I have been thinking of a rep or dynamic day and a heavy day. Maybe box Squat or Pin Squat on the second day. I have never spent time with the box Squat and it is an interesting exercise to me.
Box Squats
They are an interesting exercise.
As a Powerlifter, I have used them for years. Initially, I did not quite see the value or carry over.
With that said, they have a place on the Training Table, dependent what your objective is.
The History of Box Squats
As most know, the Westside Powerlifting Training Program put Box Squats on the map. Louie Simmons took George Frenn and Joe DeMarco's Box Training Program and mainstreamed it into strength training.
On a side note, George Frenn was a former Olympic Hammer Thrower who also competed in Powerlifting with the Culver City, CA Westside Barbell Club.
Joe DeMarco was one of Frenn's cohorts when it came to innovative training. I got to interview DeMarco years ago. DeMarco is brilliant.
DeMarco along with Frenn devised "The "Original Westside Box Squatting Method". DeMarco also invented the Lever Action Powerlifting Belt and came up with some unconventional training method; DeMarco was decades ahead of his time.
However, DeMarco remains an unknown with most Powerlifters/Strength Athletes. Initially, I had no idea of who DeMarco was until I met another lifter who was being trained by him.
Geroge Frenn Squatted 853 lbs at a body weight of 242 lbs in 1972 in a wrestling singlet using the "The Original Westside Box Squat Method". Frenn's 853 lb Squat in 1972 was around 50 lb more than the rest of the world.
The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban: Conditioned Legs Break Squat Records - George Frenn (1972)
"The Original Westside Box Squat Method"
This method isn't the same as Simmons Westside Box Squat Method. In my interview with DeMarco, I ask why. As per DeMarco, Simmons only read about the method. Simmons never spoke with Frenn nor DeMarco or visited them to learn about "The Original Westside Box Squat Method".
With "The Original Westside Box Squat Method", Low Box and High Box Squat Training is employed.
As I learned in a training session demonstration with Demarco, "The Original Westside Method" is more of a "Rocking Box Squat" ( as Ron Frenando described in an article years ago.)
The Method is as follows...
1) Sit back on the box, then rock back a little.
2) To get up off the box, lean and rock forward. Think of it like getting off of a sofa.
3) Just prior to driving up, while still sitting on the box, lift your heals up but keep your toes on the floor.
4) As you start your to ascent, drive your heals hard into the floor, slam them into the floor.. Yea, I know this sounds weird. It took me some time to coordinate that.
Driving your heals hard into the floor increases your power in coming off the box.
Think of rocking forward and then driving your heals into the floor as getting a "Running Start" in a sprint.
Getting a "Running Start" in let say a 40 meter sprint means your time is better than starting from a dead stop, coming out of the blocks; the same occurs with "The Original Westside Box Squat Method", you move more weight with a "Running Start".
The Simmons' Westside Method
With this method, a slight pause is taken on the box before driving the weight up. As Simmons' notes, it breaks up the Eccentric-Concentric Movement.
Research show that a pause of 4 seconds or longer kills the stretch reflex (
Supertraining)
The Plyometric Box Squat
In Powerlifting one of the keys to increasing your 1 Repetition Max is to develop your stretch reflex in the bottom of the Squat. The only way to develop the stretch reflex is by training it.
Developing the stretch reflex has been show to increase Power Output up to 18%.
Think of the hole position of the Squat as a mud hole that you are going to drive your car through. The more power (stretch reflex) you can produce come out of the hole the greater the likelihood you'll get out of the mud hole/get the weight past your sticking point.
"Squatting: To Be Explosive, Train Explosive"
This article appeared in the 2003 issue of "Powerlifting USA" magazine.
This article involves an unorthodox method; performing a Box Squat with a bounce off the box. This article by myself and Tom Morris, MS (Exercise Physiology) was/still is controversial due to the concern of trauma to the lower back.
With that said, it took me some experimental time to develop the "Plometric Box Squat Method".
There is definitely a risk factor involved in the "The Plyometric Box Squat" but it definitely works.
I used this method to Squat 562 lbs/255 kg at a 208 lb body weight. So, the information provided is based on research and practical experience.
I still use this method.
However, due to the risk,
I am not an advocate of it, without expert supervision.
With that said, some types of plyometric squatting needs to be employed.
Below are some recommended progressions in the development of the stretch reflex from "Squatting: To Be Explosive, Train Explosive"...
Jump Squats: Jump squats involve performing a typical squat with the only difference being that the individual aggressively explodes up during the concentric phase of the lift. The powerful extension of the hips and knees should propel the lifter into the air as if s/he were performing a vertical jump. Initially, the lifter should perform the exercise without weight just utilizing their body weight. As one's tolerance improves, external weight may be added. When performing non-resisted jump squats, the authors suggest using an aggressive arm swing as a form of sprint assisted training (over speed training) to more fully exploit power output.
Load Release Jumps. Load release jumps are similar in nature to jump squats. Two of the methods that can be utilized are dumbbell release jumps squats and barbell jump squats with weight releasers attached to the bar.
Dumbbell release jumps squats involve a bench or box and a dumbbell. Place the Bench or box in front of you. You will be jumping up on it.
Get a dumbbell and hold it in front of you. Quickly drop into a squat. As you drop into a squat; the dumbbell will end up between your legs.
Just prior to exploding up onto the bench, release the dumbbell. Wearing a weight vest can provide additional loading to this movement.
The second form of load release jumps is barbell jump squats with weight releasers. Weight Releasers are attached to the barbell. The weight releasers can be set to fall off the bar at a selected height, thus a load release effect is achieved. Once the load is released, the lifter explodes into the air in essence performing a vertical jump.
Depth Jumps: Depth jumps involve stepping off boxes of various heights and upon landing on the floor with both legs simultaneously, exploding vertically into he air…again aggressively using the arms the added power. "The average heights for depth jumps are 0.75-0.8 meters (27-30 inches). Athletes over 220 pounds should use heights of 0.5-0.75 meters (18-27 inches)." (Dassie, 1999).
To reiterate,
the method below should not be used without expert supervision.
Plyometric Bouncing Box Squats: Plyometric bouncing box squats involve performing loaded squats to a box placed under the lifter's mid hamstring-glute area. By allowing the legs to hit in this area, it reduces the loading on the spine, the legs absorbing the majority of the impact. As the lifter eccentrically lowers him/herself down to the box, they quickly reverse the movement by bouncing off the box and forcefully exploding upward completing the squat.
Summary
"The Original Westside Box Squat", Simmons "Westside Box Squat" and Plyometric Box Squat Training Exercises" each elicits a different training response.
One is not better than the other, they are just different.
Kenny Croxdale