Box Squat

intermediate · squat

Setup

Set a sturdy box or bench at a height that brings you to a thigh-parallel squat when you sit on it, placed just behind your standing position in the rack. Set the rack's safety pins just below where the bar sits when you are down on the box — upper-back height, not hip height — so the bar has something to land on if you have to bail.

Execution

Set the bar on your upper back as in a normal squat, and step out of the rack with the box just behind your heels.
Inhale, push your hips back and lower down as if sitting back rather than dropping straight down.
Touch the box lightly with both sides of your hips at the same time, keeping your shins close to vertical.
Keep the core braced and the back flat at the touch, without relaxing or sitting down to rest.
Exhale, drive the hips forward and stand up powerfully, without needing a bounce off the box.
If the load is too heavy and you cannot stand up, sit down on the box, push the bar backwards off your shoulders onto the safety pins, then step forward out of the rack.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower to the box, exhale as you stand up. Do not hold your breath for long while seated on the box; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, use a lighter load and always set the safety pins at the right height.

Quick cues

Sit back, don't drop straight down.
Light touch on the box, don't sit down.
Stand up with no bounce.
Core braced through the touch.

Common faults

Fault: Bouncing off the box to help stand back up
Fix: Come to a complete stop at the touch, then actively drive the hips to stand.
Fault: Sitting fully down and relaxing the core on the box
Fix: Only touch lightly and keep the core braced through contact — it is not a resting point.
Fault: Dropping straight down instead of pushing the hips back
Fix: Drill pushing the hips back before the knees bend, aiming the hips at the box.
Fault: Choosing a box too low, rounding the lower back at the touch
Fix: Raise the box height until the thighs are parallel to the floor while the back stays flat.

Equipment

barbell, squat_rack, box

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back