A banded squat is a bodyweight squat with a small loop band around your legs, just above the knees. The band tries to pull your knees together. So while your thighs and buttocks lower and lift you, the muscles at the side of your hip have to work to keep your knees in line with your toes.

How to do the banded squat

Put a light loop band around both legs, just above your knees. Stand with your feet about hip width apart, toes pointing forward, arms by your sides.
Raise both arms straight out in front of you to shoulder height. This helps you balance as you sit back.
Bend your hips and knees together and sit your bottom back and down, as if onto a chair. Keep your chest lifted and the natural gentle curve in your lower back. Do not let it round.
Keep gentle outward pressure against the band so your knees stay in line with your second toe. Go only as low as you can control, down to about where your thighs are level with the floor.
Push through your whole foot to stand up tall, then repeat.

What you should feel

Your thighs and buttocks do the lifting. You should also feel the sides of your hips working to hold the band apart.

Common mistakes

Letting the band pull your knees inward, often on the way back up.
Letting your heels come up as you go down. Keep your weight spread over the whole foot.
Choosing a band so strong that you cannot keep your knees in line.
Dropping fast into the bottom of the squat instead of lowering with control.

How often

Many programs start with 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, a few days a week, with a light band. Your physio will adjust the band, the depth and the numbers.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the knee or hip, or pain that keeps building through the set.
Your knee gives way, locks or catches.
You feel it mostly in your lower back, even with a shallower squat.

From the clinic

The voice guide for this exercise talks about standing on a Bosu ball. The video shows the squat done on the floor, and the steps on this page follow the video. Squatting on a wobbly surface is a much harder balance task, so save that for when your physio suggests it.

If the band makes your knees wobble or collapse inward, take it off and get comfortable with the plain squat first. A chair behind you gives you a depth target and somewhere to sit if you tire. If you have had a hip or knee replacement, get the go-ahead from your surgeon or physio before you try banded squats. A deep squat bends the hip well past a right angle, and many surgeons ask you to avoid that for the first months after some operations. Your surgical team will also tell you how deep you are allowed to squat and when a band can be added. The lateral band walk uses a similar band to work the side of the hip while you step.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-26.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Banded squat