Get more out of your Squats with Power Bands

Squats are undoubtedly one of the first go-to movements in the weight room for developing lower body strength. Of course, depending on one’s training goals the specifics in terms of squat type, resistance level, sets, and reps will differ. However, what can be said is that incorporating Power Bands into squat training can offer benefits to a variety of athletes and gym-goers. This article will explain these different benefits by first considering the more commonly used band resisted squats, and then exploring the utility of band assisted squats.

Band Resisted Squats

It is important to first emphasise that the addition of bands has different effects depending on the specific movement in question (e.g. band resisted squats differ from band resisted deadlifts, band resisted pull ups, etc.) However, the important question to ask is; for a given individual, where is the most difficult portion of the lift? Speaking generally, most will find the bottom portion of a squat, where the glutes, quads, and calves are at their greatest length, to be the most difficult. Squats exhibit what is known as an “ascending strength curve”, where joint torque increases throughout the concentric phase. With this in mind, an athlete looking to achieve hypertrophy through squats may benefit from adding bands, as this increases the resistance in the top portion of the lift where muscles are at a more optimal length to produce force (known as “accommodating resistance”). In this way, the entire range of motion can be made more uniformly challenging and mechanical tension through a range of muscle lengths can be maximised.

Conversely, for a competitive strength athlete like a powerlifter or weightlifter with a prominent sticking point in the bottom portion of the lift, adding band resistance to a squat that equalises the tension throughout the movement may be less beneficial. The lifter in this case needs to develop speed and power, particularly out of the bottom of the squat. Lighter accomodating resistance would be applicable to train the lifter to constantly accelerate, as opposed to grinding through the lift slowly but surely as described above. A notable example of this is method of training can be seen with Westside Barbell conjugate training. In this method, one training day is devoted to “dynamic effort” lifts, wherein a submaximal load is lifted with the highest possible speed. This approach helps to circumvent fatigue and injury risk associated with many consecutive maximum effort training days. The accommodating resistance of the bands allows for maximum bar acceleration without the need for the lifter to decelerate the bar before lockout. This serves to increase neural drive and rate of force development, which are important factors in expression of strength.

The characteristics of dynamic effort squats also make this
a very useful exercise for athletes, for whom power and rate of force
development are usually an important factor. Indeed, research shows that when
used as an adjunct to traditional strength training, squats with accommodating
resistance lead to greater increases in power during countermovement jumps when
compared with traditional training alone (1, 2).

The question of how much resistance the bands should
contribute to the squat remains up for debate and experimentation. However,
there are some rough guidelines that can be followed. Firstly, if the goal is to
maximise mechanical tension throughout the movement to elicit a strength or
hypertrophy goal, then a band resistance of ~10% at the top of the squat may be appropriate. To determine this,
the athlete can stand with the bar and attached bands on a set of scales to
assess the weight of the system. Suppose you are working with an athlete that
has a 1RM squat of 150 kg, and is to perform 3 repetitions at 90% 1RM on this
day of training. Based on these numbers, a bar weight of approximately 120 kg
and a band resistance of around 15 kg at the top of the squat would be
appropriate. For power and rate of force development training, band resistance
should be increased to 20-30%. In
this instance the same athlete may be performing 5 repetitions at 60% 1RM, so
bar weight would be ~65-70 kg and weight from bands would be ~20-25 kg.

Band Assisted Squats

Though less common then using bands to resist movement, band assisted squats are not simply a clone or mirror image of band resisted squats. Although in practical terms both result in resistance being greater in the top portion of the movement, their applications can vary. Firstly, band assisted squats are a useful tool in rehab progression. In the case of a lower body injury where hip, knee, or ankle flexion is problematic, band assisted squats can unload the tissues in these positions, offering a useful stepping stone in a progression from shortened range squats back to full range squats.

Band assisted squats can also be a terrific addition for
field- and court-based athletes who need to be able to produce substantial
force at relatively low hip, knee, and ankle flexion angles. Band assistance allows
squats to be performed with maximum motor unit recruitment at the key joint
angles near the top of the lift. In addition, the assistance provided in the
lower portion of the movement allows athletes to squat more comfortably to
depth and overcome the inertia of the bar more easily. The added benefit of
this variation for non-strength sport athletes is that eccentric load is low
and the supramaximal weight on the bar can provide a nice ego boost.

Lastly, band assisted squats can aid in the development of
squat mobility and motor control in the lower portion of the movement. Many
weekend gym warriors will face a conflict between performing squats with
correct form and depth and wanting to load up the resistance. Since many
initially lack the mobility and motor control to perform full depth squats,
band assistance provides a nice compromise wherein the lifter can begin to
explore the sensation of squatting to depth while also feeling as though there
is sufficient resistance on the bar.

As previously alluded to, there are few hard and fast rules in relation to exact contributions of band resistance or band assistance to a squat. Self-experimentation is as good an approach as any and there are likely many more applications of both approaches that have not been mentioned in this article and are yet to be explored.

1.        Anderson
CE, Sforzo GA, Sigg JA. The effects of combining elastic and free weight
resistance on strength and power in athletes. J Strength Cond Res.
2008;22(2):567-74.

2.        Wallace BJ, Winchester JB, McGuigan MR.
Effects of elastic bands on force and power characteristics during the back
squat exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2006;20(2):268-72.