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Box Squats

Chisholm said:
As an olympic style squatter boxes are completely useless, can't get into position on a box since it's knee forwards and hips straight down.

Yes my experience is pretty scant, and I don't even low-bar, but I don't see why as a raw lifter you wouldn't just do deep paused squats instead of box squats?

It seems to me you can get the same benefits of training explosiveness out of the bottom etc without messing with your groove, as 0ni said.

Also many vids I've seen of people doing box squats, including 'elite' lifters are often clearly above parallel, which makes me ask why? Presumably they do SOMTHING, or people wouldn't be doing them. But for fuck sake people, a half or quarter squat is not a fucking squat, doing it on a box makes you look even more ridiculous.



Plenty of novices struggle with doing two different squats effectively, in fact some elite lifters too. For example, Matt Krozzaleski has said he stopped doing box squats for this exact reason, as did Brandon Lily, if I recall correctly
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They are good for the equipped lifter because it mimics the equipped squat very well
 
at risk of changing the topic, is there a benefit to doing olympic style over i guess a powerlifting style (forward leanish, bar lower on back?)???

I tend to do more of an olympic style, with bar more on traps, and fairly upright through the movement, though I can only squat 1RM of about 130ish, but I weigh not much over 70kg

not that my opinion counts for much on the original topic as there are guys here way stronger and more educated than myself, I like box squats, though i havent done them for a while, personally no rock on box, try not to let the tension off legs, I thought of it more as a way to set the depth of the pause
 
Swervyn-Ervyn said:
at risk of changing the topic, is there a benefit to doing olympic style over i guess a powerlifting style (forward leanish, bar lower on back?)???

I tend to do more of an olympic style, with bar more on traps, and fairly upright through the movement, though I can only squat 1RM of about 130ish, but I weigh not much over 70kg

not that my opinion counts for much on the original topic as there are guys here way stronger and more educated than myself, I like box squats, though i havent done them for a while, personally no rock on box, try not to let the tension off legs, I thought of it more as a way to set the depth of the pause
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My thoughts are if you are a powerlifter do powerlifting style. Most other people would be better off Oly style but there is no reason you can't do both.

Also I much prefer pause squats over box squats.
 
I like the way rip teaches the low bar squat...

For me its less about hitting big numbers though...

Given the choice between the two I chose low bar... Loves squatting low bar...

Has been a journey to master... And yet still have so much more to learn..
 
Swervyn-Ervyn said:
at risk of changing the topic, is there a benefit to doing olympic style over i guess a powerlifting style (forward leanish, bar lower on back?)???
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Generally low-bar done correctly, you will squat significantly bigger weights. For most body shapes it gives superior mechanics and also you are squatting to a more shallow depth (even a full low-bar squat is higher as your shins are more vertical).

I used to low-bar (quite poorly with hindsight), then switched to oly style after I herniated my L4/L5, an upright torso was much more comfortable during recovery.

Then I stuck with it because it's enjoyable, and I developed an interest in the Olympic lifts alongside PL. However my squat figures suck and I imagine I probably need to switch to low-bar at some point when I have a decent strength base and have the potential to be competitive at some reasonable level - although I fantasise about one day having a huge raw full oly squat, there is nothing manlier IMO :p
 
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Swervyn-Ervyn said:
at risk of changing the topic, is there a benefit to doing olympic style over i guess a powerlifting style (forward leanish, bar lower on back?)???
Click to expand...

Yes. If you want good vertical jump and oly lifts, the high bar oly squat will be more beneficial. Powerlifting squats are probably the worst thing you could do (other than bench press) if you want to maximise oly lifts.

I actually find high bar Olympic squats and front squats more uncomfortable and have prolapsed discs at L4/5 and L5/S1 plus spondylilothesis. Maybe it's just the more dynamic nature of the movement that kills me.

The low bar squat and box squat are styles that don't put the same amount of stress on the knee as the angle on the knee joint is less acute. They are worth considering if you intend on training through your 40's, 50's, 60's and beyond.
 
And if you want to put your back at higher risk of injury and don't intend to continue squatting into your older years then do low bar squat.
There is risk and reward with every exercise we do.
 
I would say that low bar squatting is worse than bench pressing for the Olympic lifts
Lots of Olympic lifters bench press
 
Chisholm said:
Generally low-bar done correctly, you will squat significantly bigger weights. For most body shapes it gives superior mechanics and also you are squatting to a more shallow depth (even a full low-bar squat is higher as your shins are more vertical).

I used to low-bar (quite poorly with hindsight), then switched to oly style after I herniated my L4/L5, an upright torso was much more comfortable during recovery.

Then I stuck with it because it's enjoyable, and I developed an interest in the Olympic lifts alongside PL. However my squat figures suck and I imagine I probably need to switch to low-bar at some point when I have a decent strength base and have the potential to be competitive at some reasonable level - although I fantasise about one day having a huge raw full oly squat, there is nothing manlier IMO :p
Click to expand...

I used to get bulging discs, 3&4 I think..
I've just always done it more oly style, I guess from when I started squaring after a bad leg injury, I used a box to setup depth, which I guess just in turn sent me in that direction, I've tried lower bar with a bit more forward lean, and found it uncomfortable, probably something I'd do we'll in being shown by an experienced lifter though
 
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