The Banded Box Sit-Down Stand-Up

Trail Log · Movement Breakdown

The reverse band box squat is for people who looked at regular box squats and thought, 'This is fine, but what if it were more complicated and also the weight changed throughout the movement?' You set up inside a power rack with a box behind you at the appropriate height, drape bands from the top of the rack down to the barbell on your shoulders, and proceed to squat down to the box and back up while the bands do their strange, accommodating-resistance dance.

You get under the bar, position it across the back of your shoulders, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and rotate your elbows forward like you're trying to bend the bar over your back — a mental cue that creates upper-back tension. You walk the bar out, set your feet in your preferred stance — wider for more glute and hamstring emphasis, narrower for more quad dominance — and begin your descent with your core braced and your back tight.

You sit back until your glutes touch the box, pause there for a moment while relaxing your hip flexors (never bounce off the box — that's a one-way ticket to Spineville), and then drive up through your heels, pushing your knees out and directing the movement with your head. The bands deload the weight at the bottom and increase it at the top, which means you're building explosive strength out of the hole and lockout power at the top. It's a sophisticated training tool for serious squatters who want to build power at every point in the movement.