What is the belt squat?
Takeaway Points:
The belt squat is a variation of the squat in which the weight is anchored to the waist via a belt, rather than a standard loading method.
This may be beneficial for some lifters as it removes the spine from the equation, and may enable you to put more loading on the legs/quads directly.
However, I believe that this also has some drawbacks, and may not be a universal benefit.
What is the belt squat?
The belt squat is a specialized movement in which, rather than loading the movement via a dumbbell, barbell, kettlebell, or other weight, instead a belt is attached around the waist, then attached to a cable and pulley system.
Unlike most standing cable machines, this typically requires a specialized machine/equipment, as the cable needs to anchor to a wheel which is directly below the lifter for the sake of a clean line of pull. Typically, this means a specialized belt squat machine, with the cable passing through a hole or slit in the plate that the user stands on.
Of course, this does not mean that all machines are the same. Some machines use a lever arm system, with the weight hooking onto the front of that arm, and plates loaded onto the side.
It is also possible to setup an improvised belt squat with a dip belt and the right equipment - for example, using two stable boxes to stand on with a gap between them, then anchoring a dumbbell, kettlebell, or barbell to the belt and squatting this way.
One other thing to note, is that it is typically harder to balance with this movement compared to a standard barbell squat. This is due to the different loading patterns involved - with the barbell, you’re required to stay upright and keep the weight moving in a relatively upright bar path so that you don’t drop it - with the belt, the weight is anchored to your hips, which shift forward and back during the movement, causing the weight to also move forward and back, and placing more difficulty on maintaining a simple upright position throughout the whole body.
There are a couple of counters to this - leaning the torso more forward helps to balance out the weight, and many machines come with handles or supports that you can grab onto to provide support.
Belt squat image credit to Strength Level
What benefits does this provide?
The main benefit of the belt squat is that it takes the back out of the equation. As I’ve discussed in my article on the leg press, one of the challenges of the squat is that it places a great deal of loading on the spine, which provokes a great deal of stimulus and requires a great deal of recovery. Accordingly, you’re not just training the quads when you squat, but also the glutes, spinal erectors, core, and various other related muscle groups.
This could be a limiter - if you’ve exhausted other muscle groups before you exhaust the quads, this could be limiting your ability to develop the quads specifically. The squat is a great exercise, but it’s not a very focused one.
The belt squat, similar to the leg press, helps to take some of that out of the equation, and make the movement a bit more focused on your quads and hips alone. If your goal is to maximize quad hypertrophy, this could be a benefit, though of course this would be less helpful if your goal was strength in the barbell squat, and you needed to train with the barbell squat as much as possible to master the pattern.
What drawbacks does this provide?
I think the drawbacks of this movement are pretty evident.
Many gyms will not have the right equipment for a belt squat, and accordingly you may not be able to set one up, or not be able to set it up in a way that’s sustainable/useful long term.
The belt squat could be used as an accessory exercise for powerlifting, but shouldn’t take up too much of your training since you’ll be focused on the barbell squat as your most important movement.
The belt squat would be more useful for bodybuilders looking to maximize hypertrophy, however, I’d argue that you can still use plenty of other movements to get a similar effect - the hack squat, leg press, leg extension, and so on. Additionally, if you’re looking to squat in a way that minimizes external load while maximizing force on the quads, you could do something like a smith machine pause squat with a lighter weight and emphasis on lengthened partials, which would provide additional effect without using a heavy weight that would tire out the back/torso as much.
I’d also argue that the movement can be very awkward to get used to. The balance of it can be a bit odd, as noted above, and another issue is that it still does place a lot of loading on the body - particularly in this case, the hips rather than the back/torso. Some people find that this loading pattern is difficult/tough to get used to, or exacerbates aches and pains associated with past injuries. I also find that in some setups, it’s difficult to get very deep into the movement, limiting muscle growth a bit since we know that the end range of movement tends to be most important for building size.
Overall, the belt squat can certainly be a great accessory movement for the quads, but I find that a lot of folks will probably not find it too useful due to one or more of the above issues.
About Adam Fisher
Adam is an experienced fitness coach and blogger who's been blogging and coaching since 2012, and lifting since 2006. He's written for numerous major health publications, including Personal Trainer Development Center, T-Nation, Bodybuilding.com, Fitocracy, and Juggernaut Training Systems.
During that time he has coached thousands of individuals of all levels of fitness, including competitive powerlifters and older exercisers regaining the strength to walk up a flight of stairs. His own training revolves around bodybuilding and powerlifting, in which he’s competed.
Adam writes about fitness, health, science, philosophy, personal finance, self-improvement, productivity, the good life, and everything else that interests him. When he's not writing or lifting, he's usually hanging out with his cats or feeding his video game addiction.
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