Reverse Squat Strap Review

The Reverse Squat Strap was popularized by Ben Patrick (Knees Over Toes Guy) and his ATG programs.

According to Ben, developing strong hip flexors helps you run faster and takes stress off your knees.

At the same time, the reverse squat helps to target your lower abs.

And believe me, my abs are on fire when I use these.

In this post I’ll show you the two sets of reverse squat straps I currently own.

Freak Athlete Reverse Squat Strap

Table of Contents

The reverse squat strap above is from Freak Athlete Essentials and comes in a plastic bag.

No special packaging needed for it since it’s not fragile.

The strap is ready to use straight out of the bag.

One end has a carabiner and the other end has two adjustable loops.

Features

The loops are padded with 1/4″ neoprene foam and are self-adjusting.

The padding protects the top of my feet whenever I tighten up the strap.

The strap self adjusts to fit any size shoe.

One end of the strap is anchored by a carabiner and the loop tightens when moving away from the anchor point.

The strap is made of a tough, nylon-like material.

I don’t know the exact make of it and it’s not listed on their website either.

The other end of the reverse squat strap has a D-ring and carabiner.

This can be attached to resistance bands or a cable machine.

Tib Bar Guy Reverse Squat Strap

The Tib Bar Guy also sells a similar strap.

Their strap is made of a cloth like material similar to that of weight lifting straps.

They padding is also 1/4″ thick and made out of Neoprene.

And uses the same self adjusting loop as Freak Athlete’s.

At the end of the strap, there’s a D-ring.

Only thing this one didn’t bring is a carabiner but I have tons of those around the gym.

They both have the same function and the only difference is the price, which is not much of a difference.

Freak Athlete’s strap is $5 cheaper than the Tib Bar Guy’s.

How To Use A Reverse Squat Strap

freak athlete essentials reverse squat strap 33

First thing I do is connect the strap to my cable machine.

I’ve also used them with resistance bands.

Then I insert my feet through the loops until they’re around the middle.

Then I move away from the weight until the loops tighten around my feet.

After that, I just hang on to something sturdy with my hands over my head.

Then I bring my knees towards my chest to activate the hip flexors and lower abs.

MonkeyFeet vs Reverse Squat Strap

In a previous review of MonkeyFeet I showed how you can do standing hip flexor raises to target the same muscles that the reverse squat strap work.

So which one is better?

MonkeyFeet or the Reverse Squat Strap?

The biggest difference between these two products is the price and the amount of time it takes you to perform the exercise.

MonkeyFeet sells each boot for $79 while Freak Athlete’s strap is $30.

With MonkeyFeet you’ll be doing each leg individually and with Freak Athlete’s strap you’ll be doing both legs at the same time.

But… MonkeyFeet can also be used for several lower leg isolation exercises and you can’t do that with a strap like leg curls and leg extensions so they have more versatility.

If hip flexor exercises are all you’re looking for, then reverse squat straps get it done.

Other Uses

Besides its main use of strengthening the hip flexors and lower abs, you can use the strap for isolation exercises.

Some exercises I can think off the top of my head are:

Cable crunches, tricep pushdowns, straight arm pullovers, cable bicep curls, cable overhead tricep extensions, seated rows, lat pulldowns, and face pulls.

I’m sure you can come up with more if you use some creativity.