![]() ![]() By doing this you make sure everyone starts from the same place and all they have to remember is how many mats to put on the box. The most efficient way I’ve found to ensure depth is to lower all your boxes to the lowest setting then duct tape, weld, or do whatever the hell you have to do to keep the athletes from messing with the adjusting pins. Take note of the box height and the number of pads needed for the athlete. Knee angle has NOTHING to do with proper box height. Now, adjust the box height so the top of the kneecap is parallel with the crease of the hip. Then, have the athlete sit on the box while maintaining a perpendicular shin angle to the floor. In order to do this properly, have the athlete stand in front of the box like they are about to squat (stance must be the same). This may be one of the biggest mistakes I see when I watch people box squat online: the box height is not set correctly. It’s a good idea to do some close stance work on max effort days every second or third week after they have the wide stance variation nailed down. On max effort days, after most of the athletes were good at box squatting (usually three weeks), we would wide stance box squat two thirds or half of the time. Again, more work was being done with less weight. These free squats would typically replace speed pulls or kettlebell swings in the template. The new stimulus was enough to get a great training effect without destroying their legs.Īthlete feedback was very good with this. The athletes were still encouraged to accelerate the weight on the way up. We had great success lowering the bar weight by about 10%, leaving the accommodating resistance on, pulling the box out, bringing the stance in slightly (shoulder width), and doing sets of three to five reps without the box. A great way to incorporate some free squatting is to put it in after your speed squats. This allowed us to work on a weak area, the hips, with lower weights. When squatting on dynamic days we always used a wide stance. We used the box squat 99% of the time with 99% of our athletes. We hardly ever did "agility work" and our athletes' agility scores consistently improved. This has great transfer to change of direction. When performed correctly the athlete drives out (laterally) on their feet. They avoid pausing on the box like there’s a cattle prod on the box because they are so used to drawing on their stretch reflex to reverse momentum.īox squatting also trains lateral ability. Don’t believe me watch a group of athletes who are accustomed to training with free squats, box squat for the first time. When the athlete pauses on the box then explodes into the bar violently, this trains first step ability. ![]() So much of athletics is first step quickness, or going from a semi-static to dynamic contraction in a split second. Proper depth is achieved by setting your box height correctly (shown in the video).īox squats will also develop first step ability. How many times have you heard a coach describe an athlete as too stiff and say that he can't open up at the hips? Box squatting builds mobility through strength. The wide stance and hitting proper depth also helps build mobility in the hips. It’s very common for an athlete's feet to go wider than shoulder width on the field, so we need to have strength out there too. The wide stance used when properly box squatting will better prepare the athlete for the rigors of their sport. RECENT: Why You Should Use the Conjugate Method for Your Athletes So why wouldn’t we build recovery into our training when we can? Why would any athlete take steroids? To aid in recovery. ![]() Quarter squatting with a narrow stance is NOT stimulating your glutes and hamstrings optimally. Getting back in the hips and close to depth-which happens in proper box squatting-will allow the athletes to achieve this. ![]() Everyone talks about stimulating and training the glutes and hamstrings, and a large component of stimulating a muscle is having optimal lengthening on the eccentric portion of the movement. Correctly performed box squats allow the athletes to load the glutes and hamstrings, which saves the knees. When done correctly, it will also take a ton of stress off of their knees. Using the box squat allows us to continually get them stronger and more explosive without trashing them for practice and competition. Breaking up the eccentric-concentric chain helps the athlete recover from training much more quickly.Īthletes have to deal with and perform well at practice for their given sport. Another big advantage to box squatting is that it improves their ability to recover from training. We could have most of our athletes proficiently doing their primary lower body movement within a week. The primary reason I use the box squat with my athletes is the small learning curve. ![]()
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