I completely back the Westside mindset of box squatting almost exclusively. It’ll only do good things for your competition squat, this is of course assuming that your free squat technique is solid and you already know what you’re doing. Anyone saying that box squatting makes you lose your ability to free squat or that it’s a bad idea for raw lifters is either 1) an idiot or 2) had no real technique base with no lifting experience prior to the box squat. Even then, I can’t imagine it taking more than one workout to bring your free squat to where it needs to be.

looking forward to your comments, especially regarding the points brought up by Łukasz (injury of knee/hip, squat depth APF vs. IPF, etc).

Greetings from Japan

“the biggest misconception is that there is such an overreaction to everything. For example, when the Swiss Ball became popular it became the staple of many programs. It’s a great tool but shouldn’t make up the bulk of your program. Everything has its place; you just have to be smart enough to figure out where and when.” Jim Wendler

I compete in Skeleton bob at a national level at the minute but used to compete for Great Britian as a power lifter so i used them as a staple then.

I use them in meso-cylces now. 3 weeks box, 3 weeks front squat, 3 weeks partial and so on.
I have found them to develop alot if hip drive for me that i need in order to push my sled.

I do agree that you can become too reliant on them to make depth at comps as i found out the hard way at times but if you have the box set up properly (in terms of depth) then its not a huge shock to the system. Soo many people set the height way too high then suffer at comps. I do partial squats to help my drive phase in pushing my sled but even then it looks deeper then some guys i know that do “normal box squats”

So i think they are good and as a S&C coach i use them alot with my athletes. As dave said it is the easiest way of teaching someone to squat.
Tell someone to squat and there technique is all over the place, tell then to sit down slowly with the bar on there back and done!!! lol

Happy squatting

Theoretically it’s good movement, which give you:
- faster regeneration
- easier to teach, more natural move for beginners – it’s like siting to chair
- possibility to activate harmsting,butt, low back -> more muscles used in movement=bigger weight on a bar

When box squating with narrow stance can be useful*, I can’t understand wide-stance-WSBC- squating. I think my english isn’t good enough to explain what I mean,but it’s always easier to destroy some object pressuring it (force react on knees in wide stance) ,than pulling it (force react on knees in closer stance,olympic deep squat).

*I also can’t understand why box squating in WSB is main squating exercise. It’s like doing weighted dips instead of powerlifting bench pressing. With that example box squating can be done in dynamic effort day(lighter squat day)/ or like accessory movement,but why in max effort day?

Next.I don’t want to jugde powerlifting federations, but most of that squat/bench records APF will never be accepted in IPF cause squats in APF aren’t enough deep, and benches don’t have “1 sec on chest” phase.

Anyway,all I want to say is that we don’t need box squating to be strong as hell (ex.: Daniel Miller -Squat 356 kg at 82,5kg body weight class – 1 ply gear,drug tested!).

I respect Loui Simmons and especially Dave Tate,but there are many voices that all that conjugated periodization,dynamic efford days and box squating is waste of time and the power of WSB isn’t in methods but in the Club,when you train with the best powerlifters in that federation.
Of course it’s only my honest opinion,but it’s statring that some of WSBC guys saying that.

While I understand that an elite few have done well at Westside Barbell (all for various reasons), how many thousands of other people have failed attempting to use their same techniques? Like Vic Small implies, only a few gifted people have the potential to get really strong. Genetics determines that.

I became used to squatting with a box. Think about it, that’s what you’re training your body to do: squat with a box. As in all sports, you want to practice the sport/action exactly as you would in the sport and doing a box squat doesn’t carry over into a meet unless you’re wearing gobs of gear.

Additionally, no where in any athletic event, will you be “sitting back” with the weight like that and completely deloading (albeit for a second) the muscle being used.