just coming back from a back/hip injury and finally able to start lifting some real weights again. doing box squats and working up hit 500 and wanted people to check the form. to me it looks like I didn’t sit back enough and didn’t rise with the head first but any thoughts from anyone else would be much appreciated.
I got to 525 but lost my air with it and didn’t want GMing it back up so dropped it, yea it might have been too big a jump at that point but 500 felt pretty good.
First time doing a post of a video so not sure if it’s going to work right. also I’ll apologize in advance for the grunt
I think your right it didn’t seem to be dropping too fast when I was doing it. Looking at it now though makes me think I have to keep more tension in the hips till I’m fully on the box.
Thanks, if you see anything else I would like to try everything I can. I lift at a pretty wussy gym and only get to meet up with guys that lift heavy like once a month. rest of the time it’s hard to find anyone who can actually tell me anything about form on the power lifts.
[quote]Blongo wrote:
looks like you drop onto that box instead of easing onto it. just an observation, but that might be something you want to look out for.[/quote]
If you watch the XXX westside video, Vogelpohl drops pretty much the exact same way in a lot of his sets…
I guess leading with your head and chest is something you could try.
Also, jam your elbows hard under the bar as you’re about to come up, literally trying to rotate them forwards… sh8ould keep your upper back nice and tight.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Blongo wrote:
looks like you drop onto that box instead of easing onto it. just an observation, but that might be something you want to look out for.
If you watch the XXX westside video, Vogelpohl drops pretty much the exact same way in a lot of his sets…
I guess leading with your head and chest is something you could try.
Also, jam your elbows hard under the bar as you’re about to come up, literally trying to rotate them forwards… sh8ould keep your upper back nice and tight.[/quote]
so are you saying they should both ease onto the box more or that the OP is alright and they’re both doing it fine?
One of the things I always hear in Louie’s tapes is that you should lead out of the hole with your head and your chest and arch like hell. It seems like you’re rounding your back and losing your arch coming off the box. The first movement out of the hole should be your head up and back. Work on your arch with arched-back good mornings and some form work on Dynamic day and that should keep you from having to GM the weight up.
Your form is too much of a sit down, not a squat. Try to sit back as if someone is pulling a chair out from under you and you’re trying to catch your butt on it, but don’t just plop down, either. Maintain control and keep in mind, the box is just there to help with a momentarily tension release, so that you have to explosively come back up.
thanks everyone I’m going to try to get my form down a little better. I’ll try to post a vid of my next box squat workout in a week or so and see if I have corrected any of them.
You can always try a higher box height, too. Add 3-5" to the box and work with pushing the knees over the feet, hard low back arch, and leading with the head. Go back to your original height when you get better.
Looking strong there Ben. I have a few thoughts for you on your form. It looks like at the start you could get a better lower back arch on the setup. After you move your feet into position I like to arch my low hard and push my abs out into the belt hard before I start the descent.
As you descend you seem to loose what little arch so had. As others have mentioned you kind of drop the last few inches on the box. It might be okay to drop like this but only if you have perfect form and keep extremely tight.
I’m sure Vogelpohl could drop fast, keep perfect form and stay tight. Until your form improves it is probably best to ease on to the box maintaining complete tightness and then trying to power up first leading with the head and chest and keeping the arch in the lower back.
You mention that you ar coming back from a back/hip injury. This might be more of a reason to really keep the lower back arched so it doesn’t round and cause too much stress.
Thanks Seattle_Lifter, I see what your saying I have had very tight hip flexors for such a long time, a symptom and cause of the problems in hips and back so I have alot of trouble keeping the arch tight.
drdgmuro, I will try with a slightly higher box and work down, I liked this setup because it was just about parallel and I wanted to see what I could do, and try to really focus arching as hard as possible.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Blongo wrote:
looks like you drop onto that box instead of easing onto it. just an observation, but that might be something you want to look out for.
If you watch the XXX westside video, Vogelpohl drops pretty much the exact same way in a lot of his sets…
I guess leading with your head and chest is something you could try.
Also, jam your elbows hard under the bar as you’re about to come up, literally trying to rotate them forwards… sh8ould keep your upper back nice and tight.[/quote]
It may appear the Chuck drops quickly at the bottom in his sets but he is extremely tight when he does this. Chuck has no point in his range of motion where he looses tension. He is just very advanced, don’t try what Chuck does.
[quote]Gatorarmz wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Blongo wrote:
looks like you drop onto that box instead of easing onto it. just an observation, but that might be something you want to look out for.
If you watch the XXX westside video, Vogelpohl drops pretty much the exact same way in a lot of his sets…
I guess leading with your head and chest is something you could try.
Also, jam your elbows hard under the bar as you’re about to come up, literally trying to rotate them forwards… sh8ould keep your upper back nice and tight.
It may appear the Chuck drops quickly at the bottom in his sets but he is extremely tight when he does this. Chuck has no point in his range of motion where he looses tension. He is just very advanced, don’t try what Chuck does.[/quote]
“Don’t train like Chuck”.
Fair point alright!! I guess I was getting wrapped up in the fact EVERYONE seems to think that a controlled drop is bad in all cases but have never seen Chuck squat.
As you said tho, he’s tighter than a camels arse in a sand storm all the way thru!!
Yep, and like what Ultimatethor stated before, you must arch hard as hell in the hole and out of the hole. It will feel like your gonna snap your own back, but somehow it doesn’t. Chuck makes me do this. If I stay completely tight, arch hard as hell, and keep my head up, he doesn’t yell at me after the set. Which is good because training w/ a happy Vogelpohl is a easier workout than a pissed off Vogelpohl. If it looks like he is dropping a couple of inches in the bottom it’s because he opens up his knees pushing them out, letting your hips drop that last couple inches to break paralell.