I’m hoping someone familiar with Westside might be able to give me some tips. My shins aren’t totally perpendicular. I’m wondering if this a form thing I can improve or if it’s just inevitability due to my high bar placement. I have to do high bar so I don’t tear up my shoulder.
Next week I’ll get a view from behind so I can see what my knees are doing. I didn’t feel like my knees were caving and it seemed like my foot arches weren’t collapsing.
These were done with 63 percent of a free squat max.
They felt fairly natural. At least natural for not having done them for several months. I want to really make sure I get it right so I don’t screw my hips up again. But I do know in the past squatting like this has brought me fast gains.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I’m hoping someone familiar with Westside might be able to give me some tips. My shins aren’t totally perpendicular. I’m wondering if this a form thing I can improve or if it’s just inevitability due to my high bar placement. I have to do high bar so I don’t tear up my shoulder.[/quote]
In my experience the shin angle is totally dependant on how far you sit back. “Balls to the box” right?, sit back and down until you are at whatever shin angle you wish to be at. If you never squat in a suit, don’t sweat the shin angle. Either way, when you come off the box you should basically be leg curling yourself off the box.
IMO…
…your box height looks a bit low. You are well below parallel. It becomes increasingly difficult to ‘stay back’ with the load as you descend below parallel.
…it doesn’t appear as if you are ‘de-loading’ on the box. This is a critical aspect of the Westside style.
…I agree with Dawg; the knee travels forward while performimg the raw/single-ply squat. I usually perform box squats with a stance slightly wider than normal and turn my feet out a little.
This is a pretty good example…
What do you mean by deload? Like my hips and legs and hip flexors. All of that?
edit: Also, do you think my bar speed is ok? I’ve watched some Westside videos where they go super fast on DE days and others that are a good bit slower.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
What do you mean by deload? Like my hips and legs and hip flexors. All of that?
[/quote]
Ok when you sit back and down onto a toilet for example you stay ‘stiff’ till you hit the seat, then you relax. It’s kind of like that except in the BS You keep the back tight, the knees out / spread the floor, keep a bit of tension in the quads / hammies. Then drive the head into the bar and leg curl yourself off the box, drive the hips forward until you are standing. Does this make sense?
I agree with blue collar and sd. From those videos it looks like you’re “squatting to a box” and not “box squatting.” When you box squat the box supports most of the weight at the bottom. It looks like you’re touching the box and the weight is primarily being supported by your legs still.
You need to completely sit on the box while keeping everything else tight. At least that’s always been my understanding.
After the ya’ll’s explanations and watching that vid and others, it makes a ton more sense. At least theoretically. I’ll be box squatting twice a week until I get the hang of it. I’ll post another vid or two so I can get extra pairs of eyes on my squats to make sure my understanding is correct. I know right off the bat that my groin needs a ton more flexibility. Everything else was lose enough. So I’ll shoot for just above parallel too and work down.
Clint Dardin has a great video series on box squatting on you tube. " Box squat tutorial 36" is pretty good as well as “box squats what to relax”
I watched those videos and practiced a zillion body weight and broom handle squats and they’ve led to this so far. Tell me what you think. What I see right off the bat is a weak upper back, hamstrings and poor groin flexibility keeping me from getting my knees back far enough. Maybe weak hip flexors too. I could fee them working pretty hard when I was pulling myself with them and my hamstring into a position I could launch from the box. Although honestly, I’m not sure if it matters a ton since I’m training for a raw squat.
255
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295
a sixth slipped in there somehow haha
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Although honestly, I’m not sure if it matters a ton since I’m training for a raw squat.
[/quote]
Fletch, if you have a raw meet in the forseeable future, I’d stay away from box squats for now. They will mess with your form to some degree. I’d hate to see you screw yourself up that way. If you don’t have a meet and are learning this to better yourself, that’s cool. I have found that box squats carry over better for real life stuff. They are easier on my old ass and I feel better afterwards. Free squats are cool too, don’t get me wrong.
I figured if I free squatted at least once a week it’ll turn out okay. I’ll just have to see.
