Sep 6, Box Squats | How to Box Squat with Proper Form

Box squats are a squat variation that involves squatting down onto a box (or platform) of a given height. It provides two major benefits.

The first benefit is that it improves your body's proprioception; it's ability to know where to stop at the bottom of a rep, within the range of motion of the regular squat exercise.

The other benefit is that it distinctly breaks up the eccentric (negative rep) and concentric (positive rep) chain of movement. This makes the concentric movement more challenging because you have to initiate it from a dead stop.

The end result is that you strengthen your posterior chain, and thus, improve your explosiveness and speed out of the hole.

Plus, your strength gains transfer directly over to regular squats. This is despite the fact that box squats require using a lighter load than regular squats.

Set Up. This exercise is best done in a power rack (though a squat rack can suffice). Start by placing a box or platform inside the rack. Box Height. The box should be the right height for the depth that you'll be squatting. This may require you to be creative to change the heights by putting weights underneath or atop the box to increase its height. There are three types of box squat depths: low, parallel and high box squats. Low. The box height for low box squats can be as much below parallel as desired, so long as you don't have to "rock" your body to squat up. The box is too low if you have to "plop" yourself down in order to sit.Parallel. The top of your knees should be parallel to the crease of your hips. If only your thighs are parallel to the floor (which is considered parallel on regular squats), the box is still too high.High. A high box height is useful for improving the sticking points above parallel. So, the box height for high box squats should be set so that you're only about 1-3 inches above parallel when seated.Adjust the Safety Catches. Adjust the safety bars to prevent the barbell (or yourself) from going beyond the range of motion, in the case of a failed rep or an accident.Add Plates. Add the desired amount of weight to the bar.Get Under the Bar. Get into position in front of the box and proceed to get underneath the bar. You must use the low bar squat barbell position. That means that you place the barbell on the upper part of the middle trapezius, and across the top of the rear deltoids.Unrack The Bar. Unrack and step back into position. Assume a significantly wider than shoulder-width stance with your feet and knees pointing outward. Flex your abs, and keep them tense throughout the entire set, in order to stabilize your core, and thus protect your lower back.Position Your Body. To maintain a proper low bar squat position, push your chest out and bring your scapulae (shoulder blades) together while pulling your elbows down and tensing your upper and middle back muscles. Keep your head inline with your spine, so as to avoid hyperextending your neck. Your gaze should be directed diagonally downward, ahead of you.Negative Repetition. Begin the movement by dropping your hips back and down. Take a Seat. Lower your body at a controlled pace and carefully sit your butt down onto the box. Actually sit down. Don't just "touch and go."Tempo. The negative should take about 1-2 seconds.Midpoint. The midpoint is at the bottom of the range of motion, when you are seated. Here, you must keep your body tense. However, if you can relax your hip flexors without relaxing any other muscles, do so. This allows you to distinctly separate the eccentric and concentric chain of movement. Unless you're doing high box squats, your shins should be at least perpendicular to the floor when seated. Tempo. Pause on the seat for about 1 second.Positive Repetition. Okay, time to stop being lazy, and squat up off that box! "Grip" the Floor. Curl your toes hard by pressing them into the floor. Push through outsides of your feet to drive your hips up and off the box.Squeeze. As you're gripping the floor with your feet, you must squeeze your glutes hard in order to actually propel yourself off the box. As you continue upward, bring your thigh and core muscles into it, too.No Rocking. Do not intentionally rock your torso to gain momentum off the box. That's cheating and it puts you at risk for a lower back injury. Note, however, that some (unintentional) rocking will inevitably occur when squatting heavier loads.Lockout. Complete the repetition by squatting up until your legs are completely extended and locked out.Tempo. Squat up as fast as you can without losing control of breaking form.Repeat. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions. This exercise is often done with low reps (i.e. 1-3, up to 5) and heavy weight. Though, some folks use a more moderate rep range (e.g. 6-10) with lighter weight.

This Exercise Is Great for All Lifters. It does not matter if you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced weight lifter. Box squats can be the right exercise choice for anyone...

...That said, beginners should be doing it for a different reason than intermediate or advanced lifters. As a beginner, your aim should be to reinforce proper squat depth and range of motion.

By training with box squats (assuming you use a proper box height), it's impossible to not perform the complete range of motion.

Additionally, as a beginner, you should use lighter weight and adhere to a moderate rep scheme on this lift. You can go heavier once you become more exeperienced.

Similar to beginners, some intermediate and advanced lifters (mostly powerlifters) may also use box squats to reinforce a given squat depth and range of motion. However, they often have additional or altogher different objectives.

If you're an intermediate or advanced lifter, box squats are an effective means for increasing your explosiveness and speed out of the hole. In contrast to beginners, the movement will generally be more productive if using heavier loads and lower reps.

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Aug 23, Partial Squats | How to Do Partial Squats with Proper Form

Partial squats, or "partials" for short, are an advanced exercise technique used to help bust through plateaus and sticking points on the traditional squat exercise.

Partials involve doing only part of the range of motion of a full squat repetition. However, they are meant to be done for one to a few reps, using heavier weight than that your one rep max.

The the range of motion of your partials should generally be determined by your sticking point within the range of motion of a traditional squat (i.e. the point at which you struggle, squatting up from the bottom of a full repetition).

For many folks, their sticking point is halfway through. This is why it's common to hear partial squats referred to as "half squats." But you can also do partials with 1/4, 3/4, etc. of the squat's full range of motion.

By using heavy weight within a specific range, this squat variation forces your body becomes more accustomed to handling heavier weight. And more specifically, it emphasises the quadriceps and improves your strength and explosiveness within the chosen range of motion.

Video credits: YouTube user "koklyaevmisha"

Set Up. For safety reasons, you should always do partials in a power rack. Set the barbell on the rack pins to right below shoulder height, just as you'd do for regular squats. Proceed to load the bar with the desired amount of weight. Set Safety Catches. Decide the range of motion that you're going to train based on where your sticking point is (e.g. half squat). Then set the safety catches accordingly (i.e. the barbell should touch, or almost touch, the safety catches at the bottom of each partial rep).Get Under the Bar. Position yourself underneath the barbell. It should be resting across your upper back, atop the trapezius. The trapezius should cushion the bar so it doesn't press against your spine.Unrack & Assume Stance. Unrack the bar and take a step away. Assume a comfortable and slightly wider than shoulder-width stance.Breathe & Brace. Take a deep breath and hold it in. Tense your body, especially your abdominals.Negative Repetition. Squat down in a slow and controlled fashion. Continue until the bar touches, or is just above, the safety catches. Do not slam the barbell, or try to bounce it off of the catches. Also, don't rest the bar on the catches. Tempo. Go slow enough to maintain control over the weight. This will take around 1-2 seconds, though it can vary based on how far down you're squatting, how heavy the weight is and how fatigued you are.Positive Repetition. After reaching the bottom of the range of motion, squat back up. Extend your legs until you are standing up straight with your knees locked. Tempo. Squat up as explosively as possible without losing control or sacrificing proper form.Repeat. Repeat the movement for the desired number of reps. Partial squats are most effective using heavy weight and a lower rep range of approximately 1-6 reps.

Partials Are Best for Advanced Lifters. The purpose of partial squats is to bust through plateaus and sticking points. You do this by performing only a portion of the full range of motion using heavier weight than you could otherwise lift on regular squats.

Therefore, this technique is most fitting for you if you're an advanced trainees, because truly challenging plateaus (as opposed to easy-to-break plateaus encountered by less experienced lifters) are a common occurence in your training.

Additionally, as an advanced trainee, your body can safely handle and respond to extra heavy loads.

On the other hand, beginners and intermediates should stick with good ol' fashioned traditional squats. As a beginner or intermediate, you can overcome any plateaus you may encounter through much simpler and safer means...

...For example, breaking through a plateau as an beginner or intermediate may be as simple as increasing or reducing your squat training frequency (i.e. number of times you squat per week); or changing the number of sets and/or reps you perform for squats.

Ironically, a whole lot of beginners unknowingly perform partial squats instead of full squats. For whatever reason, they just don't (or can't) perform the full range of motion. If that sounds like it might be you, then start squatting deeper! (If you really can't squat any deeper without using crappy form, then start stretching your quads and hip flexors to improve your flexibility.)

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Aug 25, Squat with Chains | How to Do Chain Squats with Proper Form

The squat with chains, or chain squat, is an advanced technique for increasing your overall squat strength and explosiveness. It adds a new layer of dynamic intensity to your squat training.

Squats with chains are different from traditional squats in that it makes the load heavier at the top of the rep and lighter at the bottom of the rep. Whereas, the load is static throughout the movement with regular squats.

Thus, you train explosiveness when doing squats with chains because the reduced weight at the bottom of the rep translates to the ability to squat up rapidly and powerfully. In fact, it forces you to squat up with great force since you need to generate enough momentum to counteract the increasing load as the chain is picked up.

Additionally, you emphasize the latter portion of the positive repetition – especially the lockout – because the weight becomes heavier as you begin picking up the chain's slack while squatting up.

Set Up. This should be done in a power rack or a squat rack. Start by putting the barbell on the pins, just below shoulder level. Adjust the Safety Catches. If you're using a power rack, adjust the safety catches to prevent the barbell from going beyond the bottom of the range of motion, in case of a failed rep or accident.Add Plates. Load the weight plates before attaching chains to the ends of the barbell. A 2006 study shines some light on the optimal load to use. According to the findings, the optimal total load (including both chains and plates) is around 85% of your one rep max. Of that, eighty percent should be non-chain weight. Note that this study was on squat training using band resistance (see band squats and reverse band squats), not chains. Still, it provides relevant insight and applicable information.Attach Chains. Figure out the chain weight and length to use. Attach the chains accordingly. The optimal chain weight, based on the findings of the above-mentioned study, is 20% of the total load. Optimal chain length varies based on your objective – The shorter the chain, the lower the point in the range of motion will be when the load starts decreasing. For this tutorial, I'll outline the standard practice for chain length: When the barbell is racked, there should be a few inches of chain draping onto the floor. This way, the ends of the chains should be only slightly touching the floor after you unrack the bar.Unrack the Bar. Get underneath the bar. It should be resting on your trapezius muscle tissue, not against your spine. Proceed to lift the bar off the pins and step back.Negative Repetition. Lower your hips, drop your butt and bend your knees. Go Parallel or Lower. Continue until the top of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.Tempo. Perform the negative in a controlled fashion. This should take about 1-2 seconds. Slow down as you approach the midpoint.Midpoint. The midpoint is at the very bottom of the range of motion. It's the transition point between the positive repetition and the negative repetition. Tempo. Do not pause here for more than a split second. Don't "bounce" through the midpoint, either. Bouncing puts your knees at risk for injury.Positive Repetition. Squat up explosively. Flex! Keep your whole body tense while flexing your glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings with focused intensity.Tempo. Aim for a tempo of zero seconds. That is, go as fast as humanly possible without sacrificing proper form.Repeat. Chain squats are generally used to build strength and explosiveness. Thus, heavy weights (see step 1, bullets 2 and 3) and lower reps (i.e. approx. 1-5) are most effective.

Chain Squats Are Best for Advanced Lifters. Squatting with chains is best left to the big (and strong) boys (and girls). It is meant to improve specific weak aspects (i.e. explosiveness, lockout) of an already strong lift...

...So if your squat itself is weak – which is the case for beginners and intermediates (at least, relative to their potential squat strengths) – then squatting with chains is a misallocation of your training time and energy. Instead, the more sound decision is to stick to traditional squats until you truly reach a more advanced level of strength and conditioning.

The only time I'd say it's fine for intermediates (not beginners) to squat with chains is when advised by a competent strength coach, for the purpose of training a sports specific skill/ability.

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