Box Squats

[CrownRoyal]

When we would train legs in high school, we would mix behind the neck squats with box squats. I was thinking about doing some box squats the other day at my gym, but I don't see the real benefit of them. You can do a lot more weight b/c the box stops you at parallel, but the only real benefit that I can see out of this type of squat is explosive power. A lot of people would bounce off the box which wasn't good for their back also. We did these in football off season. What do you all think about box squats, and do you ever use them for athletic training?

[dmac90]

We used Box Squats in high school also, I think all the old school coaches do.......but we only used it to get parallel, most kids never go down far enough. When we would get close to the box the spotter, or coach said "up". You never want to hit the box, your legs will start to relax and all the pressure will start being placed on the lower back....In my opinion just have a good spotter who can tell you when you are parallel

[Bill Hartman]

All box squats are not created equal.

Go to www.elitefts.com and spend some time reading about how the Westside Barbell Club uses them. By the way, the probably have more 900 lb. squatters than any other gym you could find.

Enjoy.

Bill Hartman

[Bostrom]

I am a powerlifter and we use them on occasion, but I don't feel they are an important part of strength training. If you are an athlete(with a very good practice and understanding of the squat) and looking for more explosive power, I would suggest jumping squats.

I would suggest the following:

Start with 30% of your 1RM.

No more than 5 sets of 3 reps once a week.

The depth of the jumping squat is that of a quarter squat.

Increase the weight 5lbs. per week.

Use these along with your regular squats. You may want to reduce the volume of regular squats that are performed on the same day to accommodate the added work.