Box squating

[power up]

I have been powerlifting for about 12 years. I have never used box squats for fear of spine injury. I have been reading a lot about them lately and decided to give em a try. My best raw squat is 550 but my most recent pr is 500 back in Jan 05. I dont have a box low enough at my gym so I used a bench it was about 1-2 inches above parallel. I read from Westside that I should go 50-60% of my max for 6 sets of 2. I did this and found 250 to be way to easy so I went to 275 still not feeling it so I went 300. Little more effort for 300 but still not difficult. I was training with 450 last week for 4 sets of 3 with just a belt. I always go a least parallel most times below. When I was box squatting yesterday I stayed tight when I hit the bench and I rocked back so there was no lean forward and I drove the weight up. My question is should box squats really be easy? and should I squat normal anytime soon?

Dale

 

[xblitz44x]

I'm not sure how you train it, but I've always thought to use box squats as a DE exercise. Even though the weight itself will be 'easy', the difficult part is generating explosive bar-speed from the bottom position of the lift. Good luck!

 

[LiftingDukkha]

I never really figured out how box squats are supposed to be used for DE squats, and it seems to me that most of the WSB guys & literature say Box Squats are more for ME days.

The gym I use has aerobic steps, these plastic little 2-3" tall boxes that you put a wide step on top of a pair at each side, to make variable height steps for aerobic step-ups, etc. I take between 4 to 8 of these, and use them for my box squats. I discovered they actually support my weight and a max-effort squat, for a full, paused, sit-back squat, so I have that going for me.

On ME days I do Box Squats, sitting back, fully pausing, then squatting up. With the aerobic steps, I can vary the height each week from about 3"+ below parallel to a couple inches above

On DE days, I don't really "need" box squats, but I use them anyway, but I stay at the same height each week. I just use the height that's just below parallel for me, and do "touch-and-go" (no pause), using between 45% - 60% of my max.

The point of using such light weight for DE squats is to do them as fast as you possibly can. About 8-12 sets of 2-3 reps, but each rep is done as explosively as possible, and you only take about 30 seconds or so rest between each set.

 

[jcp2]

I do box squats for 6 sets of 2 on my only squatting day when i am far out from a meet. They are not easy, they are not that fast, but they are not slow. If you are squatting with bands they are going to be fast to some degree or you are going to be stapled to the box. I will say this, i squat to just below parallel most of the time, but i go to an inch above i can add almost 100 lbs. Getting that little bit lower really kills the amount of weight you can use.

 

[power up]

Should I regular squat sometime soon. This 50-60% stuff seems pretty lite. I only train everything once a week. Thats all I have time for and Im fully recouperated by about the 5th day anyway.

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

The point of using such light weight for DE squats is to do them as fast as you possibly can. About 8-12 sets of 2-3 reps, but each rep is done as explosively as possible, and you only take about 30 seconds or so rest between each set.

Could not have said this better myself. This is the point exactly of box squat on DE day. Used bands also a time or two on DE day off the box...really gets your heart rate up.

 

[power up]

DE? Dynamic effort= Speed day? ive tried speed days and my numbers dropped so fast. Ive been training 3-8 reps for a long time. I think it was because im only training everthing one time every 7 days

ME ? Max effort day?

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

DE? Dynamic effort= Speed day? ive tried speed days and my numbers dropped so fast. Ive been training 3-8 reps for a long time. I think it was because im only training everthing one time every 7 days

ME ? Max effort day?

Well since you are posting in the PL'ing forum, we can come at it from that route.

Yes, DE is speed day. ME is max effort day. A PL'er generally trains somewhat like this (maybe squat first in the week, either/or:

ME Bench
ME Squat
DE Bench
DE Squat

Those above being the days when those exercises are done. If this is the case, you would most likely be training your 'lower' (posterior chain) twice in a 7 day period. If you are interested in reading more about ME and DE training - look here:
Methods of Max Effort, Part 1
Making Max Effort Easy
List of Max Effort Squat Exercises
List of Max Effort Bench Exercises

I know you mentioned 8 sets of 3 on (DE Bench?), here is an article about it. Beginner Mistakes, The DE Bench

Here's a nice article about alternatives to speed work:
Bigger, Faster & Stronger

 

[fortunatesun]

The spine injury problem occurs when someone sits down as explosively as they stand up. This method has been out of favor for many years now and it sounds like you have the hang of them already.

 

[LiftingDukkha]

power up, You said you only have one day a week to squat.

If you only squat one day a week, you probably shouldn't do DE/speed/light squats.

WSB calls for doing one day of DE/speed work (light weight), then about 3 days later, doing one day of ME work (max weight).

For squats, you'd do (for example) 50% squats on Tuesday (fast as possible) then, on Friday or Saturday, do over-90% squats for 1-3 reps, 1-2 sets.

If you can't do 2 days a week, I think you should stop doing "only" DE squats. Perhaps you can do one ME set, then a few DE sets after on the same day.