How To: SIMPLEST DIY Cable Belt Squat Platform For Under $12

Рет қаралды 52,160

3 жыл бұрын

Belt squats are a great exercise to perform to give your lower back a break while still training your squat. The problem is that these machines take up a lot of space and are super costly. Since purchasing the Valor BD-62 wall mounted cable station I really couldn't figure out how to work out my lower body until one morning I had this ingenious idea of building a platform with a pully under me. Well, I immediately went down to my basement and grabbed all the tools I needed to get to work. This project took me roughly 20 minutes to complete not including the time it took to get the parts which I happen to have most already from other projects.
If you want to give it a try, I dropped a few links to some of the parts mentioned in the video. Have fun!
Be sure to Like and Subscribe if you enjoyed this video.
Coated Cable Kit: www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-...
Cheap Pulley: www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-...
Eye Bolt: www.homedepot.com/p/National-...
More Expensive Pulley: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

Пікірлер: 128

@donay3773 3 жыл бұрын

This is by far the best one I seen so far will be redesigning a little but using the same thing

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Appreciate the feedback. If I were to build a new one I’d definitely use a stronger board.

@daniel213141 4 ай бұрын

I second that.

@0713mas 2 жыл бұрын

This is definitely the best DIY video and you can use the platform for other cable exercises or even resistance band stuff! Ty this was exactly what I was looking for!!! I'm definitely making this. Ty again

@0713mas 2 жыл бұрын

I made this only I decided to do a slant board version. it works well! Only issue is you have to make sure the cable length is correct, or it will fly away when you step off.

@dvldogg187 2 жыл бұрын

This one is amazing!

@notnickDPT 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, VERY creative man! I love it. I'm going to keep this in mind as a future piece of my budget garage gym!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Appreciate it.

@darrenvictor2648 3 жыл бұрын

Massive help, mate! Thanks a lot!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you found it helpful!!

@brianyourboi3094 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, this is a great idea, thanks. I was going to build platforms but this saves more space , time and is cheaper. You the man!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help!

@dees.4540 3 жыл бұрын

🙌🏼🙌🏼 great job

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

@orinyellowhair8278 Жыл бұрын

GREAT IDEA ... 💡 👍

@maikharing4876 3 жыл бұрын

Super idea! As soon as I get all the materials I will build one of my own 👍

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Appreciate it.

@thomasrose5819 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Going to be adding this to my home made pulley

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds great!

@MsAdalat Жыл бұрын

It’s definitely the most simple one out of all. I can add an extra cable to the lat pull dow cable. My concern is the risk of injury once you hit failure. The norm lock is on the upright position. Here you’re maxed out one the bottom while trying to unhook from the cable. It’s great for light weight. 💪🏻

@untappedstrength7548 Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@richardj6593 11 ай бұрын

@@untappedstrength7548Hi, can i do the same thing using my body solid universal gym that has a cable pulley down by the floor? how would i do that?

@chrishayes5755 3 жыл бұрын

well done man, I like it!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thank! Appreciate it.

@mathieumilgram6798 7 ай бұрын

Man this is perfect, I'll make the same this week.

@blackphoenix8932 3 жыл бұрын

Amazing idea. You should've got this patented & used a heavy metal board, you could've made a fortune!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

I should have!

@riccarrasquilla379 3 ай бұрын

thanks for the video

@techtech9062 2 жыл бұрын

This is what i needed thanks

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

awesome!

@gregwhite3267 2 жыл бұрын

Good tut. Had the idea to build a belt squat rig today so thanks for the vid and for the ideas. I was thinking something similar.

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

Glad to help

@reubenfranklin4053 3 жыл бұрын

I’d like to commend you on your design. I’ve seen so many other DIY options that are more complicated and don’t allow for the proper range of motion nor the correct angle from the pulley. I will definitely be using this idea in my garage. 👍🏾👍🏾💪🏾💪🏾

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your feedback!

@jlmoneybags 3 жыл бұрын

That's a nice home gym hack! I'm definitely going to build the platform

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

That’s great to hear!

@jawbaw6471 Жыл бұрын

Not something I need but I sure like the simplicity and function of your work.

@ahmedzah4934 3 жыл бұрын

Great especially for those the can’t do squat because of back disc pain . Thanks

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Agree. I heard the same about belt squats and how they benefit those with lower back pain.

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I switched to Front Squats from Back Squats but eventually that became a problem too. Going to try this.

@harrybernard3604 3 жыл бұрын

Smart great idea

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@BenjaminReynolds 3 жыл бұрын

I've been racking my brain for an easy way to do this. This is just what I needed. Thanks. I'll be doing this tomorrow.

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

That's awesome!

@cougarsama 3 жыл бұрын

Not gonna lie... I went from I don't know what this guy is thinking but I'll watch it to this is genius and copying it in 3 seconds flat!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

That's so cool!

@juliodenninsondenninson3460 3 жыл бұрын

You are awesome 👏

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

😀

@mrhyde2250 2 жыл бұрын

You could add strength, but leave room for the bottom bolt, by attaching the bottom wood pieces perpendicular to the top board. You could cover the entire bottom with counter-grain support with the exception of a small section for the bolt. 🙂🙂

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

Great tip!

@mikeymyke Жыл бұрын

This is the simplest DIY one, but in my opinion its got a major flaw in that it doesn't allow you to go deeper on your squat, as you can see you weren't able to go low enough so your legs are at 90 degrees. You should make your platform at least 6" higher or so to allow that to happen.

@bigbruvofenglanduk Жыл бұрын

He started off below parallel to the floor and the weight starts to move just as he hits parallel. He just chose to not squat that low for the rest of the demonstration.

@futbol1972 Жыл бұрын

I wonder if I could set up belt squats with titan selectorized lat pull down machine? However I would like to start on top due to bad knee

@futbol1972 2 жыл бұрын

it looks that this will work better than thoese levearage arms or a barbell belt squat since they pull you forward. With this cable platfrom it looks like you are squating right under the pulley and pulling the weight straight up and down instead of pulling forward like the leverage arms do and the barbell too

@russellcyr4867 3 ай бұрын

The platform should be closer to the rack so that the cable is nearly vertical and won't want to pull you forward. That puts you within arms reach of the weight so you can set up a rope loop attached to the top of the tower to loop around the weight holder so that you can start in the standing position.

@khaliddraper5820 2 жыл бұрын

what did you use to cut the cable to length?

@bmledoux 2 жыл бұрын

How long did you trim the cable ? In the link its 30 ft… your length looks good what did you cut it to

@Abraham_Kist-Okazaki Ай бұрын

This only works with very light weights! With that kind of load, goblet squats would be quicker and easier. If you made this with a bigger board and then use 45-pound plates on top of either side to counterbalance the weight being pulled.

@flink85 Ай бұрын

Goblets load the spine. The belt squat are better suited for high reps anyway.

@Abraham_Kist-Okazaki Ай бұрын

@@flink85 Um, I have no idea what you mean by "high reps." I do belt squats in a setup similar to the setup in this video using five 20kg plates for about 15-20 reps. That is what I would call a high rep range. In this video, he only uses 20 pounds because using much more weight would be difficult and the closer you approach your own bodyweight, the more impossible it would become. AND if 20-pound goblet squats are too much load on your spine, then you are seriously in trouble and should seek medical attention.

@flink85 Ай бұрын

@@Abraham_Kist-Okazaki 15-20 would be higher yes. Well the entire point is to be able to load legs properly without loading the spine. Goblets are good for beginners learning the squatting pattern. However, when the legs get stronger your core, wrists, upper back etc will give out before your legs.

@Abraham_Kist-Okazaki Ай бұрын

@@flink85 And my point is that 20-pound belt squats in this setup aren't enough to load the legs enough to load the legs and that it would be no more effective than goblet squats.

@flink85 Ай бұрын

@@Abraham_Kist-Okazaki why would you only load 20lbs? Full weight stack or even 2 full stacks are possible if you anchor the platform properly.

@JoseSuarez-bk3qg 3 жыл бұрын

Like what you did and I have a question. Does this setup targets the quads like a true barbell squat?

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Yes! all the load is on your legs especially if you try to keep your back as vertical as possible.

@chrisrgutierrez 7 ай бұрын

Out of curiosity, around what size is that board?

@kylebeng 10 ай бұрын

hey man great stuff. how do you get around the issue of the wood sliding forward when the weight gets heavy?

@Polentaccio 8 ай бұрын

I imagine your bodyweight should be sufficient to keep it un place unless you decide to belt squat 300 lbs

@kylebeng 8 ай бұрын

@@Polentaccio is that unreasonable?

@brunoangel4556 6 ай бұрын

Smart 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@chasonhayes435 2 жыл бұрын

Make it simpler and buy a pulley that bolts to the board and get rid of the eye bolt and extra connector

@giannipastore7963 2 жыл бұрын

yep, I was thinking the same and in fact I am going to do it that way

@bokononisti2820 Жыл бұрын

This would also lower the pulley, allowing for a deeper squat. Most of these cable belt squat setups, including the commercial ones, have you quarter squatting. Other than SquatMax, I can't think of another cable belt squat, DIY or commercial, that allowed below parallel depth.

@qfiveo 3 жыл бұрын

Great idea!! What size is your platform ?

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

about 1'x3.5' board. It's literally what I had laying around.

@jawbaw6471 3 жыл бұрын

I got a $29.00 Landmine from Amazon. It doesn't even have to be bolted to the floor.

@shannanschisler9577 3 жыл бұрын

This time I will do it manually with the help of Woodglut designs.

@bokononisti2820 Жыл бұрын

What is that thing with wheels and a seat by the garage door?

@untappedstrength7548 Жыл бұрын

haha, had to go back and check. It's a hoverboard kart seat.

@gcurtis9453 3 жыл бұрын

Does it matter what height you have the BD-62 set to for this? It looks like you have it set a few notches from the top? Have you tried at lower settings? I built the deck and am wondering the length of cable or if it even matters? Thank you.

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

I can set it to the highest point without any issues.

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

I love this idea, so I made one. But I think I found a problem, physics! I weigh 80kg. I loaded up just 60kg to test it and it started floating off the floor and sliding forward. The load is effectively lifting up with 60kg of force (~600N if you are being pedantic) and the board only has 20kg pressing down on it so it can slide forward if there is any lateral tension, which there always will be. So I'm going to install some hold down clamps on my power rack so I can quickly clamp the board in place when I need to use it. If you can't do this then you could make a longer board and add weight plates onto it to hold it down. Adding some non-slip surface like rubber to the bottom of the board would reduce the effect as well.

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

It should not float no matter how much weight you add. You need to use the cable extension and leave enough slack so it doesn't move the board.

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

@@untappedstrength7548 I have tried that when I was setting up with a length of chain. It still floats as soon as you get tension on the load It makes sense if you imagine an exaggerated example. 500kg of weight pulling the cable up, you and the board weigh 100kg. If that 500kg magically got up, then what would happen if it came down? How is 100kg going to prevent it from lifting you into the air? The board is not fixed down. So either you have to balance the weight you are lifting by adding weight to the board, you fix the board down or you change the angle that the force of the load is acting. So a lower attachment point would work better. Ideally the load would be directly below you, pulling you down onto the board.

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

@@aries6776 If you skip to 4:53 of the video, you will see that the pulleys on the cable machine are raised about shoulder height, just high enough for the extension cable to wrap around the pulley on the board. There should be absolutely no tension on the board if you setup this way. Then what you do is stand on the board and squat as low as possible just so that you can attach your belt to the carabiner under you. When you're done squatting, squat back down to a point where there is no tension on the cable and you should be able to unhook the belt from the carabiner.

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

@@untappedstrength7548 This is what happened when I try to squat my bodyweight (80kg). kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sLV4bNSj15yvmnk.html

@MKANDRESTINPEACE Жыл бұрын

👍😎

@bigdogkropp 9 ай бұрын

Good Start - thanks for making the video. The range of motion is not great. Pulley needs to be mounted lower - probably below your feet. (1) Attach the pulley directly to the base wood board. (2) Build raise platforms on each side of the pulley for your feet.

@untappedstrength7548 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tips!

@MrAkpla Жыл бұрын

Doesn't that setup pull you forwards if you use heavier weights?

@untappedstrength7548 Жыл бұрын

By using the extension cable it will prevent it from being pulled forward.

@markwurtz8759 2 жыл бұрын

clever but could it handle any real weight? I don't think so.

@untappedstrength7548 2 жыл бұрын

not using that board at least. Maybe v.2 will be much stronger.

@Voodoo1Six Жыл бұрын

Why not just slide the pulley down to the bottom and hook up there without having to make anything? I have a lat pull down with a low pulley and do that

@masakik3730 Жыл бұрын

how is it holding up after all this time?

@untappedstrength7548 Жыл бұрын

Honestly haven't used it quite some time.

@ratchat123 3 жыл бұрын

This would put extremely high tension on the wood, maybe have the attachment follow a sort of triangle path, tension on the board is half the tension on the cable divided by the sin of the angle with horizontal, for the board it's almost 0 degrees so we are dividing by 0. If it's a triangle eg at angle 15 degrees the tension on the attachment would only be about twice the tension on the cable. I had made a similar movable pulley attachment with extra cable for my power rack lat pulldown, which allows me to attach a pulley at any of the slots in the power rack, making the thing long enough that the angle with horizontal stays at 30 degrees so there isn't too much tension. Also I found out about this from diagrams that came with a pulley I bought 😂😂.

@mrhyde2250 2 жыл бұрын

I think it could be reinforced easily. Maybe cross bracing underneath. Lots of space still under there. Might try a hunk of oak someone has lying around. A more complicated approach, though not that much more, would be to laminate wood strips side by side. Think of a cutting board for instance. That would increase stability dramatically I believe. 🙂

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

If I understand you correctly, you wouldn't want to do that because the force would causing a sheering effect on your knees. It's really best to keep the cable as directly below your hips as possible to avoid undue sheer on your knees. Unless you could use an angled foot board to keep the force perpendicular to the line between your hips and feet.

@ratchat123 2 жыл бұрын

@@aries6776 I meant the triangle apex is formed by the pulley underneath, the cable goes straight vertically down into the pulley from the belt

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

@@ratchat123 Oh I get you. So the cable coming into the pulley is a close to the horizontal as possible. I don't think it's much of an issue however if you use a decent sized washer to spread the load. Plywood is pretty strong in compression which is the force of the nut pulling on the washer and onto the wood.

@benjaminsinoff275 3 жыл бұрын

How much weight have you used on this? Obviously, the belt in the video is your limiting factor, but I'm wondering if you're worried that the eye bolt will pull through the platform at higher weights. Thanks for the DIY!

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Not too much to be honest. However I would highly suggest getting a better quality, stronger board for the platform. As you pointed out I probably wouldn't go too heavy not to risk that the eye bolt pulling through the board. That wouldn't be fun.

@buck_X 3 жыл бұрын

One possibility would be adding a second eyebolt and pulley to give yourself mechanical disadvantage (so one pulley would be hanging from the belt, with one side feeding to the board pulley, and the other would just terminate at the second eye bolt. If you loaded 100lbs on the cable machine, both eyebolts would have 100lbs of force on them, while you will feel 200lbs of resistance. The weight carriage will move 2x your squat's ROM, but I'd expect there's room for that.

@jallen1227 3 жыл бұрын

For under $12 excluding the pulley ?

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

Yes.

@drvenhrd46 3 жыл бұрын

Great idea..but bigger guys+ the weight included will wreck That platform over time

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

yes, this is definitely just a demo but i would recommend using a much better board.

@trollop4866 Жыл бұрын

Usually I like the diy stuff, but houlda went a little thicker for just this one area. Other areas of cable pulley systems can be cheap, but enough weight and that's going through your balls 😆😆

@untappedstrength7548 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tips!

@sportrocdoc2237 4 ай бұрын

If that pulley comes of the platform, your nuts are busted! 😧

@kwhuisman 3 жыл бұрын

This does not work with higher weight. I tried.

@Jay-dp7kl 2 ай бұрын

How come? I was thinking of doing something similar but might rethink if it doesn’t work with a higher weight

@kwhuisman 2 ай бұрын

@@Jay-dp7kl It wanted to launch me, I'm 215lbs.

@danielszemborski 14 күн бұрын

@kwhuisman So each side of the wood plank should be fastened to the ground or weighted by something? Thanks.

@firstfloor5347 2 жыл бұрын

Did u try squatting ur weight ? Did it move ?😄

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

I did, it started lifting off the floor! (was actually 20kg below my bodyweight)

@firstfloor5347 2 жыл бұрын

@@aries6776 it was expected, try adding weigh pegs and throw some plates on them

@aries6776 2 жыл бұрын

@@firstfloor5347 That was my first thought but unfortunately I didn't make the board bigger enough for that. So I'm adding some hold down clamps to my power rack, that will hold the board in place.

@davidfernandez8515 3 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't just place a heavy dumbbell on the floor with the cable going under it to the same?

@untappedstrength7548 3 жыл бұрын

It would have to be an extremely heavy dumbbell for it to stay in place and just the friction of the cable rubbing on the handle would be pretty significant.