Squats

Squats are arguably the best total lower body exercise there is. The primal, yet elegant movement requires your legs, glutes, and core to work in harmony to perform the complex movement pattern correctly. The unique blend of benefits that squat bandsoffer make them a natural fit in all leg workouts, regardless if you are in a CrossFit box, Calisthenics environment, pole studio, or in your living room or park.

Adding resistance bands to the squat offers a natural ascending resistance to the exercise. Your legs exert more force as you push through the range of motion, the bands stretch further to challenge you with increasingly more resistance. The elastic resistance also places less stress on joints while giving you the same free range of motion and level of strength trainingderived from working out with free weights.

Squat Exercise with Resistance Bands

1. Stabilize one band under both feet and grasp the other end in your hands.

2. Unlock your hips, drop your butt down as if to sit on a chair, and slowly squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.

3. Without bouncing at the bottom, push yourself up through your heels back to an upright position.

Tips for Squats with Bands Exercises

• Focus eyes on a specific point in front of you to help your balance.

• Keep your feet shoulder-width apart with your weight on your heels and your head in a neutral position looking straight ahead.

• Make sure your lower back remains flat, chest up, and shoulders back for correct muscle activation.

• You can increase intensity by lowering down as far as you can (without pain) while maintaining proper form.

• Make sure your knees do not extend past your toes when you look down -- if they do, you are leaning too far forward.

• Keep your knees tracking directly over your feet (push them out a little if they drift in)

• Point your toes outward to engage inner thigh muscles, and point toes inward to engage outer thighs.

• Before each rep, take a breath in and then slowly exhale as you push yourself back up to an upright position

• You should feel the tension in your thighs and buttocks, not the knees or back.

Squat Exercises with Bands Variations:

1. Overhead Squats: Extend your arms up, lock out your elbows, and hold the band(s) above your head in a static position as you push up and slightly back. Try and keep the band directly overhead as you perform your set.

2. Front Squats: Position the resistance band in front of your face just below your chin and tuck your elbows into the middle of the band so it rests between your throat and upper chest.  Keep your elbows pointed forward and your upper arms parallel to the floor.

3. Back Squats: Push the band over your head and rest it behind your neck on top of your traps (or rear shoulders). Keep your chest and shoulders open as you perform your resistance band squats.

4. One leg: Place one foot on a chair behind you and perform your single leg squats by pressing entirely through the other leg on the ground.

5. Two bands: Stabilize one band under each foot with the other end crossed over your body and stabilized around the opposite shoulder so that the two bands create an X across your body.

Target Muscles: Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves), Core