Smith machine or squat rack for squats?

[The_Irish_Dave]

Listen to nowaymang and hitman and that Irish fella I can't accept that box squats are one of the worst exercises from a safety point of view. You must be doing them wrong if that's the case that's all I say. They're one of the most fundamental leg exercises in powerlifting.

[MuscleScience]

Listen to nowaymang and hitman and that Irish fella I can't accept that box squats are one of the worst exercises from a safety point of view. You must be doing them wrong if that's the case that's all I say. They're one of the most fundamental leg exercises in powerlifting.

It's a very simply explaination as why box squat is one of the all time worst exercises. When the body is in the sitting position, the forces on the lumbar spine are doubled. That means the discs are being squashed as well as the boney structures and the ligaments holding the vertebra together. So in effect the load on the low back is doubled when still. Now couple this with the compressive impulse that happens when someone sits with a load across the shoulders and the forces involved are even higher. On top of that the force it takes to then move the weight from the sitting position to the standing position is high as well. To move a 400lbs weight, one has to create more than 400lbs of force to break the initial inertia and move upwards against gravity.

I'm not saying someone can't perform box squat safely and effectively. My point is that the risk vs benefit with this exercise is not worth it in my opinion. Other exercises can be performed much more safely and with a much lower risk for injury with nearly the same benefit.