Box Squat Training - speed and band work - 10/3/09

This morning, I wanted to focus on the speed of my squats. One of the best ways to develop your speed out of the bottom of the squat is to use bands. In today's training, I used green bands and a box with a thin foam.

For the bands, as you sit back in the squat, the tension lessens and allows you to explode out of the bottom. As you rise up, the tension increases and actually adds more weight to your lift. The box also increases the difficulty (or at least is intended ) as it takes away the kinetic energy from the downward motion of your squat and forces you to work harder to get out of the hole. I find the foam helpful on days I feel a little stiff in the hips. Here is what I did today.

(weight x reps x sets)

Box squats with foam

325 x 2 x 1

375 x 2 x 1

325 x 2 x 6

Front Squats

225 x 10 x 1

275 x 8 x 2

Sled (backward) superset w/ undergrip band squats

(1 sled rep is up and back on the turf)

220 x 2 x 2 sled superset w/ green and blue band squats

Dumbbell side bends (ab work)

3 sets of 45 lbs

Knee ups

3 sets (10 lbs on ankles)

I am also not wearing a belt as I want to focus on strengthening my core.

One of the things I really need to work on is keeping my core tight during the entire lift. I have a tendency to relax when I hit the box and get loose in the hips. When this occurs, the weight moves slower and feels much heavier. In the first video, you can see I was a little loose and my chest started down.

However, in this second video and 6 sets later, I stayed much tighter and chest up. As you can see, moved a little faster and more efficiently.