# Band Squat: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads, glutes
- Also works: hamstrings
- Equipment: band
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/band_squat/580740e540/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Stand on the middle of the band with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bring the handles up to the front of your shoulders, palms facing in, elbows forward.
3. Push your hips back and bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
4. Drive through your whole foot and stand all the way up against the band.

## Cues

- Chest up, elbows forward.
- Knees follow your toes.
- Squeeze your glutes at the top.

## Common mistakes

- Letting the knees fall in as the band gets tight.
- Rising onto the toes.
- Cutting the rep short at the top, where the band is hardest.

## The version in our demo

A tube band with handles, standing on the middle of the band, handles racked on the front of the shoulders. The band adds load as you stand up, so the top is the hardest part.

## Starting position

Stand on the band with the feet about shoulder-width apart (0.9–1.0 × shoulder width), toes out about 10°. Bring the handles up to the front of the shoulders, palms facing in, elbows forward and a little out; the band runs up the outside of the legs. Stand tall, chest up, ribs down, weight spread over the whole foot.

## The movement

Sit the hips back and down while the knees bend forward over the toes. Keep the chest up and the handles on the shoulders. Squat until the thighs are parallel to the floor, then push through the whole foot to stand all the way up against the band.

## Breathing

Breathe in at the top and on the way down; breathe out as you stand up.

## Tempo

About 1.8 s down, a brief touch at the bottom, 1.4 s up, a short pause standing.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stance, heel to heel | 0.9–1.0 × shoulder width | 0.8–1.2 × |  |
| Toe-out | 10° | 0–20° |  |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 2 cm below (parallel) | 0–5 cm below |  |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 124° | 110–130° |  |
| Shin forward of vertical at the bottom | 33° | 25–40° |  |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 37–41° | 30–45° |  |
| Knee direction vs toe direction | within 2° | within 10° |  |
| Hands | on the front of the shoulders all the rep | no drift |  |
| Heel lift | 0 cm | 0 cm |  |

## Sources

1. [ExRx.net, "Band Squat" (stand on the band, handles at the shoulders, squat to parallel, stand up)](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/BandSquat)
2. [ACE Exercise Library, "Bodyweight Squat" and "Front Squat" (stance, knees over toes, heels down, depth to parallel)](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/)
3. NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15 (squat technique

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/band-squat