Box Squat with Bands
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a rack, a box and a resistance band
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
- Set a box behind you at a height where your thighs will be parallel or slightly below, and loop bands from the bar to anchors on the floor or the rack.
- Take the bar on your upper back, unrack, and set your feet a little wider than shoulder width with the toes out.
- Push the hips back and sit down onto the box, keeping the shins vertical and the chest up.
- Sit fully on the box for a moment, keeping the whole body braced, without relaxing or rocking.
- Drive up off the box by pushing the knees out and the hips forward, standing hard against the growing band tension.
- Lock out fully at the top, where the bands are tightest, then reset before the next descent.
Common mistakes
- Rocking off the box. The pause is a dead stop and the drive starts from stillness; rocking back and forward to get going is exactly what the box is there to prevent.
- Relaxing on the box. The weight on the back is the same whether you are sitting or standing; going soft at the bottom hands the load to the spine.
- Letting the knees drift forward. The shins stay vertical as the hips reach back; knees that travel forward are squatting, not sitting.
- Slowing down at the top. The bands are tightest at lock-out and the stand is driven hard all the way through; easing off up top is what the bands are there to punish.