--- title: "Building Blocks: Barbell Squat Variations Day 3" description: BridgeAthletic launches there Building Blocks Campaign which focuses on providing a progressive look at building better athletes. --- [![BridgeAthletic Blog](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hs-fs/hub/414934/file-1317417595.png?width=150&height=50&name=file-1317417595.png "BridgeAthletic Blog")](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com) - [BridgeAthletic.com→](https://bridgeathletic.com/) October 09, 2015 By Nick Folker # Building Blocks: Barbell Squat Variations Day 3 Share: - - - Moving back to the Back Squat, the emphasis is now on power development. Using bands on either side of the bar adds resistance to both the concentric and eccentric segments of the squat eliciting different physiological responses with each segment. #### **Exercise 2: Band Barbell Back Squat**        **Tips:** Just as with the Overhead Squat, stability throughout the movement is critical. The first area of focus is to resist the tension created by the bands on the descent to load your muscles and create an increased time under tension. At the bottom of the movement, there is less of a pause as with the regular Back Squat. The pause is to stabilise against the resistance of the bands before starting the counter-drive against the bands. It is important to keep your center of gravity over the mid-section of your feet to avoid the bands pulling you forward in the counter-movement. The second area of focus is to emphasise pushing away from the floor, without raising your heels, to create optimal hip extension against the resistance of the bands. At the top of the movement, pause to stabilise and collect yourself, then repeat for presecribed reps. Do not let your momentum get ahead of your control of the bar and quality mechanics. **More Building Blocks:** Check out more from our building Blocks Series. [**Download our e-book**](https://bridgeathletic-1.hs-sites.com/buildingblocks)to receive an in-depth look at our full August Building Blocks! [Day 1: Front Squat](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/barbell-squat-variations)[Day 2: Barbell Overhead Squat](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/front-bridge-day-2-0) ### **Summary:** Thanks for joining us on the first stage of the BW Pullup progression. Follow us on Facebook at [https://www.facebook.com/BridgeAthletic](https://www.facebook.com/BridgeAthletic), Twitter at [https://twitter.com/BridgeAthletic](https://twitter.com/BridgeAthletic) or on Instagram using the handle BridgeAthletic in order to see the rest of the progression.   Want Feedback? We're here to help. We highly encourage you and your athletes to share videos and pictures performing the exercises. Use #BuildBetterAtheltes in order to receive feedback and guidance from one of our elite coaches on the BridgeAthletic Performance Team.    Be sure to check back tomorrow for more Building Blocks! [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/414934/b3a32c4c-d3d2-48c4-b1cb-3f1a3d779a69.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/414934/b3a32c4c-d3d2-48c4-b1cb-3f1a3d779a69) #### About the Author [Nick Folker](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/author/nick-folker) ![](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hs-fs/hub/414934/file-1250764216.jpg?width=75&name=file-1250764216.jpg) Nick Folker is the Co-Founder and Director of Elite Performance at BridgeAthletic. Nick’s roster of athletes includes 35 Olympians winning 22 Olympic Medals, 7 team NCAA Championships and over 170 individual and relay NCAA championships. ### Related Posts [![](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hubfs/athlete-plays-ice-hockey-in-an-arena-2026-01-07-05-48-05-utc%20(1).jpg)](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/nhl-testing-without-test-day) June 30, 2026 #### [How NHL Teams Are Tracking Performance...](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/nhl-testing-without-test-day) The new NHL CBA removes mandatory fitness testing during training camp and the regular season. For... [Read More](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/nhl-testing-without-test-day) [![](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hubfs/issa-strength-and-conditioning-coach-bench-press.jpeg)](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/the-bridged-floor-press-the-best-bench-press-variation-youre-not-doing) March 1, 2023 #### [The Best Bench Press Variation You’re...](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/the-bridged-floor-press-the-best-bench-press-variation-youre-not-doing) *This post is part of our Coaches Corner series with Taylor Rimmer. Taylor is NSCA-CPT, StrongFirst...* [Read More](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/the-bridged-floor-press-the-best-bench-press-variation-youre-not-doing) [![](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_168424497-1.jpeg)](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/does-powerlifting-health) August 5, 2019 #### [Does Powerlifting Harm Heart Health?](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/does-powerlifting-health) A recent study has discovered that a 12-week supervised strength training program (SSTP) may result... [Read More](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/does-powerlifting-health) ## Subscribe to our blog Bunch of awesome content ![BridgeAthletic\_Icon\_Orange (1)](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hs-fs/hubfs/BridgeAthletic_Icon_Orange%20(1).png?width=100&height=27&name=BridgeAthletic_Icon_Orange%20(1).png) - - - - © 2026 BridgeAthletic [Bridge Blog](https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/) [Explore BridgeAthletic ➞](https://www.bridgeathletic.com) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Nick Folker", "url" : "https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/author/nick-folker" }, "datePublished" : "2015-10-10T02:01:20.000Z", "headline" : "Building Blocks: Barbell Squat Variations Day 3", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/front-bridge-day-2-0-0", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/hubfs/Bridge%20Logo%20Black%20%5B1200%5D.png" }, "name" : "BridgeAthletic" } } ```