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Gear$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.

Belt squat machine

Machine that loads the legs through a hip belt, keeping weight off the spine

A belt around the hips takes the load from plates or a stack hanging below, so the legs work hard while nothing sits across the shoulders. Lifters with back, neck or shoulder trouble use it to keep a squat pattern in the program. Stance can go wide and depth can go deep, because there is no bar to balance and no reason to stay upright.

Who backs it

Sorted by strength of stance

  • Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia

    Belt squats took over a lot of his squatting. He goes wide and deep on the machine to bias glutes, hamstrings and the quad sweep, and the reason he gives is that the load hangs from the hips rather than pressing down through the spine. A bar on his neck used to leave him with migraines.

    Source: Fitness Volt: Chris Bumstead Gives A Tour of His Private Gym

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Gear entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.