MY HIGH SCHOOL USES THE BOX SQUAT WHICH THEY GOT FROM THE BFS PROGRAM
I THINK THAT THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS MOVEMENT,AND WOULD MUCH RATHER
THEM TEACH REAL SQUATS.PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
what exactley is a box squat just wondering
Why do you think it's dangerous? A lot of powerlifters swear by it.
xl, a box squat is a squat where you squat down and sit on a box at a certain height. When you're sitting on the box, it's such that the corner is between your legs and your legs are almost right up against the box.
Go to www.t-mag.com and run a search for "box squat" and you'll find a very good article about them.
unless supervised, ive seen too many high school kids bounce off the thing or relax when they sit down and risk back injury
I think they compress the spine, greatly increasing the risk of back injuries. Just think about it, hundreds of pounds squeezing your spine together can't be good...
If you touch the box lightly and squat back up, what's the problem? If you smash your spine between a box and 250 lb. barbell, of course you'll have problems. Touch your butt lightly to the box and go back up.
You seem like a pretty sensible guy, Jim, so use good sense and you'll avoid injury. As far as putting a whole HS football team on the program, that's another story because not everybody has 'common' sense. People might get injured, but it doesn't have to be you.
teaching high school or college athletes can be rough, especially since it would be hard to keep them ALL supervised ALL the time, and all it takes is one mishap to ruin a kids health, career, or get someone sued...
we are talking male and female high school athletes that use the box squat.many times these athletes work out on there own w/o supervision.i think teaching them proper squating technique and form will be safer and more beneficial.
Ask them to do a one or two-day workshop/lesson in proper form; not just for the box squat, but for many other exercises too.
WOW! I just answered another thread were I referred to box squats. I have been "Box Squatting" for the last two or three months and after doing traditional bodybuilding squats for years - I gotta say "Boxsquatting" is superior in promoting strength gains, developing hip strength and flexibility and for me way more comfortable.
The point of "Box Squating" is promoting what Powerlifting guru Louie Simmons calls "compensatory acceleration." In laymen's terms, you lower yourself in a controlled fashion, touch down softly on the box (Of varying heights depending where you are in terms of training and flexibility) relax your hips momentarily while keeping everything else tight - and then EXPLODING out of the bottom.
Your first set should have the same EXPLOSIVE drive out of the bottom as your last set.
If you are experiencing problems, remember the following:
*You should be using a W-I-I-I-D-D-E powerlifting stance to insure your hips are being recruited to the max
*Training should consist of using 50-75% of your max. If your using more - that is where you may be running into problems. Box Squatting is NOT designed for training with near-maximal weights. You don't need it...trust me.
*Remember the sequence of movements should be as follows:
1)hips and ass move back
2)Descend straight down in a controlled, slow fashion
keeping your back straight and looking up
3)Knees move OUTWARD (NOT FORWARD)in roughly 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock direction
4)At the bottom, sit back and touch softly - relaxing momentarily
5)then EXPLODING up out of the bottom
A typical Louie Simmons routine looks like this:
8-10 sets of doubles or triples, 30-45 seconds apart.
Optimal box distance to work toward is 3-4 inches below your knees.
For a little background, Louie Simmons runs the Westside barbell Powerlifting club out of Ohio. They are well known in the United States as having the TOP squatters in the nation consistently, year after year and box squat exclusively.
He does have a Squatting techniques tape for whoevers interested and after finally getting used to it, I can say I have added 1 1/2 to my upper thighs and have substantially increased my hip strength and vertical leap.
Check it out...
It is concievable that box squatting can be performed safely if proper form is used and no more than a touch of the box is used. I believe that box squats are a
useful training tool for powerlifting, because they
coach the trainee to develop proper depth. Insufficient depth is the leading cause of disqualified
lifts. However, sever spinal damage can result from improper performance of box squats. Be sure of your form as you do them!
Lee
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If you don't slam your ass down during your eccentric part of the movement you should be fine. Keep weight under 80% of your max. I've been doing them for 6 years and have had no problems with back pain. They're great for explosive strength though.
we did it in our highschool also. i love them. when you load on like 2x to 3x what you squat, you get used to the heavy weight on your shoulders and it feels lighter. i think they work excellent. my squat went up tremendously.