Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
The belt squat is one of my favorite hard-to-find lower-body machines because it's one of the few bilateral squat exercises that puts minimal stress on the spine.
This makes it a great follow-up exercise to a traditional freeweight squat (that loads your spine and fatigues your back) and even a replacement for when you want to "deload" your spine while still training the squat pattern with working (heavy) weights (good to do now and then, especially as we get older).
If your gym has a belt squat, try it out.
The belt squat is one of my favorite hard-to-find lower-body machines because it's one of the few bilateral squat exercises that puts minimal stress on the spine.
This makes it a great follow-up exercise to a traditional freeweight squat (that loads your spine and fatigues your back) and even a replacement for when you want to "deload" your spine while still training the squat pattern with working (heavy) weights (good to do now and then, especially as we get older).
If your gym has a belt squat, try it out.
