Box Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a rack and either a box, a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set a box or bench behind you at a height that puts your thighs at or just below parallel when seated.
- Rack a barbell across your upper back and step back until the box is right behind you.
- Set your feet a little wider than shoulder-width with the toes turned out.
- Sit back onto the box by pushing the hips backward, keeping the shins close to vertical.
- Settle briefly on the box without relaxing the trunk.
- Drive back up by pushing the floor away and squeezing the glutes.
Common mistakes
- Dropping onto the box. Sitting under control is the exercise; landing on it puts the impact through a loaded spine with the legs unloaded.
- Rocking backward and using the bounce to stand. The pause is what makes a box squat a box squat — it removes the stretch at the bottom and makes the drive start from a standstill.
- Relaxing on the box. The trunk stays braced through the pause; letting it go and re-bracing under the bar is the moment the position is least supported.
- Setting the box to whatever height is there. The box sets the depth, which is the whole reason to use one, and a box that is too high turns a squat into a partial.