I have never really done box squats except on the speed day of the Westside beginners program. Usually I do full squats as low down as I can go, way below parallel. My usual for that is working up to 275-315 for 5 reps. I tried doing heavy box squats today and did WAY less on it then i do on a below parallel squat. Even with a relatively high box (had to use a bench which was slighlt above parallel) and a wide stance I stopped at 245 X5. Hell even when i did close stance, feet together box squats in the past I could handle upwards of 315 or so for 3 reps or so. Granted its been a few weeks since i had worked legs but still the drop off suprised me.
Is this normal? I thought you were supposed to be able to handle more weight on a box.
[quote]biltritewave wrote:
I have never really done box squats except on the speed day of the Westside beginners program. Usually I do full squats as low down as I can go, way below parallel. My usual for that is working up to 275-315 for 5 reps. I tried doing heavy box squats today and did WAY less on it then i do on a below parallel squat. Even with a relatively high box (had to use a bench which was slighlt above parallel) and a wide stance I stopped at 245 X5. Hell even when i did close stance, feet together box squats in the past I could handle upwards of 315 or so for 3 reps or so. Granted its been a few weeks since i had worked legs but still the drop off suprised me.
Is this normal? I thought you were supposed to be able to handle more weight on a box. [/quote]
It’s a different lift that you have to learn. Could also be a muscle imbalance thats showing itself.
Try it for another week or so then see if it jumps up.
If box squatting correct Pausing and unlocking relaxing hips it SHOULD be lower than a free squat. You are losing the stretch reflex. You dont get the rebound.
This is why they are good kind of turn the squat into a DL you are dead at the bottom dont have that strecth reflex again so you have to use all muscle strength to do the lift.
[quote]biltritewave wrote:
I have never really done box squats except on the speed day of the Westside beginners program. Usually I do full squats as low down as I can go, way below parallel. My usual for that is working up to 275-315 for 5 reps. I tried doing heavy box squats today and did WAY less on it then i do on a below parallel squat. Even with a relatively high box (had to use a bench which was slighlt above parallel) and a wide stance I stopped at 245 X5. Hell even when i did close stance, feet together box squats in the past I could handle upwards of 315 or so for 3 reps or so. Granted its been a few weeks since i had worked legs but still the drop off suprised me.
Is this normal? I thought you were supposed to be able to handle more weight on a box. [/quote]
As another poster stated, if you are doing these correctly, they should be harder than your normal squat. The reason being that you are relaxing your hip muscles and having to refire them as opposed to keeping the tension throughout the lift.
On a parallel box, I typically squat 40-50 pounds less than a regular squat.
Good advice from Phil and bulletproof. Any time you learn a new lift you usually suck at it. Keep at it and your strength on box squats from all levels will sky rocket.
Yes, my box squat is definetely less. I’ve found people that claim otherwise are usually using the box like a trampoline, or using a rediculously high box. Big tip: Do X-Band walks before box squatting to fire the glutes up. I get a lot more activation when box squatting if I do these first.
[quote]Phill wrote:
If box squatting correct Pausing and unlocking relaxing hips it SHOULD be lower than a free squat. You are losing the stretch reflex. You dont get the rebound.
This is why they are good kind of turn the squat into a DL you are dead at the bottom dont have that strecth reflex again so you have to use all muscle strength to do the lift.
[/quote]
Phil nailed it. It’s basically sitting up from a completely relaxed state with 300 pounds on your back.
My box squat has ususally been 50-75 lb less than my raw free squat. Plus, briefs, suits, and wraps don’t seem to help as much for me on a box as they do free squatting.
I’m one of those whose Box Squat is more than my free squat. I think the reason is is that I started doing deadlifts and lower back work way before I did heavy quad work. My glutes and hams are definately stronger than my quads. Also, I had to take 7 months of from heavy quad work recently because of an injury playing basketball. However my box squat is only 25 lbs. more than my free squat.
It could be because your hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes are a little weak compared to quads.
After I box squatted religiously for 10+ years now my box squat is about equal to my free squat and my hamstrings are way overdeveloped compared to my quads.