Squat Flex – Should You Buy It?

by Patrick

in Uncategorized

squat flexIf you’ve been searching the net for basketball training equipment you’ve probably come across the Squat Flex at some point. This device uses rubber bands for resistance and allows you to basically do squats with bands rather than weights. This might be a nice space saver if you’re the type of person who has a basement workout room. However, at a price of nearly $500  this product is a total rip off.

If you take a look at the Squat Flex that’s advertised on the JumpUSA.com website you can quickly see that this sort of device could me handmade by a novice handyman with very little effort. The supplies to build something like this might cost you $25 at your local hardware store.

JumpUSA has a statement on their sales page that says:

To develop the quads, no other device on the market comes close to offering the awesome 490 lbs of resistance you can get with the Squat Flex.

How about a squat rack? Don’t those offer a lot of resistance? You would be much better off spending your hard earned money on a gym membership so you can have access to a squat rack AND every other piece of weight lifting equipment under the sun. For the amount of money they’re asking for this product it’s definitely not worth it in my opinion. Using an actual squat rack will give you just as good (if not better) of a workout and you won’t have to worry about replacing rubber bands all the time.

If anyone has used this product or has any input on it please leave a comment below. I would love to hear what other people have to say about the Squat Flex.

Related posts:

  1. Resistance Bands
  2. Box Squat Technique
  3. The Vertical Project Review – Don’t Buy It!
  4. Iso-Ballistic Squat Jump

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One of my main passions is helping athletes achieve success. I am the proud owner of VerticalJumpResource.com and I hope you take some time to check out all of my tips and tricks!

Patrick has written 93 awesome articles.

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  • Darryl Williams

    Hello, my name is Darryl. I am an athlete who was thinking the exact same thing that you are, however, I am having a problem finding rubber bands that are similar to the ones used on the squat flex. Do these guys have a patent on them or something? I know someone who can weld the steel for me, I just need the bands. I cant seem to find them anywhere! If you can help me locate them I will be eternally greatful.

    Sincerely,

    Darryl

  • admin

    Hey Darryl,

    Sorry for the late response. It appears that a lot of the band manufacturers are switching to handle based designs. You could probably use something like this:
    http://www.shapeupshop.com/bands_balls_tubes_bars/xercise_bands.htm

    The only problem with that page is that they don’t show the lbs. of resistance. They’re basically sorted into levels of fitness such as “strong” or “average”. You may need to contact them to find out what the resistance levels are in lbs. Hope this helps a bit.

    - Pat

  • http://www.pro-fit-pt.com Pro-Fit

    I agree that the squatflex is a ripoff! It’s similar to the deadlift, but great find on the bands. You can easily make one of these yourself

  • B-Ball Dad

    It would be nice to hear from someone who really understands physiology. Not having used the Squat-Flex, but having trained on “The Leaper” when I was in high school, I do believe that these devices can work better than standard weights. These systems take advantage of the progressive resistance of the bands — much like a spring is easy to move when near its natural length, but it applies a greater force the more it is stretched or compressed. While the speed at which you perform the exercise doesn’t appear to take advantage of plyometric techniques (using the natural “stretchiness” of your muscles), common engineering principles of leverage dictate that the strain on your joints and the progressive nature of the bands would be better than the constant weight that a loaded barbell would provide. Granted, stronger is better, but 420lbs with a barbell is way tougher than 420 lbs of bands on the squat flex, and I’d be willing to bet there aren’t too many body builders that can dunk — at least without damaging their knees.

  • Patrick

    Yeah, I definitely don’t think that there are very many bodybuilders who can dunk. However, I do know a lot of guys who have used squats as a means to increase their vertical jump. The caveat to this is that they also trained with plyometric exercises in order to help them build explosiveness. I’m assuming you’d have to do the same thing with the Squat Flex. This is basically the routine that football players go through. Some of the guys at the NFL combines have over 40 inch verticals. Pretty crazy! The squats are used as a means to simply increase lower body strength.

    I would still tell people not to buy the Squat Flex even if it does work well simply because of the price. At $497 I don’t really think you’d be getting your money’s worth. Just my opinion.

  • Patrick Cummings

    I’m only curious about the squat flex because I’ve now seen 2 trainers, who I have the utmost respect for, have promoted the squat flex saying ‘dunk or your money back- guaranteed’. And when I messaged one of the trainers, he told me that its worth the $300 dollars off because if it didn’t work, I could get the money back. While its a tempting offer, I just don’t know if one exercise could really do what they promise, and if the money back guarantee is legit.

  • Patrick

    I honestly can’t say whether you’d get your money back or not since I haven’t purchased from Jump USA. However, at the price they’re asking I don’t think it would be worth your money. Paying that much money just so you can do one exercise isn’t worth it. On top of that, the one exercise you’d be doing is designed to build strength and not explosiveness. You really want to focus on movements that allow you to explode. Strength is also important, but you’re not necessarily going to jump a lot higher just because you have strong legs. You really need to be able to apply the strength through an explosive movement. This is where plyometric exercises come in.

    The other thing I don’t like is some of the sales tactics they use. It says at the bottom of their sales page that a home squat rack setup costs $2500 dollars. If you go to Amazon you can easily find some really nice squat racks for less than $200. You could even buy a rack that has pull up bars and other things built into it, buy the weights and bars you need, and even use it as a bench press station for less than $1000 total.

    If the squat flex cost less than $50 then maybe it would be a good investment. Even then that’s a bit expensive for something you could build on your own or have someone build for you.

    I’m just curious..where are you getting the $300 dollar figure from?

  • http://squatflex.org Timbo

    I have had good results using the squat flex and yoga. I started with home made squat rack and vertical mastery program. The squat flex is kind of pricey. However, you are only young once and get so many chances to compete. So, in the big picture – a bargain.

  • Patrick

    Hey Tim,

    Glad to hear you’re having good results with the Squat Flex. However, I still think the thing is a waste of money and a total scam considering you could get something much better for the price you have to pay. I noticed that you’re linking to squatflex.org. You wouldn’t happen to be an affiliate of that product, would you? I also have another question. Why do all the squat flex testimonial videos look like they have kids who were paid to say great things about it? Also, if you’re the owner of squatflex.org I’m not sure Jack Woodrup would want you copying his entire sales page word-for-word and just pasting it on your page. Just saying.

    - Pat

  • Moe

    Greetings all,
    I enjoy reading all the responses, but I myself is considering purchasing the squat flex system. I use to be able to jump and dunk when I was about 16 or 17 and now I am 26. I can get up to rim, but an extra two to three inches would help me get back to where I need to be. Basketball season is right around the corner and I am training to start competing again. When i was younger the strength shoes helped me reach those jumping goals and when i use them now, I am not getting the same results. I agree with a comment above, you only live once so i have no problems spending the money. Should i purchase the squat flex, or does someone have a better alternative?

  • Patrick

    Hey Moe,

    Thanks for your comment. If you want to make some gains on your vertical jump I would highly recommend The Jump Manual. I’ve used it before and had great results (6 inches in 6 weeks). The great part about it is that it’s a full system designed to put inches on your vertical as opposed to just one piece of equipment. The other great thing is that it’s only $67 which is much cheaper than the squat flex. If you’re really serious about jumping higher I would definitely recommend getting The Jump Manual. Just a disclaimer, this link is an affiliate link so I would get a commission if you decided to purchase through it. That being said, I firmly believe in this program because it has gotten me results in the past and I really think you’d benefit from it as well. Just my two cents.

  • Kyle

    Someone once told me that “there are those who have never done it, there are those who have done it and failed, and there are those who have done it and have been successful” and I should never take advice from anybody but those who have done it and have been successful.

    It’s obvious that you are just an affiliate promoter for a different jump program. So thank you for your OPINION, but until you’ve gone through the Squat Flex jump program, you are simply just a fear monger, helping no-one and only benefiting yourself in the process.

    Shameful.

  • Brooke

    Hey I am thinking about asking my brother to make me a squat flex because he has a weilder but do u think it will work if I am 14, a girl, and 5″4. If so what should I do with it and where should I get bands? Thanks.

  • kevin

    I saw the squatflex for around $200, is that still a ripoff?

  • Patrick

    Hey Kyle,

    Have you used the Squat Flex? If so, please leave your opinion of it.

    Also, I’m not sure you understand what the definition of a “fear monger” is. At no point in my article did I say anything that involved trying to scare people into taking some sort of action. Also, at no point did I ever say that the Squat Flex doesn’t work. I simply stated that it is overpriced and I don’t think it would be a good investment. The whole reason I wrote this article and haven’t used the Squat Flex is because it’s overpriced, not because it doesn’t work. Please read my posts thoroughly before leaving erroneous comments.

    And yes, I am an affiliate for a different product. A product that would classify me as someone who “has done it and has been successful” after using it.

  • Patrick

    Hey Kevin,

    I definitely wouldn’t pay that much. That’s much better than $500 or whatever the price was when I first wrote this article. However, you could make your own for much less by picking up some thick plywood, making it into a box, cutting a hole through it, putting a metal bar through that hole, and strapping some bands to it.

  • Patrick

    Hey Brooke,

    I’m sure a makeshift Squat Flex could provide a decent workout. You could probably just use it like the real thing and use it for squats. I would do a search for “powerlifting bands” in Google to find places to buy them. Unfortunately, I don’t usually use bands when I work out so I’m not all that knowledgeable as far as where to buy them from

  • Deput

    Sorry but I think it is a little insulting to refer to resistance bands as rubber bands. It is condescending. Resistance bands are a growing legitimate forum of resistance.

  • Patrick

    No disrespect intended. I think resistance bands are great for workouts, too. The whole point of my article is that the squat flex is too expensive for what you get. I never said that resistance bands weren’t good for exercise. I just think you’d be better off getting a squat rack in this case.

  • Patrick

    Hey Darryl,

    Glad to hear it’s working for you. That’s still over $200 which is quite a bit for this piece of equipment.

    Also, I don’t see how it would cost much more than $25 for the materials to put something like this together. Buy a couple sheets of plywood and a scrap metal bar, borrow some tools from a friend, slap it together and you’re good to go. The most expensive part would probably be the bands. Total cost would likely be less than half of what you paid.

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