Why you need to box squat

Here, I'll unpack the benefits of box squats, a breakdown of the movement and why you need to incorporate this compound variation into your training...

Firstly, what are box squats and how do you execute them?

Box squats are a hip dominant movement, which can be a really helpful main or supplement exercise that can transfer really nicely over to any lift involving the hips and back.

To perform a box squat: first of all, brace and push your hips back. Whilst keeping your upper body & glutes tight, descend. Then, gently sit down onto the box and while remaining 'rigid' and squeezing everything; push your back up into the bar; drive through your legs and push your knees out throughout (activates the hips). Lastly, pull your hips through to complete the lift. Some may have slightly different cues but, generally speaking, you should do this all in one fluid motion.

So, why are they important?

1. It improves your performance in the long run and reduces the risk of injuries through being able to recover faster (compared to regular squats). A great advantage of box squats is that they can be more forgiving for those who may be experiencing knee, hip or joint injuries. Less injuries = increased longevity.

Box squats are safer, in general, especially if you fail the lift (i.e. get stuck on the box). Just make sure you always have a spot when the weight gets challenging FYI. And for your body, you will also find that- over time- this squat variation is less taxing on your CNS and causes less stress on tendons and ligaments. It may also be more accommodating if you suffer with mobility, flexibility or depth issues and can help you work on them.

Additionally, squatting to a box is beneficial as it can help you build up to heavier loads and handle more weight essentially with a progressive overload.

Through being encouraged to sit back more (and knowing that the box is there) it allows the lifter to put less pressure on the anterior chain - knees and quads- and activates more posterior muscle fibres in the glutes, lower back and hamstrings.

2. It teaches you the correct technique (transferring over to back squats)- to sit more upright (not fold over), keep shins vertical, encourages recruitment of posterior chain and to control the lift (eccentric especially). Ideally, you want to just be moving your hips back and the bar path should be close to a straight line.

Through breaking and slowing down the lift in this way, you will gain more from this variation than just the standard squat... With practise and increased time under tension (through a controlled eccentric) you are able to increase overall strength, especially in the hardest part of the lift, where the hips may be a weakness for most lifters (as it's harder to isolate). You may also wish to experiment with different stances- i.e. a wider stance can help build more hip strength and is easier to do via box squats.

Furthermore, any other technical weaknesses of the squat can be then identified and suggest where isolation or accessory work may be needed. Overall, box squats really improve your mechanics of the lift, encourage good form and get you to think about what cues you may need to personally think about.

Louie Simmons also suggests; "Remember that where the head goes, the body will follow. Always push your feet out to the sides, not directly down" and "Chuck Taylors [flats] are the best shoes for squatting".

3. You learn to be more explosive and powerful- from hole to the concentric of the lift. With this unnatural 'stopping point' in the box squat, it teaches you not to ‘bounce’ out of the hole (to rely on momentum for the concentric) and to load muscles correctly.

One of the key benefits of box squats are that they help develop accelerating power from- essentially- a static position (whilst sitting on the box). Although you naturally 'relax' your hips a little on the box, box squats should be teaching you to build tension (keeping tight) when descending in this movement, so that you can 'explode' up. Through dynamic work (conjugate method) you can work on this which will help improve on speed and power, therefore a stronger lockout too (this also builds adductor starting strength for sumo deadlifts).

You can also vary this variation even further... the standard box squat height should be about parallel (hips coming to knee level when 'sat') however over time you can decrease the box height to make it even harder (and gain strength at the bottom). You could also play around with the materials of the box- for example, a soft, foam pad on top of the box removes the stretch reflex (even further) that you would usually have in a conventional squat. The best metaphor to describe this is: imagine you were running on sand. Therefore, this puts emphasis on how important it is to stay tight, build tension on the eccentric and drive out of the hole with power. Bands and chains (accommodating resistance, which makes it easier on the box and hardest at lockout) may also help with this.

Why not give them a go?

Box squats can be more challenging than normal squats- at first- but don't let this discourage you as everything feels foreign the first time we do something new.

As I've summarised above, programming this variation into your training will do you wonders and eventually you will (probably) favour them more than regular squats... just make sure you don't completely disregard free squats and think about how you can apply what you learn from box squats.

Sources:

https://www.westside-barbell.com/blogs/the-blog/box-squatting-benefits

https://www.elitefts.com/coaching-logs/20-advantages-of-the-box-squat/