I never knew what box squats were until i just recently saw a video of someone doing them.
Since i have yet to try them i would like to know who does them and why? what makes them different then a regular squat and what are some key pointers and how much weight should be used opposed to regular squats.
and one more thing how high should the box be?!
People do box squats for various reasons. Some do them because the presence of the box ensures a precise (wether high or low) depth of the squat. I think this has limited value and can create a dependence on the box rather than proprioception for gauging squat depth. Another reason people do them is to teach explosiveness from a static position. I think this has some value but athletes have to be careful not to actually sit down fully on the box and not to relax tension in the lumbar / pelvic / abdominal musculature as this will be a surefire way to get injured. They are very popular in the powerlifting community because under most of the powerlifting federation rules (there are several governing bodies) you cannot bounce or move rapidly from the eccentric to concentric portion of the lift and often have to have a momentary pause at the lowest position before going up with the weight.
One aspect that I like about box squats is the constant reminder to go deep. I agree that the athlete must have the awareness about going down far enough but when you have 500+ pounds in a narrow stance it aint easy to think about depth. It is very hard to relax the legs and keep the torso stable, and any relaxation under heavy load can end a sprinting career. I do like westsides methods but I feel that some of it should be left to the powerlifters.
Box squats can be good…. but there's nothing special about the box except the as a depth regulator… the same with towel bench presses….
we usually do our deep squats with a medball, but i like to take them away at times so the athlete gets a more natural feel of what to do, where to stop….
i use the box squats with accelartion days. I am 170lbs and have squated 500lbs in reps. But when i use the box squats I only put 225 on and i use a box that would put me at parrell with the ground. I do a typicall squat focusing on keeping a constant shin angle, then sit on the box, relax the tension in hamstrings with a 2-3 count then stand up with head moving to cealing first then hips. Also I do them barefoot.
In addition to the previous question, why would you want to keep the shin angle constant? I'm assuming maybe since you do them barefoot and minimize lower leg movement that you're doing low bar powerlifting style squats?:?: Even if that's the case, I don't really think you want to keep it perfectly stationary.
I usually squat barefoot too until I get a pair of OL shoes. Running shoes push you forward too much for squats or cleans and puts more pressure on low back. Dont know about shin angles though.
If your toes are coming up during a squat, that is a good indication that you are driving from your heels, which is what you want. A cue that I use when I'm teaching my younger athletes how to squat properly is to "wiggle your toes" any time during the movement. If the weight is on your heels, you are getting more a glute tie-in as well as keeping the stress off the patella.
I don't personally do it that way or have any athletes do it that way but it would allow you to sit back more if you used a low-bar, powerlifting style squat. That's why powerlifters often lift in wrestling shoes or Chuck Taylors (because they have no heel elevation).
i do it barefoot to see if there are imbalances in the way i push up, and by taking out the shoes it take out a variable. also i try to keep a constant shin angle because it helps me to focus on dropping or moving the hips
