HELP!!! box/bench squats injury

[Q.]

I know the Westside folks do primarily box squats and I've been doing my own version using available benches. I thought thought the Westside approach required a slight pause on the box but I've read and have been told to NOT put any weight down on the box/bench.

I was still a little stiff from basketball yesterday and a two hour workout from Thursday when I went to the gym today but still did my bench squats. On about the 6th or 7th set, I hurt my back way down low. It's just like something that's happened many times over the years like when I just shift the wrong way and OUCH... it'll go out for a while. I took off work and came home to ice it (took a couple of hours before I started) and now I'm using heat.

For future reference, what do you think about pausing on the box or bench... if you don't do that, what's the point? It has helped me develop a hip/glut dominant form from one that was previously quad dominant so there's supposed to be less stress on the knees... I hope.

[bryanc]

I'm not entirely familiar with the Westside approach. Bill probably has a better answer. I'm assuming that you mean that the bench/box is behind you as you squat, and that your squat takes you from standing in front of the box to sitting on the box to standing in front of the box again. This isn't really a new revolutionary technique, but something that I've seen many coaches use throughout the years to encourage a "proper" squatting motion--most often on athletes who tend to lean forward at the hips excessively during the movement.

I don't think you're meant to actually sit on the box/bench. It's only there as a guiding tool to encourage the movement. By putting weight down on the bench, the pattern of muscle activation will likely change, particularly in supporting muscles from active support to reactive support. You stop reading here because the rest of this is long.

While squatting with no sitting, your supporting muscles are constracting at some baseline frequency that is higher than at rest in order to support the load through motion. Changes in your movement biomechanics can be adapted to more quickly because the muscles are "potentiated", so to speak. Since you're not in a "skeletal-stable" position, the primary supporting organ of the load you're carrying on your shoulders is the musculature, which keeps your skeleton from buckling--which they would do if you were but a skeleton.

However, if you're sitting (even for a brief, miniscule moment), those muscles tend to become less active because the main supporting structure in a stationary sitting position is your skeleton. Since the majority of the load while sitting is borne by the skeleton, the stability of the load is also dependent on the stability of the skeleton (i.e. your spine). The decreased muscular load results in less demand for high frequency muscle activation, and hence your muscles aren't "as ready" to deal with changing biomechanics like side-to-side instability or back-to-front instability. You're theoretically at higher risk for injury because an extreme movement of the weight on your shoulders will result in movement of your spine from its "stable equilibrium" spot. This, in turn will result in an effort (perhaps futile) to return the spine to its equilibrium spot by your supporting muscles. Muscle/tendon strain occurs when the applied force to the muscle is beyond the tensile strength of the muscle/tendon unit, so if your spine (with the load) moves beyond a certain point, your muscle (and associated connective tissues) pass beyond the tensile limit of the tissue. Sometimes you get lucky and before the limit is passed, you've generated enough momentum to swing the spine back into place, but the passive stretch has already done some damage. And other times you're not as lucky and well...that's usually when the weight crashes to the floor--perhaps along with you.

[Q.]

Nope, didn't want to stop reading there! Thanks for the great info once again! I think you described what I did. Luckily, the weight didn't go crashing to the floor but I felt the twinge and I think I must have shifted at the wrong time with the weight on my shoulders and my butt on the bench.

I copied the following out of the Rugged forum discussion on box squats... which is interesting in and of itself, I thought:

A lot of it depends on technique and such but in addition to performing box squats westside style (sitting way back and releasing weight onto the box), it may also be beneficial to perform touch and go box squats.

Prior to today, I have been doing more of a "touch and go" but, today, I released the weight while on the bench so I guess I'll go back to the previous approach. In any case, I'll damned sure be more cautious.

By the way, bryan, I do think it's improved my form tremendously because I was leaning too far forward as you described.

Q

[Bill Hartman]

"Westside" technique does include a release of the weight on the box meaning you are sitting and the leg musculature is relaxed. The spinal posture, however, is not. The relaxation improves the "turning on" of the muscles which increases starting strength.

To do this correctly takes practice so as not to injure yourself. It is not uncommon for those new to the technique to relax the supporting musculature which, as you now know, can result in excessive strain.

Also keep in mind that the Westside guys/gals do not box squat with maximum weights, but rather with 45-65% of 1RM for sets of 2 reps. They do them to do improve starting strength, acceleration strength (with the additional load from heavy chains), and to improve force absorbtion (by adding resistance with jumpstretch bands).

I don't see a tremendous value of using a box (bench) for touch-n-go squatting unless you have issues with knowing your depth of squat or sitting back far enough. Descending too quickly for a touch-n-go can turn into a "thud-n-go" and you're back to dealing with potential injuries.

Bill

[Q.]

Thanks, Bill. I think that I'll discontinue this approach because I've got the "sitting back" part down pretty well and the other benefits don't outweigh the risk for me. Now, to get past my current "pain in the a$$!"

Q

[Q.]

By the way, did the response sound appropriate (since this is the injury section)? Ice as soon as I could (two hours later) and heat since? I'm resting it today so I won't be sitting behind a computer screen much.

Q