How good are box squats?

[Jericoe]

Sorry for making a lot of threads

anyways, how good are box squats for a raw squatter? I have a guy at my gym who swears by them and he is pretty dang strong (875lbs squat with knee wraps + belt)

including working from different box heights, doing close or wider stances, and speed work

[simp3204]

Inb4 Judge!

It depends on who you talk to. What's the guys name from your gym with the 875 squat?

[StrongmanSteve]

I know a 220lb guy who squatted 600 at 18 yrs old, he trains on a box almost exclusively.

[simp3204]

I know a 220lb guy who squatted 600 at 18 yrs old, he trains on a box almost exclusively.

Weird! I know a 220lb guy who squatted 600 at 18 yrs old and he has never done a box squat.

[lostsk8]

I raise you a 19 yr old 250 squatting over 700 almost never uses a box.

[HBfan]

I know a 20 year old who squats 800 at 280 and he uses a box exactly 50% of the time.

[StrongmanSteve]

Weird! I know a 220lb guy who squatted 600 at 18 yrs old and he has never done a box squat.

Most who reply will state that box squatting doesn't work for raw squatters, I'm just saying it isn't completely useless.

[untranslatedZA]

i use box squats up to like 90% of my max, which is my box squat max anyway. Feels like i get more developement in my hips and my knees are not as sore after 4 weeks.

[babyslayer]

theres many ways to box squat, very few that actually mimic your regular squat form to enough of a degree that you wont need to do regular squats in order to do your best

^ that may be hard to understand

I love box squatting, for building strength in your squatting muscles there is probably no better exercise.. its even better than squats for getting strong squatting muscles in my opinion. but its very easy to make it a VERY different exercise than regular squats.

do them as a assistance exercise, perhaps using a wider stance than you would be able too without the box, or in order to deload on the box to get kind of a pause squat kind of thing going. you can also set them RIGHT at parallel, or maybe a inch or two above (which just looks like a decent squat) and go a lot heavier on them than you could a regular squat.. good for getting used to heavy weight and building muscle/power

if I had to give someone who was training for powerlifting advice on how to use box squats in their training, id say they should do regular squats first, and then higher reps on box squats (5-10 reps) with a wide stance, to build muscle/strength in your posterior chain.

[babyslayer]

also OP, if theres someone squatting 875 in your gym.... THEN **** WHAT WE THINK! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE A **** WHAT WE SAY?!?

man, you got one of the strongest raw squatters who ever lived telling what he swears by and you head over to bodybuilding.com to see if the guy knows his stuff or not lol

[babylover]

also OP, if theres someone squatting 875 in your gym.... THEN **** WHAT WE THINK! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE A **** WHAT WE SAY?!?
l

Exactly what I wanted to say. Just listen to the guy lol. **** what we think.

[arian11]

I know a guy at my gym who squats 900 lbs no belt + no creatine (yea natty). Can't get a vid though because there is a force field around my gym that causes electrical interference. Also, he has no name. He wasn't born with one and nobody named him. But he swears that goblet squats with a kettlebell and biceps curls are what got his squat up.

[SPFjudge]

Inb4 Judge!

in after

theres many ways to box squat, very few that actually mimic your regular squat form to enough of a degree that you wont need to do regular squats in order to do your best

^ that may be hard to understand

I love box squatting, for building strength in your squatting muscles there is probably no better exercise.. its even better than squats for getting strong squatting muscles in my opinion. but its very easy to make it a VERY different exercise than regular squats.

do them as a assistance exercise, perhaps using a wider stance than you would be able too without the box, or in order to deload on the box to get kind of a pause squat kind of thing going. you can also set them RIGHT at parallel, or maybe a inch or two above (which just looks like a decent squat) and go a lot heavier on them than you could a regular squat.. good for getting used to heavy weight and building muscle/power

if I had to give someone who was training for powerlifting advice on how to use box squats in their training, id say they should do regular squats first, and then higher reps on box squats (5-10 reps) with a wide stance, to build muscle/strength in your posterior chain.

Agree with these. I think they can be used as assistance but not as your main movement.

[LeachGymRat]

I know a guy at my gym who squats 900 lbs no belt + no creatine (yea natty). Can't get a vid though because there is a force field around my gym that causes electrical interference. Also, he has no name. He wasn't born with one and nobody named him. But he swears that goblet squats with a kettlebell and biceps curls are what got his squat up.

on spread. just lol

[Big Sexy J]

I don't think they work for me. I also think they do work for a lot of people as well as "not working for other people". But I think a big cause of the second part is that a lot of people box squat incorrectly.

[xRequiem]

I know a 21 year old who squats 900 at 310 and he uses a box one time.

[Doollas]

I don't think they work for me. I also think they do work for a lot of people as well as "not working for other people". But I think a big cause of the second part is that a lot of people box squat incorrectly.

mhmm. Any secondary lift you do, there should be a reason. Do you have weak hips or lean forward in/out of the hole?...do box squats. If you do them, perfect your form or they are useless.

[TripTastic]

they are an excellent exercise whether you are a raw or equipped squatter--- i agree with several other posters in here that the free squat should make up the bulk of your squat training for a raw lifter, but if you are doing conjugate then box squats would be excellent for your me rotation-- and if you're not, they are an excellent assistance exercise.

[InspecktaDeck]

Box squats make you fat. Just ask my beard.

[Jericoe]

also OP, if theres someone squatting 875 in your gym.... THEN **** WHAT WE THINK! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE A **** WHAT WE SAY?!?

man, you got one of the strongest raw squatters who ever lived telling what he swears by and you head over to bodybuilding.com to see if the guy knows his stuff or not lol

Exactly what I wanted to say. Just listen to the guy lol. **** what we think.

Lol, you wouldnt believe me if you saw him. He is a manlet though, like 2 inches shorter then me. But i was one of the many people helping spot him while he repped out 765lbs completely raw raw

[wakechica]

2nded high reps on a higher box for PC work.
I use a low box for form check (muscle memory) kinda use the box to 'judge depth' via touching my ass on it. It's a very low box and I don't have access to spotter or mirror and can't always video. I'm using the low box at the mo for consistent depth cos I was out of training for 3 months and my squat always suffers the most out of the 3 lifts. *must get a coaching sesh sometime or video more... big lack of PL gyms and coaches round here though

[Torrtrefireto]

I'm not strong and I don't know anyone strong, but I know 2 years of almost exclusively box squatting added -50lbs to my free squat, and since throwing out the box I've added 120lbs to it

[SPFjudge]

2nded high reps on a higher box for PC work.
I use a low box for form check (muscle memory) kinda use the box to 'judge depth' via touching my ass on it. It's a very low box and I don't have access to spotter or mirror and can't always video. I'm using the low box at the mo for consistent depth cos I was out of training for 3 months and my squat always suffers the most out of the 3 lifts. *must get a coaching sesh sometime or video more... big lack of PL gyms and coaches round here though

where you at?

[takeittakeit]

I'll just make one suggestion to the OP:

use a lower box than whatever box that guy squatting 875 raw at your gym is using.

And actually sit on the box.

[arian11]

where you at?

She's in cheekyville, Austrailia.

[Big Sexy J]

Lol, you wouldnt believe me if you saw him. He is a manlet though, like 2 inches shorter then me. But i was one of the many people helping spot him while he repped out 765lbs completely raw raw

What's his name?

[takeittakeit]

What's his name?

Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film

Let's stop tap-dancing around the issue here: The claim is bull****. If he's 2" shorter than the OP, and the OP is 5'7" at 184, let's be EXTREMELY charitable with this fictitious person's weight, and say he's 220 at 5'5".

The all-time raw with wraps squat record is Pozdeev: 220 815 Konstantin Pozdeev Russia 12/19/10 WL

At 198 and 242:
198 760 Phil Harrington USA 07/09/11 IPA
220 815 Konstantin Pozdeev Russia 12/19/10 WL
242 859 Zakhir Hudoyarov AZE 05/29/2011 EURO


Either he's training with some phenom who's set to break the all-time raw squat record, or the OP is full of it. Or the OP has no idea what real squat depth is. or the OP has no idea how to correctly total the weight on the bar. Or this person was using fake plates. Or a lot of things.

Somehow, I doubt there's some random guy in a commercial gym squatting that much.

[isaku900]

What's his name?

this.

no one gives a **** what his height is, or how many people spotted him or anything but his ****ing name.

[wakechica]

She's in cheekyville, Austrailia.

WRONG!!! Try again

[arian11]

WRONG!!! Try again

Cheekyville, Britain then.