Belt Squats

The Belt Squats are a glute-centric exercise. In the Belt Squats we suspend a dumbbell from a specially designed belt that rests on the iliac crest of your pelvis.

In gym language, the lowest point of a squat is the hole. As you push out of the hole, you activate your hip extensors, which are primarily your Gluteus Maximus. A 2024 study of sprinters found that the Gluteus Maximus is the largest muscle of the human bodies.

Let’s contrast Belt Squat with a common gym exercise called Goblet Squats. In the Goblet Squats, the dumbbell travels straight down, and a little forwards, which puts shear stress on your spine. In the Belt Squats, as you drop into the hole, the dumbbell travels backwards with your hips, almost eliminating shear stress. We rest our hands on to a horizontal bar of our squat rack, which eliminates any remaining shear stress on the spine.