T Nation

Front Box Squats

Powerlifting
#1

i do these with wide stance on a box but I’m not sure of i’m doing these right because some guy of elitefts said this is a “device of torture” lol so i’ve got a few Q’s

  1. what stance is generally the correct way for powerlifting? narrow or wide? i already do my regular box squats with wide stance.

  2. do i still push my glutes back first like in regular box squats and keeping my shins Perpendicular?

  3. any more pointers?

Thanks a lot.

#2

[quote]mr strength wrote:
i do these with wide stance on a box but I’m not sure of i’m doing these right because some guy of elitefts said this is a “device of torture” lol so i’ve got a few Q’s

  1. what stance is generally the correct way for powerlifting? narrow or wide? i already do my regular box squats with wide stance.

  2. do i still push my glutes back first like in regular box squats and keeping my shins Perpendicular?

  3. any more pointers?

Thanks a lot.[/quote]

Are you asking those questions in relation to front squats…??

I’ll assume you are…

  1. it doesn’t matter what stance is “correct” because you don’t front squat in compeition

  2. you could try it… but make sure you’ve something soft across the top of your legs because if you sit back and lean forward you’re gonna end up with a smashed leg because the bar will fall on it

  3. other than the common belief that every kind of squat is better when it’s done to a box, what’s your reasoning behind doing them?

Oh and do you lift equipped or raw?

#3

are you using the box soley as a depth marker or to squat onto ala westside box squat?

#4

[quote]Hanley wrote:
mr strength wrote:
i do these with wide stance on a box but I’m not sure of i’m doing these right because some guy of elitefts said this is a “device of torture” lol so i’ve got a few Q’s

  1. what stance is generally the correct way for powerlifting? narrow or wide? i already do my regular box squats with wide stance.

  2. do i still push my glutes back first like in regular box squats and keeping my shins Perpendicular?

  3. any more pointers?

Thanks a lot.

Are you asking those questions in relation to front squats…??

I’ll assume you are…

  1. it doesn’t matter what stance is “correct” because you don’t front squat in compeition

  2. you could try it… but make sure you’ve something soft across the top of your legs because if you sit back and lean forward you’re gonna end up with a smashed leg because the bar will fall on it

  3. other than the common belief that every kind of squat is better when it’s done to a box, what’s your reasoning behind doing them?

Oh and do you lift equipped or raw?
I lift raw. i know front squats ain’t used in comp but i use them to ‘shock’ the cns into more gains or just for variety since i go to 1reps max and i need to change to something else every 1-3 weeks. i only use the box for front and back squats. i do things like zercher without one. so if i squat with a wide stance would it be a good idea to use wide stance on front squats? plus i find i don’t have to lean forward much and i still hit Perpendicular and i can just drop the bar onto the power rack.
so what actual squat variations do you use?
Thanks

[/quote]

#5

[quote]Astar wrote:
are you using the box soley as a depth marker or to squat onto ala westside box squat?[/quote] as in westside.

#6

Front squatting onto a box is a stone bitch. Congratulations on selecting one of the most awkward squat-type lifts I have ever experienced.Front squats really get moving with a dip and bounce out of the hole- something you just can’t do with a box. Generally speaking, unless your stance is very wide, you will not be able to sit back like you would with a back squat lest the bar pop off your collar. Front squatting is inherently more of a sit-down groove because of the upright posture you have to maintain to keep the bar in place. While you should push your knees out on the way down to load the tension in your hips/hams, your knees will come forward some when you front squat.

#7

This seems too awkward to done safely or with enough weight to make it beneficial.

#8

[quote]elih8er wrote:
This seems too awkward to done safely or with enough weight to make it beneficial. [/quote]

In that vein I screwed up my back the very first time I tried these with pretty low weights. I hit the box too hard and the bar jumped a little off my shoulders and crashed back down, put me out of commission for a couple of weeks. If I had it to do over again and was forced to do it I would start with real low weights until I had the movement grooved. But I won’t be trying it again.

#9

i…like…love to do front squat to a box. i’ve worked up to 605 and felt they have really increased my back squat. i rotate every other week with front and back squats. most importantly doing heavy front squats to a box has engrained initiating the ascent with my hips, really forcing the knees out and getting the hips through fast.

i’ve posted this before but this isn’t awkward and i think this is a sufficient weight to be beneficial:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHI3ijRNpME

#10

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
i…like…love to do front squat to a box. i’ve worked up to 605 and felt they have really increased my back squat. i rotate every other week with front and back squats. most importantly doing heavy front squats to a box has engrained initiating the ascent with my hips, really forcing the knees out and getting the hips through fast.

i’ve posted this before but this isn’t awkward and i think this is a sufficient weight to be beneficial:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHI3ijRNpME
[/quote]

I hate to admit that I actually read the youtube comments, but I noticed that you posted this a few months ago…

thanks!! actually i’m more comfortable doing a front squat than a back squat.

i don’t do front squats to a box anymore though. they don’t transfer very well to my raw back squat. i do them now to pins or just full ROM.
thanks!!

Did you decide to keep working them and have a change of heart or did you change up your form some how to make them translate better?

#11

[quote]Caged wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
i…like…love to do front squat to a box. i’ve worked up to 605 and felt they have really increased my back squat. i rotate every other week with front and back squats. most importantly doing heavy front squats to a box has engrained initiating the ascent with my hips, really forcing the knees out and getting the hips through fast.

i’ve posted this before but this isn’t awkward and i think this is a sufficient weight to be beneficial:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHI3ijRNpME

I hate to admit that I actually read the youtube comments, but I noticed that you posted this a few months ago…

thanks!! actually i’m more comfortable doing a front squat than a back squat.

i don’t do front squats to a box anymore though. they don’t transfer very well to my raw back squat. i do them now to pins or just full ROM.
thanks!!

Did you decide to keep working them and have a change of heart or did you change up your form some how to make them translate better?[/quote]

i stopped doing them at that time because i was training for a comp and needed to concentrate on my competition squat. i kinda got obsessed with getting my front squat numbers up and i actually lost some of my back squat technique. i really enjoy doing them and will probably get back to doing them heavy but won’t spend as much time on them. I’ll rotate them in with front squats to pins, box squats, full squats, full front squats, paused front squats and zercher’s off pins. these are my bread and butter movements.