Execution Cues:
Barbell Squats:
- Set J hooks up at shoulder height in a half or power rack. Place a straight bar inside the J hooks. The bar should be at roughly your nipple line.
- Step up to the bar, place your hands equidistant from the center (as narrow as you can comfortably manage), and grip the bar firmly.
- Now dip your head under the bar, shift your feet evenly under your hips, and contact the bar with your mid traps. You should now be wedged into a balanced position and ready to unrack the bar.
- Brace your midsection and extend your knees and hips to lift the bar out of the J hooks. After you have your balance and the load settles, slowly walk back from the hooks taking small, deliberate steps. Make sure that as the load shifts with each step, your trunk rigidity is NOT compromised.
- Once the bar and plates are clear of obstructions, allow the load to settle once again, assume your desired stance (typically, about shoulder width with feet slightly externally rotated), and regain your balance/composure.
- Now take a diaphragmatic breath into your belly to brace, actively pull the bar down into your traps to engage your back musculature, and solidify neutrality from pelvis to neck. To begin the rep, break at the knees and hips simultaneously and initiate the eccentric with knee and hip flexion.
- Continue to descend with control while maintaining a neutral spine. Individual differences will contribute to variance within specific execution parameters like knee and hip angles so it's important to work within your own anatomical bounds.
- Once you reach the depth in which you can no longer continue the eccentric without compromising positioning, decelerate carefully to reduce the stretch reflex and momentum. Brace hard at the bottom of the rep.
- Shift into the concentric by mirroring the eccentric as closely as possible and extending the knees/hips with careful consideration towards pelvic/spinal neutrality. Continue the ascent until fully erect and balanced with knees and hips locked out.
- Once the set is over, carefully walk the bar back into the rack, making sure each side has cleared the J hook lips, and mindfully set the bar back on the rack.
Belt Squats:
- If applicable, adjust the cable attachment point on the machine and the handle bars to your desired specifications (this is notable for Pit Sharks and similar models).
- Step into a padded belt with a chain/carabiner link and pull the belt over your glutes and around your hips. Make sure it is NOT sitting right on your hip bones or in a position that might pinch your skin once downward force is applied.
- Once the belt is in a comfortable position, step up and onto the machine platform and straddle the attachment point. The chain/carabiner should be directly over the attachment. Squat down and clip the belt into the machine.
- Get your feet balanced and place your hands on the bars. Extend your knees and hips to unrack the machine/load. Once you have full control of the weight, take another second to make any final adjustments to your stance and setup.
- Once you are set, unlock the weight (this is typically through manually moving a lever with your free upper body but you may need a partner to do this for you depending on the design of the machine) and hold onto the handle bars for balance.
- Now take a diaphragmatic breath into your belly to brace and solidify neutrality from pelvis to neck. To begin the rep, break at the knees and hips simultaneously and initiate the eccentric with knee and hip flexion.
- Because the load is going to be anchored at your hips rather than your upper back, there may be some subtle mechanical variability compared to barbell squats, but it will be easy to correct for here.
- Once you reach the depth in which you can no longer continue the eccentric without compromising positioning, decelerate carefully to reduce the stretch reflex and momentum. Brace hard at the bottom of the rep.
- Shift into the concentric by mirroring the eccentric as closely as possible and extending the knees/hips with careful consideration towards pelvic/spinal neutrality. Continue the ascent until fully erect and balanced with knees and hips locked out.
- Once the set is over, carefully return the load to its original place.
Key Similarities:
- Bilateral squat pattern
- Large hypertrophic stimulus for the quads and glutes
- Well suited for low-to-moderate rep ranges (5-12)
- Both work very well for increasing general lower body strength
Key Differences:
- Barbell squats necessitate a large axial loading demand whereas Belt squats are incredibly "spine friendly".
- Barbell squats have a steep learning curve due to the complexity of the variation. Belt squats can be picked up rather quickly and easily even by beginners.
- Similarly to the above, belt squats have minimal mobility prerequisites because of the external balance provided by the upper body holding onto the frame of the machine. Barbell squats, on the other hand, have a ton of prerequisites before a trainee is ready to perform them.
- Barbell squats are better suited for very low rep ranges (1-3 reps) while belt squats are better for high-to-very-high rep ranges (12-30).
- Belt squats tend to be easier on joints and for those needing to work around pre-existing injuries.
- Belt squats are safer to train at high relative intensities (closer to failure) because of the more limited external failure points and non-axial loading.
- As an expansion off the above point, belt squats are also more favorable for employing intensity techniques like dropsets, rest-pause, and cluster sets.
- Barbell squats will have more of a correlated carry-over to athletic performance and general functionality due to the increased systemic demands.
- Barbell squats will also allow for more hypertrophy of the erectors, traps and abdominal complex.
- Belt squats are more applicable for supersets, giant sets and circuits due to their "safer" nature.
- Barbell squats are going to be more portable (as long as you have a bar, plates and rack) whereas belt squats can still be somewhat of a luxury piece of equipment in gyms. And even for the gyms that have one, each make and model will feel different.
- Belt squats allow for more intra-rep variability and adjustments.
- Barbell squats are going to create much more systemic fatigue and recovery decrements than belt squats, though the latter may come with more local fatigue in the quads and glutes.
Primary Use Case for Barbell Squats:
- Hypertrophy of the Quads and Glutes
- Increased Squat Strength
- Improved Full-Body Coordination and Integration
Primary Use Case for Belt Squats:
- Hypertrophy of the Quads and Glutes
- Increased Squat Strength