I was reading that interview with Dave Tate about hypertrophy and was quite interested when he started talking about the tall lifter who couldn’t increase his squat.
I’m 6’4 and my squat numbers are pathetic at best. I usually keep a bit wider than shoulder width stance, I usually go parallel or deep. I’ve read though that deep squatting may not be the best for someone my height, especially considering my loooong legs.
So anyway, in his interview, he set the guy up with a much wider stance and had him start lifting onto a high box. I want to try this to see if it helps my squat numbers. Thing is I don’t lift at a gym and I haven’t been able to find info on how tall a high box is exactly?
Any suggestions or information is much appreciated. I’m sure it’s been asked numerous times before so I apologize for that.
It depends how tall are you and how long are your legs??
Id personally do most squatting on a parallel or below box but Yes IMO some heavy work on a box 2 even 4 inches above parallel from time to time can be an aid allowing heavier loads etc.
give it a whirl for a cycle and see if it helps. Pick a box height try it and note the results couldnt hurt
Just experiment. I’m 5’6" and have used up to an 18 inch box in the past. Of course, you will need to continue to do some low end work or your strength out of the hole will suffer.
I made four boxes of differening heights. The tallest is 11in and the smallest is 2in. I usually either use two boxes for a combination of 16in (my version of high box, a touch below parallel, or the 11in box for the majority of my work. My next step down is 2 and 5in box together.
I’m basically 6’4". The only time I squat above parallel is if I’m avoiding a sore hamstring or I teaching someone how to squat and they haven’t mastered lower depths yet.
I’m pretty sure that 2’ above parallel is considered to be a high box. Anything above that from what I’ve found does very little for strength development.