Box Squats

What you'll gain

• Gives every rep a fixed depth target without guessing parallel.

• Teaches a hips-back squat that many lifters miss on a free squat.

• Lets coaches load speed or paused work from the same setup.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Set a sturdy box behind you at about parallel and unrack a barbell across the upper back.

2. 2

   Step back so the box sits just behind your heels and set the feet a little wider than the shoulders.

3. 3

   Brace the trunk, then sit the hips back and down until they rest on the box.

4. 4

   Pause briefly without bouncing or rounding the low back.

5. 5

   Drive the feet into the floor and stand until the hips and knees are straight.

6. 6

   Reset the stance and repeat, keeping the bar path over the midfoot.

Common Mistakes

• Dropping onto the box and bouncing, which skips the pause the drill is for.

• Letting the knees cave in as you sit back.

• Rounding the low back on the box instead of staying braced.

• Setting the box so high that the hips never reach a useful depth.

About This Exercise

Box squats put a box or bench behind the lifter so each rep has a clear target. With a barbell on the upper back you sit the hips back and down until they meet the box, pause without collapsing, then drive back to standing. Two common styles are a light touch-and-go or a full sit that breaks the stretch reflex. Either way the box teaches a consistent depth and a hips-back pattern: chest up, sit into the hips, then press the floor away. For a catalog this is the powerlifting-style squat clip that is not a free-depth back squat. It fits barbell filters, squat-pattern collections, and coaching content on depth and sitting back to the hips.

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