I found this old cane chair with a cush pillow on top that was almost the right height. In this session I worked up to 137.5kg for a triple. Is that height okay or should I go an inch or 2inches lower? I am not chancing the strength of that chair again, so I will build a box. For the box height I’m thinking about 1-3inches below knee joint, with a 3-6inch foam block on top. Thoughts?
In regards to my form (see video below), is the pause right, or too long? Any other suggestions? My explosivness kind of died a bit after 12 sets. This session was just testing the waters to see where I’m at so next time I won’t have so much onion(filler sets) in there.
[video]526[/video]
12/11/07
Parallel Box Squats
bar x 10
60kg x 3
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
122.5kg x 3
125kg x 3
127.5kg x 3
130kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
135kg x 3
137.5kg x 3
For the next 6 weeks or so I’ll be doing something like this;
Monday - work up to 3RM box squat, (which is 137.5kg until I can afford to buy more weight)
Wednesday - 5x5 or 6x6 with 110kg-115kg
Friday - 100kg x 20 (current best effort is 97.5kg x 17, so I’ll just keep working at it till I nail 100kg x 20)
I’d build a lower box as well, and save some of the scrap plywood so you raise the box as needed by putting layers of plywood on top, or you could get creative and build a second box (maybe 2" high) to sit on top of the first one. You’ll want to hit box squats from different heights. 2" below parallel, at parallel, and 2" above is a good range.
If I had to guess, I’d say that you probably want to be on a box between 12-14" high.
I know you didn’t ask for this, and maybe you already know this, but be aware of your set up. You un-rack the weight in an already wide foot position and instead of stepping back into position, you kind of shimmied and slid your feet back.
If you are going to need to step back, make sure they are actual steps.
As far as the squat itself, depending on your goals, there’s nothing really wrong with doing high(relatively) box squats, I just don’t know how much I would trust an old chair.
Walkout looks a little iffy, but not terrible.
Form looks good.
Chair looks a little high.
But here’s what you need to do.
Build a real box. It’s not hard to do. Seriously, using that chair is flat out unsafe. And while you’re at it, move the pins up more. They won’t do you much good if they’re at knee level.
I would advise you to build the box a couple inches below parallel, and then get some rubber mats or something so that you can increment the height up. Whatever you use, just make sure they aren’t gonna be sliding around.
Yeah definitely will be building a proper box. The hard thing is where the hell do I buy a decent block of foam from :S…I’ll have to try some place like Clark Rubber. I wish I had the $$ for a monolift (lol)…
Ya def get a lower box, then you can get a couple mats to put on it to manipulate the hight.
You also kind of hunch it out of the rack try to really hold your arch and arch it out, not using your hips.
And keep your air as you come up if your doing reps reset at the top dont let your air out you will not be able to stay tight.
[quote]awill53 wrote:
You also kind of hunch it out of the rack try to really hold your arch and arch it out, not using your hips.
And keep your air as you come up if your doing reps reset at the top dont let your air out you will not be able to stay tight.[/quote]
I don’t understand what you mean by arching it out of the rack. I have the pin height set right so that the bar sits just beneath fullextension when it’s on my back, from there I just squat it out of the pins if that makes sense. I read an articl by Dave Tate he also mentioned the arching it out of the rack but I really don’t get it - I’m missing something, please explain it abit more.
My shoulders HATE using a low bar position. Chronic pain as you see at the end, maybe I have it too low I don’t know but when I look at my back in the mirror I see red bruises on top of my rear delts, which would infer it’s in the correct place. While the top of my back may look like it’s hunched forward, it’s only to keep my balence. My head is still slightly tilted up and looking forward, definitely not at the ground so I don’t see a problem there. If anything I can try and jam my head back into the bar (another point I picked up from Dave Tate’s article).
I don’t know how long you can hold your breath for but that’s not how I train. I find it fine to take breaths between reps - big breath in, push belly out and get tight, hold it on the way down and on the way up until past the sticking point. When I am paused on the box I relax the hip flexors for a fraction but my trunk stays tight (otherwise that would be very not good lol).
if you bring your stance in when you unrack it then arching it out will make more sense, you’ll be a lot more stable and you won’t look like you’re about to hurt yourself with the rerack. You should try a belt too, I didn’t see one in the video. That will help with stability by giving you something to push out your abs against. If you have to hunch forward to keep your balance then you aren’t set up right and aren’t keeping your abs tight enough.
I agree with everyone, drop the height and don’t squat on that chair anymore, you are really going to hurt yourself.
Definitely make your own box; just do an internet search and I’m sure you’ll find a few plans on how to do it on the cheap. And set those safety pins higher. If that chair goes, you’re going right on your ass with all that weight on top of you. A recipie for disaster.