Crazy that this fucking machine is not at my gym. I'm dying to try it.

I've been to 5 out of 8 gyms in my town and I've yet to see this machine Edit: now I've been to 7 out of 10 gyms here, turns out there was a new gym and one I didn't know about. Still no belt squat though

I’ve only seen this machine once in my life, at a world gym near me. Amazing piece of equipment, totally agree.

I switched to belt squats after years of repeatedly injuring myself with barbell squats, and I can't see myself going back. No more lower back issues, and I can go super low, even allowing a butt wink, because there's no downward force on my spine. It sets my quads on fire.

Belt squats FUCK my quads up better than anything, especially the VMO right by the knee. Great exercise to include in any program that needs quad development.

Absolutely love the belt squat. By far my fav leg move ever. Nothing else seems to fry my quads as well. And zero sore back.

It is great for people who suffer from an old injury like herniated disc & degenerative disc disease

This belt squat and pendulum squat are the way to go.

Love this exercise if the setup allows for proper depth. I’ve used some that only allow for me to get like barely to parallel before bottoming out. Glad to see it gets Mike stamp of approval

First time I'm ever seeing this machine

Absolutely. I am on the tall and lighter frame side and barbell squats are very fatiguing. I set up belt squats using my half rack and what an amazing difference. I get a huge pump and wobbly legs without the crushing fatigue if the barbell on my shoulders. An A++ exercise. You can DIY this at home in many ways . Using a landmine or half-rack and a dip belp

I go to planet so.. they don’t even know what a belt squat is

Belt squats are great to pair with deadlifts to give your low back a break, rather than doing squats and deadlifts in the same workout. Works well to trade off posterior/anterior focused leg days.

My gym got one today. I am so happy. Doing my usual weight was easy, 100kg 6 reps as fast up as possible, for power and speed.

Belt squats are great. Last night, belt squats, seated leg curls, sled drag. Awesome leg workout.

I've been to 10 gyms in my local area, 4 different chains (24, Gold's, Crunch, Fitness 19), as well as a few gyms out of my state (Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada), and have NEVER seen this machine in person. As someone with mild scoliosis and ankle problems, I'm always looking for ways to train the quads without traditional barbell squats, as the axial fatigue plus foot stability issues hinder my squat. I would try this in a heartbeat if I had access to it, but it's a mythical creature as far as I'm concerned.

I'm a loooong femur lifter and I had been struggling to figure out how to recover from my workouts week to week for a long time. I include both deads and squats on different days but my fatigue buildup was just too high no matter how I structured my workouts (reps/weight/sets/alternating days etc - including altering my accessory lifts). I switched from Squats to Belt Squats and my SFR has vastly improved instantly (almost) but not only that I have never felt my quads eXPLODe like this on any other exercise like I have on Belt Squats. My quads and my fatigue management are better than ever and I'm progressing like I should have been. Legit S-Tier exercise.

I love the Belt squat

For every home gymer/DIY person - get a landmine attachment for your bar and a dip belt. Put a platform with a gap or even two bricks to stand on and belt squat away

For you home gym folk, a decent substitute for the belt squat is the somersault squat. I do it with a kettlebell, but I think it would work with a db or potentially barbell. Makes the quads quiver

Actually was able to use the belt squat today for the first time and the amount of tension in your legs during the workout is insane. Definitely a new favorite

I built a belt squat for my my home gym using a couple 2x4s attached to the wall. It's fantastic.

Belt squat is great. I like to try to get as upright as possible when I do the belt squat so I can really hammer the quads. I recommend putting a wedge under your feet, really helps you sink down deep and push your knees forward. This made it better for the quads and harder then a back squat for me which is usually not the case if I do a normal belt squat without the wedge.

I was so happy when one magically appeared in my gym 6 months ago! I love it. I have tennis elbow so getting my arms tight for a squat can get trigger the tennis elbow.

Just bought one of these for my home gym & it’s the best burn/pump

I just started doing belt squats and I agree with this soon much, belt squat gets me a crazy leg pump and growth without any back pain

Belt Squat is the goat it enables deeper squat and knee angle for those with not so beneficial structure for barbell squat.

I love doing these over any other squat. You really do walk away feeling better then other squat options

Cbum is a monster

I’m literally here because in my little leisure center gym (the kind of gym that has a swimming pool) just got one in. And I tried it today and absolutely loved the feel. As I never liked the feel of weight on my back. But through my hips it just felt nicer and more comfortable with a lot more tension (for me) through my quads. Happy days.

Oh i love the belt squat....i just find myself going to this over the barbell

Amazing that Dr.Mike moved all of his spine to his neck to avoid axial fatigue.

Squats also cause shrinkage in height. (One legged squats don't. Those are allowed, height-wise)

I badgered the gym for 2yrs and they finally got one. 😂 With my sciatic problems i haven't squated outside sissy squats and goblet squats in decades. This is freaking awesome piece of equipment.

I have to agree. I’d choose the belt squat over anything else💯

I have one at my gym with a spud inc belt, pendulum squat machine, reverse vsquat, AND a sled hack squat 🙂

Dang the belly squat RARELY gets love at my gym, I’ve been going 2 years and never used it. Will try next leg day

Good lord with the FaTiGuE rATiO

My gym just got this machine, and I didn’t know how to use it. I have seen people doing rows on it but finally saw someone using it with the belt for squatting. I got to try it now

You will see everyone occupying the belt squat racks from now on, good stuff

Ive only ever encountered a hack squat once in my life, nevermind this machine! The same place had a leverage squat machine which felt awesome. Wish i could train there every leg day!

I wish one of the 2 gyms I pay to go to had a belt squat!!!!

Love the belt squat. It allows me to truly train heavy duty style on squats. Take it to true failure and add negatives. You can’t do that with regular BB squats. Butt wink is not a concern. You can squat rock bottom.

my gym just got one of these.. i can’t barbell squat do to pain and the very high chance of injury, which has left me on the ground for hours with nobody around. i will give it a try and hopefully i wont look like i skip legs!

I just found a way to do belt squats with my ankles closer together! It is activating a whole lot more of my legs . I’ve noticed in a lot of videos the other guys have their heels elevated, and their toes pointed outward almost like a square angle 📐, I did this last go-round and got an amazing upper leg workout Low and slow with a pause or two all the way down for the first couple reps immediate activation and the rest just a bit slow but making sure you go all the way down is what controlled my tempo and forced me to do them right. It makes you do them right going all the way down. It gives you no choice but to get the perfect leg work, from what I’ve found. I’ll be applying this aim to my wide squats from now on as well. I’m in love with the close stance squat right now ( new discovery) im already hooked. ….. my nervous system is getting to wear I don’t have to deload so frequently 👏🏼 I’d argue that roid-rage actually happens to naturals like me, it’s a mental game pushing your body for prolonged periods if you’re not paying attention and not making yourself chill for a good 6-7 days. I haven’t felt like postal lately, so I’ve been debating on if I need a de-load or not, plus my hair starts to fall out it grows back, but damn.

I got this at my gym. Adding it to my next leg day

Fyi, if you dont have this machine in your gym, you can replicate it by using like a dipping belt, put weights on it, then stand on two boxes or chair or bench. You just squat down and it works fine. It takes some time to prepare but I think it's worth.

Best machine that my gym recently added. Still doesn’t get the love it deserves

I never even knew that the belt squat was a thing. 😮 Thank you Dr. Mike. Also, thank you Dr. Mike for fixing the captions of your video to be below your thumbnail, channel name, and the subscribe button. Now what you say can actually be read! However though, and yes, I mean though spelled all the way, not tho, I think Scott the video guy had more to do with that than you Dr. Mike, but still, thanks. Also, I have one more thing to thank you for, and I’ll try to thank you concisely so that I don’t come across as annoying, even though I am. Anyhow, the thanks is this. Thank you Dr. Mike for the helpful information that you dispatch to the general public in an atypical way. I love you, your content, your channel, heck… I even love Scott the video guy. Peace and joy to you.

One tip. Hug a moderate heavy kb or dumbel and then flex with the ass up and go down again. Google sumersault squad. Its a.brutal finisher for the quads and follows almost the same principle

Having suffered a fully herniated c6-7 in my spine back squats aren't an option anymore. The belt squat has been a godsend.

They just added one to my gym a month ago and wooowee it’s a lovely piece of equipment.

You can also buy a SSB and do Hatfield squats. Nearly the same exercise.

I started lifting about 5 months ago and I was liking the barbell squat but when i hit around 200 pounds the next day my low back would be twinging when everr i leaned forward or stood up im sure its my technique but i haven't been able to fix it but i made a belt squat machine and no more back pain! Im liking it so far

This is one of those examples round back isn't always bad, it's natural

Used HipBelt squat belt by IronMind in the past. Easy set up and works the same.

The Venn Diagram of the gyms I've been to and the gyms with a belt squat are two separate circles

you just reminded me that i had this machine in my gym. just did some belt squats, they are amazing!

Yep. Matt Wenning makes a NICE belt squat. Probably the best on the market.

Nice to know. I often watch Will Tennison doing them and was wondering...

Hoping to hear more about axial fatigue, if you can link papers or make a video on it ❤

Blessed to have this machine at my gym 😅

Had this on base in San Diego, it’s nice

I'd love to try this but I haven't seen this in any gym I've gone to. This could be a game changer for my squats and deadlifts as I could go heavy on these without my low back taking such a beating

These work great, my Quads have gotten bigger and just doing 6 x 15 - 20 slow with a pause at bottom..my back and knees feel better and CNS isn't taxed as much..

For people checking for a belt squat machine you can also use a weight belt and some plyo boxes or a platform I usually find all gyms either have one or the other

Holy shit Dr Mike is the hugest short king👑

Need this machine. After a few work injuries loading weight on my shoulders is not possible these days

I do no more Back Squat. Belt Squat , Front Squat and Zercher Squats works great for me. And I can do this in my Homegym

Got this machine at my gym and nobody ever touches it, it humbles everyone 😂

can you try doing belt squats facing the other direction, weight behind you, i think its more effective

I love the belt squat. I wish I had one in my home gym setup, that’ll be my next piece of equipment I get.

My gym has a shark pit I've been dying to try out, this is my sign lol

It looks better than normal squatting.

Love the belt squat

Dang, that guy should compete.

Just got one of these at my gym, haven't tried it out yet!

It is my number 1 squat machine. Very safe & Great for lower body

Mario Rios punching the air right now

I believe this is exponentially more beneficial for advanced lifters who cannot manage to add more weight on to their already stacked BB/Smith squat and instead really need for a better FSR exercise. In contrast, beginners can already benefit greatly from normal squats, not a big deal if you can find this machine.

My gym JUST got one. Finally tried it tonight. Legs are currently jelly.

Just started legs back after suspected (but not) hernia. Did 4 sets of strength and had super anxiety and paranoia the next day. Shit just straight up made me go crazy from fatigue. Trying this mother fucker out

My gym got one about 1 month ago. Been wanting to try it. Guess I'll make a point to use it then.

My spine says thanks.

That's why I no longer do barbell squats, I just do smith machine squats and leg presses

I Added belt squat to my off-season last summer and my squat out of the hole blew up!! Give it a try if you can find one

I had a though question what happens to your body when you mis a day ore 2 of ashawaganda ore any supplement like magnesium zinc ore omega 3 would it cause any muscle breakdown i hope you respond🎉

I'd still never ditch squats completely. The core strength you build with conventional squats is definitely worth it, in my opinion.

There's one of these at my uni gym and I've never seen anyone use it

Can you do a video on proper form for these please?

The crunch gym I go to has this machine. It hits the spot. Pause

In short- belt squat make less tired than back squat, stimulate leg muscles longer

What are all the exercises that you’d do for legs if you had this machine available? Would you cut out the barbell squats and leg press?

Idk if it’s a tall person thing or I’m just prone to fatigue after back squats but boy do I feel some type of way afterwards, wish my gym had a belt squat machine

I never have to wait to use the belt squat at my gym. Pretty much the guy that keeps the cob webs off it twice a week.

My gym got one of these recently, maybe i should try it out

Tried belt squat for the first time ever. Just put on 2 plates on each side and my goodness that was life changing

I couldn’t find a gym near me that had one so I bought one from rogue. Key thing I learned was to wear the belt insanely low. Otherwise my low back would hurt

Yo I just tried this for the first time along with penj squats and holy hell 😅

Is this why people used the zercher squat and sometimes did not do the regular squat because of the fatigue of the lower back soreness?.