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Box Squat substitute?

Zeus79

New member
Hey guys, I just started theWestside program. So far it's going well, but I have one shortcomming. My gym doesn't have a box for the squat, so on ME day, I've been doing regular squats. Is this bad? or what can I do to sub for the box squats? will a flat bench work?
 
get some wood and make one.the problem with the bench is it won't be as good unless it happens to be low enough to get you below parallel.
 
X is whatever suits your purposes, usually 1 inch below whatever height is parallel for you.

Although you may get a bigger or smaller box to try and hit several weak points...

-Zulu
 
hey man i have the same problem

heres the anwser

take a little ride on down to your friendly neighborhood supermarket.......... aske them if you can have a milk crate

yeah i look funny carrying it in........... but i dont look funny being the biggest squatter with the biggest legs in the gym either\

just stack plates on/or under it to get to the desired height.

works great.........

hope i helped

X
 
Do you mean on dynamic day. Hell , i just went to the nearest home depot and made one. I asked my gym if they minded me bringing in all this wierd shit to train with and they didn't really care so every friday here i come with two wood boxes. IF you are talking about ME day do goodmornings
 
How about squatting from the bottom postion in a power rack? I prefer these over box squats. I perfom them as a set of singles rather than touch and go reps. Between each rep I let the bar completely rest on the crash bars, loosen my form, and then reset. Each rep is a true push from the bottom position.
 
Highwayman, I've found that when doing that, my groove is never perfect as the eccentric part of the squat tends to set you up in a much better position for the concentric part than when only doing the concentric alone. When only doing concentric, you're also losing the best part of the exercise.
 
BigArnie...

You do bring up a good point. It is harder to set yourself starting from the concentric. It takes practice to set yourself up tight from the bottom position, and some may find that it just doesn't suit them. There still is an eccentric part of the lift though, because you have to lower the weight back down to the pins. I use a slow cadence for the eccentric.

I've just never had much of a liking for box squats, but lots of guys use them with good results. I have nothing against them, I just choose not to do them.

Take it easy.
 
Highwayman, that sounds interesting. What percentage of your 1RM are you able to do this at? How deep do you start off from? I would imagine that it would be very difficult to get a heavy weight moving this way.

Arnie
 
Bottom position rack squats are not a substitute for box squats on dynamic day. Might not be a bad ME exercise...1 out of every 10 weeks maybe.

B True
 
BigArnie,

I can do about 80% of my 1RM. I start off slightly below parallel. I am a high-bar deep squatter, so this is actually a little high for me. But, any lower and it is really hard to set my back. And yes, it is very hard to break the inertia with heavy weight.

As far as being a subsitute for box squats, I should probably shut my mouth. As I said, I don't really like to perform box squats, so I guess I can't really make a fair comparision without having a lot of experience with the exercise.

Truth be known, I am not really a "hardcore" powerlifter. I don't much care for Westside methods (though I'm not saying there is anything wrong with them), and my routine is actually a hybrid of olympic weightlifting and powerlifting, and I will be adding an "odd object" day this week. I'm really more into overall strength training, rather than one specific event. I do like competetive powerlifting, although I have competed only once last year for the first time (a hand injury prevented me from competing further). My hand is healed up now and I plan on competing at least twice this year, though my training routine will not be 100% powerlifting focused.
 
Lots of people never get much out of WSB for the squat, but most all do on the bench press. Also...please remember that not many people actualy follow the WSB principles like they are full outlined, bands, chains, sled, rev hyper...etc...it must be followed.

B True
 
not only that b fold.........but people dont address their weak points. by not addressing weak points, you wont progress.

the second thing i have to add, is over kill on supp and acces movements.
i have seen a couple people burn out on the accessory and suplemental movements and over train.

the great thing (and a down fall for the people who dont.....) is you tailor the program too you and your goals. Thats what attracted me. I have a few weak points.....and i dont have to stop to build them up...i can progress and still pay attention to those areas and they compliment all the other work.
 
BFTT,

I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm not anti-WSB, not at all. I'm not going to try to discredit WSB or anything, that would be silly. I'm just saying that it's not really for ME. More power to the guys who like it and want to do it. Like I said, I'm not 100% into powerlifting. I have other lifting interests as well, so devoting myself 100% to any powerlifting program would take away from my other interests. There are techniques of WSB that I like, and those I don't. That's just me. I have recently incorporated the use of chains to my bench press, though I use them for power cleans as well, and I've been doing reverse hypers since before I even heard the name Louie Simmons.

I'm new here, and I'm trying to figure out how this board is, so if you guys really want to kill me because I'm not into WSB training, then let me know, and I'll leave.
 
NO no no...I understand exactly what you mean. I can not fully do WSB becuase it really taxes my body too much after doing events.

Don't think anyone was bashing you man...don't worry. WSB is not for everyone...

What type of routine are you doing now..I'm interested.

B True
 
I was only kidding bro.

the more people with different ways of training the better.....we can all help each other out.

not every program suits everybody.......if you have found one that works for you STICK WITH IT
 
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