Buy THIS Belt Squat Belt For Your Home Gym In 2026
You’ve got a belt squat, now you need a belt. Good thing for you, I spent over $1000 on Belt Squat Belts and spent the past 6 months testing them alongside my wife and other athletes in my gym. And today we are going to share what we think makes a good best belt squat belt, then rank all of them so you can pick the right one for your gym.
Transparency Note
A couple of these belts were sent to me, but the vast majority were purchased out of pocket. Some of these I have affiliate links with, and maybe even a discount code as well.
So lets keep it simple, if you want to snag one of the belts I mention, using the links in the description will give me a small kick back, helping me to recoup some of that $1000 I spent on this project, and of course, start the next one.
I appreciate your support, let’s dig in.

Shopping List
Just want the quick list and none of the details? I get it! Here ya go…
The BEST Belt Squat Belt For One Athlete
If you are the only person squatting in your gym, the Spud Inc Adjustable Pillow Belt Squat Belt is awesome. You get a right sized pad, with the ability to dial in EXACTLY the right adjustments for depth.

The BEST Belt Squat Belt For One LARGE Athlete
The Bulletproof Cloud Lite Belt Squat Belt is arguably the most feature rich belt as it is technically two belts. This gives you options. But we only found it beneficial for the larger athletes. At the price, make sure you stack up before snagging it.

The BEST Belt Squat Belt For Multiple Athletes
If you have a number of lifters in your gym, I really like the Spud Inc Adjustable Pillow, but adjusting back and forth isn’t a win. Instead, opt for the original Spud Inc Adjustable Pillow Belt Squat Belt.

The BEST Harness For Pseudo Belt Squatting
If you want to do more than just belt squat with your belt squat set up, a harness might be up your ally. This will let you perform good morning variations, squats, split squats, and more.
Save 15% w/ Code: GML15

All The Belt Squat Belts I Tested
I spent over $1000 on Belt Squat Belts, accumulating double digit offerings, premium to budget, and more to make sure I had handled just about every one I could find. All in an effort so you don’t have to. As always, one size does not fit all, so here is my comprehensive list.
- Spud Inc The Pillow Belt Squat Belt – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SpudPillowBelt
- Spud Inc Adjustable Pillow Belt Squat – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SpudAdjustablePillow
- Squat Harness V4 – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SquatHarness
- Save 15% w/ Code: GML15
- Bulletproof CloudLite – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/BulletProofCloudLite
- Henny Hip Belt – https://thehenny.com/products/hip-belt-for-henny-attachment
- Rogue Multi Belt – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/RogueMultiBelt
- REP Belt Squat Belt – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/REPBeltSquatBelt
- Bulletproof Cloud 9 – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/BulletProofCloud9
- Freak Athlete – Not available on its own
- AbMat Cover – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/AbMatBeltCover
- Ironmind – https://amzn.to/4gy49sV
- THEFITGUY Ultimate Belt – https://amzn.to/4pyMSCB
- THEFITGUY Multi-Attachment Belt – https://amzn.to/4ygPI2S
It isn’t possible to buy and own EVERY single option, because I’m sure I’ll publish this and 4 other companies will release their own Belt Squat Belt. But I think the above covers every shape, size, and concept, so we should be good. If I missed one you think I should have considered, hit me up and I’ll take a look.
Belt Squat Belt FAQs

Can I use a dip belt for belt squats?
You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I’d actually recommend the other way around. Grab a good belt squat belt, and it can be used for dips!
What exercises can I perform with a belt squat belt?
The most traditional is… BELT SQUATS! Duh. From there it depends on your equipment and creativity. We have used ours for sled pulls, dips, back extensions, even as a swing for my daughter when she was little.
Can beginners use a belt squat belt?
Yes and no. We found that no belt squat belts worked for my daughter due to her small waist and overall frame. They were just too large for her to get any meaningful work in. If you are an adult beginner (maybe even teenager), definitely. They take away some of the potential issues with loading a bar on your back, trying to balance, focus on form, and more.
How much weight can a belt squat belt hold?
The materials used in these belts are similar to what you see in tow straps and tie downs used for a LOT of heavy work. Check the manufacturer ratings for specific details, but we have used ours with nearly every 45 plate in our gym and been fine. So outside of being the next world record squatter, this probably isn’t a concern.
Is a belt squat belt good for people with back pain?
It can be. You still need to figure out why your back hurts, as back pain can stem from a lot of issues. If your hips are tight, this is still a squat pattern. If your low back is compressed, then belt squats can alleviate some of that pressure. So the answer is… it depends.
What Is A Belt Squat Belt?
Super quick primer… A belt squat belt is going to allow us to primarily, perform belt squats.
Sometimes called a hip belt, sometimes used as a dip belt, and sometimes mixed in with harnesses, used to drag sleds, or even perform back extensions with, a belt squat belt is fairly straight forward in concept. All of the belt squat belts included today, technically, get the job done. So if you already own one and enjoy it, turn off this video and go use it. But there are a number of design features we’ve come to recognize as preferable for an overall better experience. If you are still with me, lets dig into those.
Key Considerations For Buying The Right Belt Squat Belt

Belt Squat Belts aren’t overly complicated, so we have two primary pieces that seem to really drive our perception of Best to Worst.
Back Padding

Lets take a look at the belt padding.
We have the super budget options using nothing more than some basic strap material, all the way up to the BulletProof Cloud belts that have a removable outer cover and inner padded belt. The larger the belt gets, the more it disperses the load across your body, which can reduce pressure points and marks left behind after some nasty sets. But we don’t want to go too far as the larger belts run into issues of staying in place and wrapping around the hips properly.
While a good powerlifting belt is nice and firm, we actually want the opposite in a belt squat belt. I want to forget that the belt is even there in use. We also need the belt to wrap around the front of the hip crease, so we can have our rings and adjustments in the right places.

So our ideal belt squat belt has enough padding in the back to stay in place and be comfortable, but it needs to be soft enough and pliable enough that it bends and folds around the back, with the right length to fold into the hip crease without leaving marks.
This ideal belt size is going to be a little different based on the athlete’s size by the way, because at my 6ft 250lb frame, I can accommodate a larger belt than my wife who is a solid 6inches and 100lbs smaller than me.
Depth Adjustments

Our next checklist item is the depth adjustments themselves.
A lot of this is dependent on your belt squat set up itself, but the belt needs adjustments for different sized athletes. A few of these you can see, have no adjustments at all. So fingers crossed it is the perfect length, otherwise, too bad, so sad.
The design of the rings makes a big difference too. On one extreme you’ve got the Freak belt that has these VERY large D Rings, which end up getting in the way and ultimately rubbing on your legs. And then on the other extreme is the Spud and Henny belts that both opted for cloth rings. Typically, in a gym, I’d opt for metal over cloth for most stuff. But in this case, as long as you use a quality carabiner with no teeth, our preferred solution is the cloth.

You get all the adjustment options, without any metal rings rubbing, running into your legs, or otherwise bunching up oddly in set up. We do have 1 oddity here though, and it is the Spud Adjustable Pillow, which uses a tie down strap system to adjust the length to whatever position you want, but also uses a single large O Ring.
Belt Squat Belt S-Tier List

We are going to rank and file all of these into the best and worst offerings. Keep in mind that anything C and above is going to be a good Belt Squat Belt, just maybe not the BEST Belt Squat Belt.
F Tier

We have one F Tier belt, the original REP Belt that came with their Belt squat rack attachment. It is stiff, small, no adjustments, it sucks.
D Tier
In the D Tier category, we’ve got the old school IronmInd Belt. This thing was made to hook up to a barbell that you ran between your legs and loaded up with plates. It doesn’t really hang well with the newer belt squat set ups due to the overall design, and it was almost $200.
And the THEFITGUY Ultimate Belt and THEFITGUY Multi-Attachment Belt. They are overly stiff, have minimal adjustment options, and they don’t fit all of our athletes. One of them is also fraying and falling apart already, not a great sign.
We also have the Freak Athlete Belt Squat belt that came with their Hyper Pro. It has adjustments, but the belt is fairly thin, stiff, the adjustment rings aren’t great.
C Tier
Solidly in the C Tier category is the Rogue, Rep, and the full-sized Cloud 9 Belt Squat Belt.
The Rogue Multi Belt and REP Belt Squat Belt are firm, which makes them difficult to taper and sit in place. They tend to ride up in use, especially with smaller athletes. And the metal d rings aren’t our favorite.
The full-sized Bulletproof Cloud 9 Belt Squat Belt is HUGE. And remember, I’m 6ft 250lbs. They claim on their site that this was designed on purpose, because it forces you to use more posterior chain. For my wife, it was an instant no. Legit no way to get comfortable using it. For me, that shift up my back took away what I was trying to do for belt squats, hammer my legs and not my back. I get the idea, I don’t buy it though.
You can improve MOST belt squat belts in the comfort zone by adding the AbMat Belt Squat Cover. It doesn’t address the adjustment rings at all, so keep that in mind, but it belongs in the C Tier on its own.
B Tier
In the B Tier category is the original Henny Hip Belt Squat Belt. The only thing I don’t like about this bad boy, is it is a little firm. I think if you were to use it consistently for a long time, it would break in a bit, putting it into the A Tier. But the strap adjustments are perfect, the belt wraps around the hips nicely, it’s just a quality piece.
Also in the B Tier is the Bulletproof CloudLite. Without a doubt this is the most comfortable belt squat belt in terms of the padding design. But the size ultimately doesn’t jive well with my wife as it still floats up her back awkwardly.
If this was just me, this might be in the A Tier, if it was just her, it would probably be in the D Tier.
Add in the price, as these do not ship for free, and it sits solidly in the B Tier for us.
A Tier

Our two A Tier belts are going to come from Spud Inc. Their Pillow Belts are HEAVILY influenced by the Henny design, but they improved on the one major piece, they are softer and more comfortable out of the box.
We’ve used these for sled work, dips, back extensions, and over the past 6 months these are the most grabbed belts by all the athletes in our gym.
If you have multiple athletes in your space that are going to share the belt back and forth especially in the same session, I’d grab the regular Pillow Belt for ease of use.

If you are the only athlete, I’d snag the adjustable pillow belt. It’ll let you dial in the right length EXACTLY to where you want it. In fact, if they added numbered notches to their straps and used smaller O Rings for easier carabiner connections, this would be our S Tier Belt Squat Belt. Maybe Spud will watch this and make it happen.
One more option
This is a little different but worth a note.The Squat Harness V4 is pretty awesome, but definitely expensive. I was concerned that my wife with different anatomy might struggle with it, but this might be her favorite option.

Keep in mind that a traditional belt squat belt puts the weight on your hips, and a harness is still loading your upper body. So if you are trying to avoid some back issues from squatting, this might not be the solution.
But I’d put this in the A Tier category as well.
Wrap Up
Our rankings and perceptions are highly influenced by the fact that me and my wife are aiming to share the same belts, alongside several other athletes in our space that range different heights, weights, and experiences. If you aren’t worried about the lack of upper back loading, the Squat Harness would give you options for squats, split squats, deadlift options, good mornings, and much more.
In our gym, we are going to keep Spud Pillow Belt for general Belt Squat Belt uses, the Squat Harness for some variety, and the REP Belt Squat Belt ONLY for sled work options. Ultimately, my rankings and needs might not line up to yours, so make sure to grab the option that makes the most sense for you.
As a reminder, here are my top recommendations for Belt Squat Belts
- Spud Inc The Pillow Belt Squat Belt – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SpudPillowBelt
- Spud Inc Adjustable Pillow Belt Squat – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SpudAdjustablePillow
- Squat Harness V4 – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/SquatHarness
- Save 15% w/ Code: GML15
- Bulletproof CloudLite – https://graymatterlifting.com/go/BulletProofCloudLite












