How do I determine how often I can use box squats?
I’m wondering because though I’ve been lifting many years, my squat numbers suck, I’m nowhere near double bodyweight.
I understand that more experienced lifters cant lift as often as less experienced ones.
I’m thinking somewhere along 2x a week could be a good frequency, with a deload every 3-4 weeks.
Any thoughts?
No real telling but I will do them as many times as twice a week but one being Heavy ME, one being for speed DE has been working for me.
[quote]L-Dee wrote:
How do I determine how often I can use box squats?
I’m wondering because though I’ve been lifting many years, my squat numbers suck, I’m nowhere near double bodyweight.
I understand that more experienced lifters cant lift as often as less experienced ones.
I’m thinking somewhere along 2x a week could be a good frequency, with a deload every 3-4 weeks.
Any thoughts?[/quote]
if u r nowhere near double ur bw i wouldnt even do speed squats just to stick to heavy squats.
ya man, you can definitely squat twice a week. if the box squat means a lot to you, then just change the bar, box height, back or front squat placement, and rep scheme on the different days.
I wouldn’t use anything below 5 reps more than once a week, even as a beginner. But say 4 x 6, 4 x 8 on sunday or monday, then a heavy triple, or single on wednesday/thursday would probably be great.
Thanks for everyone’s input…
I should mention that I’m not planning to do speed box squats, other than as a maintenance probably every 3 weeks or so.
So i guess the question should be, how many times can I squat heavy…
suuperdave… has anyone actually used front box squats?
and about the rep schemes… the first one you suggested would then be a SE day right?
I’ve never done box squats over 5 reps…
One of the reasons I’m asking is because I see very few articles recommending heavy squatting several times a week…
frequency really depends on you the loads used and the volume.
I used to be able to go heavy twice a week. then all the sudden hit a wall and couldnt DL or squat HEAVY and have good performance and progress twice a week. I just wasnt healing.
so now its one heavy one RE or DE usually DE right now as im slow as a sloth it seems.
so in short its relative like all else if you can go heavy twice a week go for it bro. ride that as long as you can. Once you halt look for a change.
Phill
[quote]L-Dee wrote:
Thanks for everyone’s input…
I should mention that I’m not planning to do speed box squats, other than as a maintenance probably every 3 weeks or so.
So i guess the question should be, how many times can I squat heavy…
suuperdave… has anyone actually used front box squats?
and about the rep schemes… the first one you suggested would then be a SE day right?
I’ve never done box squats over 5 reps…
One of the reasons I’m asking is because I see very few articles recommending heavy squatting several times a week…[/quote]
[quote]utfootball4 wrote:
if u r nowhere near double ur bw i wouldnt even do speed squats just to stick to heavy squats.[/quote]
What?
One more thing…
I’m lifting to increase lower body power, and since I’m severely lacking strength, that’s my focus right now. I’m not looking for size, though I understand that at some point I do need bigger muscles to get stronger.
Phill,
How would you describe your situation when you plateaud?
Were your strength levels high already?
As for the RE, do you use box squats as well?
[quote]Phill wrote:
frequency really depends on you the loads used and the volume.
I used to be able to go heavy twice a week. then all the sudden hit a wall and couldnt DL or squat HEAVY and have good performance and progress twice a week. I just wasnt healing.
so now its one heavy one RE or DE usually DE right now as im slow as a sloth it seems.
so in short its relative like all else if you can go heavy twice a week go for it bro. ride that as long as you can. Once you halt look for a change.
Phill
L-Dee wrote:
Thanks for everyone’s input…
I should mention that I’m not planning to do speed box squats, other than as a maintenance probably every 3 weeks or so.
So i guess the question should be, how many times can I squat heavy…
suuperdave… has anyone actually used front box squats?
and about the rep schemes… the first one you suggested would then be a SE day right?
I’ve never done box squats over 5 reps…
One of the reasons I’m asking is because I see very few articles recommending heavy squatting several times a week…
[/quote]
A few thoughts on squatting and box squatting:
First thing to know is that you can use a box for any squat you want. Back squats, front squats, zercher squats can all be done with a box.
Second, you can use different heights of boxes. You can go parallel, higher, or lower. They’re all good tools in helping you squat bigger. Also, I’m finding that many people think box squats are only for speed and dynamic effort lifting. Not true. You can box squat with any rep/set/weight scheme that you choose.
As far as frequency, I think everyone can squat twice a week. I also think most people should be doing some form of squatting at least twice a week, unless you have a specific set of goals that do not coincide with this.
I also believe anyone that has the physical ability to safely squat can do at least a double bodyweight squat. In fact, most can and should shoot for a triple bodyweight squat. (Triple bodyweight might be out of range for many female lifters. I don’t have enough personal experience with female lifters to know. But I think most females can get to double bodyweight with a little determination.)
There’s already a lot of great articles on squatting that are better than anything I could write on the subject. It’s always a good idea to re-read some of these articles periodically. It helps to keep the ideas fresh in the mind. Moving on, I have a few squatting tips, I don’t often see in articles:
Squatting is about getting under the bar and having weight on your back. It’s uncomfortable, it hurts, and it can be scary. I think the fear is what holds most people back. To squat bigger you have to get over the fear and get comfortable with bigger weights on your back. The easiest way to do this is to put bigger weights on your back.
Do some heavy walkouts. Load the bar heavier than your max squat and set up as if you were about to squat that weight. Unrack it and step back into position. If you feel you can handle it, and if you have room in your rack, step back again. Hold the weight on your back for a few seconds and re-rack the weight. Do this once every two or three weeks and heavier weights will become less intimidating.
Another movement that works well is what I call squat lockouts. Set the pins in the rack about 5 inches below where the bar would be if you were standing in a locked-out squat position. Put the bar on the pins and once again load it heavier than your max squat – much heavier.
Once the bar is loaded, get under it and squat it up. You will have a very small range of motion, but that’s what you want for this movement. You want your mind and body to know that it has the ability to stand up and hold much heavier weight than what you are squatting with. Again, do this once every two weeks.
Lastly, you can do very high box squats, 18-22 inches, depending on your height. Like before, you can go heavier than you squat max on these, though not as much as the previous two movements.
If you rotate the above movements into your squatting routine, you will grow more comfortable and more confident with heavier weights on your back. And that translates into bigger squats. However, you must continue to do some full ROM squatting, too. It doesn’t matter if it is box or free squatting; you need to continue to work the deep portion of the ROM as well.
Happy Squatting
Hey, thanks a ton for your reply!
I havent done any other than box back squats, so it’s probably high time to try front squats…
I’ve read about those supramaximal methods, thanks for bringing them back up again though.
Again, thanks.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
A few thoughts on squatting and box squatting:
First thing to know is that you can use a box for any squat you want. Back squats, front squats, zercher squats can all be done with a box.
Second, you can use different heights of boxes. You can go parallel, higher, or lower. They’re all good tools in helping you squat bigger. Also, I’m finding that many people think box squats are only for speed and dynamic effort lifting. Not true. You can box squat with any rep/set/weight scheme that you choose.
As far as frequency, I think everyone can squat twice a week. I also think most people should be doing some form of squatting at least twice a week, unless you have a specific set of goals that do not coincide with this.
I also believe anyone that has the physical ability to safely squat can do at least a double bodyweight squat. In fact, most can and should shoot for a triple bodyweight squat. (Triple bodyweight might be out of range for many female lifters. I don’t have enough personal experience with female lifters to know. But I think most females can get to double bodyweight with a little determination.)
There’s already a lot of great articles on squatting that are better than anything I could write on the subject. It’s always a good idea to re-read some of these articles periodically. It helps to keep the ideas fresh in the mind. Moving on, I have a few squatting tips, I don’t often see in articles:
Squatting is about getting under the bar and having weight on your back. It’s uncomfortable, it hurts, and it can be scary. I think the fear is what holds most people back. To squat bigger you have to get over the fear and get comfortable with bigger weights on your back. The easiest way to do this is to put bigger weights on your back.
Do some heavy walkouts. Load the bar heavier than your max squat and set up as if you were about to squat that weight. Unrack it and step back into position. If you feel you can handle it, and if you have room in your rack, step back again. Hold the weight on your back for a few seconds and re-rack the weight. Do this once every two or three weeks and heavier weights will become less intimidating.
Another movement that works well is what I call squat lockouts. Set the pins in the rack about 5 inches below where the bar would be if you were standing in a locked-out squat position. Put the bar on the pins and once again load it heavier than your max squat – much heavier.
Once the bar is loaded, get under it and squat it up. You will have a very small range of motion, but that’s what you want for this movement. You want your mind and body to know that it has the ability to stand up and hold much heavier weight than what you are squatting with. Again, do this once every two weeks.
Lastly, you can do very high box squats, 18-22 inches, depending on your height. Like before, you can go heavier than you squat max on these, though not as much as the previous two movements.
If you rotate the above movements into your squatting routine, you will grow more comfortable and more confident with heavier weights on your back. And that translates into bigger squats. However, you must continue to do some full ROM squatting, too. It doesn’t matter if it is box or free squatting; you need to continue to work the deep portion of the ROM as well.
Happy Squatting[/quote]
[quote]L-Dee wrote:
Phill,
How would you describe your situation when you plateaud?
Were your strength levels high already?
As for the RE, do you use box squats as well?
[/quote]
To put a # on it it was about the time I hit around 6 plates on the DL and around 5 on the squat. was trying to sqaut one day and DL another and well just couldnt heal. so yes I guess I had/have ok strength. Then I stuck there made then change and have addedabout 40 more lbs to my DL and a few to my squat.
On the RE no I usually dont use a box for it. I do the movement free and just rep it out. works for me but hey something is always changing as progress slows and have to find new avenues or revisit old ones.
Phill
[quote]malonetd wrote:
A few thoughts on squatting and box squatting:
First thing to know is that you can use a box for any squat you want. Back squats, front squats, zercher squats can all be done with a box.
Second, you can use different heights of boxes. You can go parallel, higher, or lower. They’re all good tools in helping you squat bigger. Also, I’m finding that many people think box squats are only for speed and dynamic effort lifting. Not true. You can box squat with any rep/set/weight scheme that you choose.
As far as frequency, I think everyone can squat twice a week. I also think most people should be doing some form of squatting at least twice a week, unless you have a specific set of goals that do not coincide with this.
I also believe anyone that has the physical ability to safely squat can do at least a double bodyweight squat. In fact, most can and should shoot for a triple bodyweight squat. (Triple bodyweight might be out of range for many female lifters. I don’t have enough personal experience with female lifters to know. But I think most females can get to double bodyweight with a little determination.)
There’s already a lot of great articles on squatting that are better than anything I could write on the subject. It’s always a good idea to re-read some of these articles periodically. It helps to keep the ideas fresh in the mind. Moving on, I have a few squatting tips, I don’t often see in articles:
Squatting is about getting under the bar and having weight on your back. It’s uncomfortable, it hurts, and it can be scary. I think the fear is what holds most people back. To squat bigger you have to get over the fear and get comfortable with bigger weights on your back. The easiest way to do this is to put bigger weights on your back.
Do some heavy walkouts. Load the bar heavier than your max squat and set up as if you were about to squat that weight. Unrack it and step back into position. If you feel you can handle it, and if you have room in your rack, step back again. Hold the weight on your back for a few seconds and re-rack the weight. Do this once every two or three weeks and heavier weights will become less intimidating.
Another movement that works well is what I call squat lockouts. Set the pins in the rack about 5 inches below where the bar would be if you were standing in a locked-out squat position. Put the bar on the pins and once again load it heavier than your max squat – much heavier.
Once the bar is loaded, get under it and squat it up. You will have a very small range of motion, but that’s what you want for this movement. You want your mind and body to know that it has the ability to stand up and hold much heavier weight than what you are squatting with. Again, do this once every two weeks.
Lastly, you can do very high box squats, 18-22 inches, depending on your height. Like before, you can go heavier than you squat max on these, though not as much as the previous two movements.
If you rotate the above movements into your squatting routine, you will grow more comfortable and more confident with heavier weights on your back. And that translates into bigger squats. However, you must continue to do some full ROM squatting, too. It doesn’t matter if it is box or free squatting; you need to continue to work the deep portion of the ROM as well.
Happy Squatting[/quote]
GREAT POST!!!
where did this stigma that box squats can only be used for either a ME movement, or DE? Thery’re by definition a tool to improve starting strength, or strength from a static position, without the use of the stretch reflex to aid in rebounding out of the bottom. All movement motions should be trained using a static strength method (bottom up, pause, etc).
And yes, you can definitely use a front squat technique on a box. I almost instantly saw increases in my vertical after performing these.
You could possibly try setting up your box-squat frequency based on a month rather than a week…I can’t remember who exactly wrote this but they suggest doing squats every 5-8 days or something…I vary the lower-body movements I do in 3 week phases…split squats, lunges, side-to-side lunges, jumping squats, ATG Squats, of course box squats, etc.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is trying figure out what works for YOUR body at your particular level of conditioning. Not everyone is on the same level so therefore not every good lifter’s program will necessarily work for you…
I will probably evolve into having my frequency based on the month rather than the week like I do now…Hope that helps a bit…good luck…
[quote]Phill wrote:
L-Dee wrote:
Phill,
How would you describe your situation when you plateaud?
Were your strength levels high already?
As for the RE, do you use box squats as well?
To put a # on it it was about the time I hit around 6 plates on the DL and around 5 on the squat. was trying to sqaut one day and DL another and well just couldnt heal. so yes I guess I had/have ok strength. Then I stuck there made then change and have addedabout 40 more lbs to my DL and a few to my squat.
On the RE no I usually dont use a box for it. I do the movement free and just rep it out. works for me but hey something is always changing as progress slows and have to find new avenues or revisit old ones.
Phill
[/quote]
Yeah it seems you had decent strength levels by then.
For me, it seems like I have to back off every 3 weeks instead of the usual 4, which is recommended for the intermediate lifters.
thanks for your input.
[quote]suuuperdave wrote:
where did this stigma that box squats can only be used for either a ME movement, or DE? Thery’re by definition a tool to improve starting strength, or strength from a static position, without the use of the stretch reflex to aid in rebounding out of the bottom. All movement motions should be trained using a static strength method (bottom up, pause, etc).
And yes, you can definitely use a front squat technique on a box. I almost instantly saw increases in my vertical after performing these.[/quote]
I think I’ve read in an Elitefts article that one should not higher reps with the box squat. I could remember wrong though, or have misinterpreted the information.
I’ll have to give front box squats a try for sure.
Thanks
[quote]jdavis2007 wrote:
You could possibly try setting up your box-squat frequency based on a month rather than a week…I can’t remember who exactly wrote this but they suggest doing squats every 5-8 days or something…I vary the lower-body movements I do in 3 week phases…split squats, lunges, side-to-side lunges, jumping squats, ATG Squats, of course box squats, etc.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is trying figure out what works for YOUR body at your particular level of conditioning. Not everyone is on the same level so therefore not every good lifter’s program will necessarily work for you…
I will probably evolve into having my frequency based on the month rather than the week like I do now…Hope that helps a bit…good luck…[/quote]
Thanks for your input.
I’ve also thought about squatting in every other training session, based on a 3x a week template. This would mean squatting 3 times in two weeks…
i dont mean to sound paronising but you might need to sort out your form this i find is one of the main reasons why peoples numbers dont go up.
[quote]big49ersfan wrote:
i dont mean to sound paronising but you might need to sort out your form this i find is one of the main reasons why peoples numbers dont go up. [/quote]
That’s a good tip, and I’m actually working to improve my form now, as I noticed a while ago that I wasnt putting enough effort on pushing my knees out.