Box Squat with Chains
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a rack, a box and chains
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
- Hang a chain from each end of the barbell so that part of each chain rests on the floor at the bottom.
- Set a box behind you at a height that puts your thighs at or just below parallel.
- Rack the bar across your upper back and step back until the box is behind you.
- Sit back onto the box by pushing the hips backward, keeping the shins close to vertical.
- Settle briefly without relaxing the trunk.
- Drive back up, taking on more chain weight with every inch you rise.
Common mistakes
- Setting the chains so they never touch the floor. If no links unload at the bottom, they are just extra plates hanging awkwardly.
- Loading the bar as if the chains were not there. The top of the lift carries the whole chain, so a weight that moves off the box may not lock out.
- Relaxing on the box. The trunk stays braced through the pause; letting it go and re-bracing under a loaded bar is the moment the position is least supported.
- Letting the chains swing. A swinging chain changes the load through the repetition and makes the bar want to rotate; they should hang still before you start.