Box Back Squats

The box squat can be used to develop power out of the bottom of the lift, build acceleration, teach proper depth or modify your technique. Box squats are a supplemental exercise to regular squatting and can assist -- but never replace -- the back squat. The box squat is used by many powerlifters as a training tool, but like every tool, its usefulness is up to the user. Consult a health-care practitioner before beginning any strength-training program.

Box Squat

To box squat, set a box in a squat rack or power cage. The box must be low enough that you break parallel on the box -- your legs at the top surface of your hip joint must be below your legs at the top surface of your knee joint. The box must support the combined weight of your body and the barbell. Stand with your normal squat stance and instead of squatting straight down, squat back by pushing your hips to the rear. When you touch the box, pause lightly without dropping down onto the box, then stand back up.

Training

Using a wider stance and pushing your hips back keeps your shins closer to vertical. This has the effect of shifting the force of the squat from your knees to your hips. Done to extremes, this can inappropriately load your hip joint, according to a 2003 study published in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." Pausing on the box may be accompanied by an explosive drive upward to teach acceleration, which increases your ability to generate force.

Effects

If you squat with a wider stance and push your hips to the rear when box squatting, you slightly change the recruitment patterns of the muscles used in the back squat. You do not recruit any new muscles, but you shift the emphasis somewhat to your posterior chain -- the muscles of your hips, lower back and hamstrings. According to a 1999 study in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise," wide-stance squatting recruits both your adductors -- the muscles on the insides of your thighs -- and your gluteus maximus more than a close-stance squat.

Technique

To get the most out of your hip drive when performing a back squat to a low box, modify your stance heavily. Stand with your feet wide, at least half-again as wide as your shoulders. Make sure your feet stay pointed forward. Carry the bar low on your upper-back, below the level of the top of your shoulders. Ensure that your back remains tight -- pull the bar across your back to create tension, as if you were trying to bend the bar. Keep your abdominals tight throughout the lift, and when you stand up off of the box, generate as much power as you can by standing up quickly.