Box squat
- Position a barbell on your upper back and stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width, with a box or bench directly behind you.
- Lower your hips back and down with control, keeping your shins as vertical as possible until your glutes make light contact with the box.
- Sit completely on the box for a brief second to break all momentum, ensuring you keep your core tight and your chest upright.
- Drive explosively through your heels to return to a full standing position, exhaling as you reach the top of the movement.
Tips
- When you make contact with the box, sit fully and let your hips settle completely before driving back up, so that all momentum from the descent is eliminated before the ascent begins.
- Keep your shins as close to vertical as possible throughout the descent by pushing your hips back first, rather than letting your knees travel forward over your feet.
- Drive through your heels with deliberate force on the way up, keeping your chest upright and your hips rising at the same rate as your shoulders so the torso angle stays consistent.
Common mistakes
- Bouncing off the box instead of pausing fully means momentum carries over from the descent into the ascent, bypassing the dead-stop that defines the exercise.
- Allowing the torso to fold forward sharply as you sit onto the box, rather than maintaining an upright chest, causes the hips to tuck under and makes it harder to drive back up with control.
- Letting the knees cave inward during the drive up is a visible breakdown in lower-body alignment that can be corrected by actively pressing the knees out in the direction of the toes throughout the ascent.
Make Every Set Count.
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