the stretch reflex or intertia. If you can accelerate explosively out of the hole without the stretch reflex to help you, you are positively going to jump out of it during a normal squat. In addition the box squat is amazing for development of deeper squatting ability, if you periodically lower the box height it can really help with the ability to squat deeper than you would otherwise be comfortable with, especially for the people that are struggling to develop the (quite significant) flexibility that a2g squats require.

 

Haven't done much box squatting, but I do do bottom position squats, which are pretty brutal- gotta remember to stay tight when coming up though.

 

bottom position squats? What are those? Un-racking the weight at the lowest point of your squat rather than resting on a box?

 

first time i did box squats i kept sitting on my balls

 

Gotcha, agreed.