Why I switched from barbell squats to belt squats for hypertrophy

After 16+ years as a natural bodybuilder, I’ve come to a conclusion that might not sit well with the hivemind: barbell squats are overhyped if your main goal is hypertrophy. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re training for overall strength, squats are an incredibly effective movement. But when it comes to pure muscle growth, they’re unnecessarily taxing on your entire body.

Here’s the problem: barbell squats require your back, core, and upper body to do a ton of work just to stabilize the weight. For hypertrophy, you want to isolate the muscles you’re trying to take to failure, not spread the load across your whole body. When I made the switch to belt squats, my leg training completely changed. Hitting failure in my quads and glutes became way easier, and the overall experience felt a lot less brutal.

One of the biggest myths out there is that training legs to failure has to be insanely painful. It doesn’t. Belt squats let me push my legs to their limit without the systemic fatigue and strain that come with barbell squats. Since then, my training has felt more sustainable, and I’ve actually been able to look forward to leg day.

Another alternative I like is hack squats, though I modify them slightly. Instead of holding onto the handles, I press into my knees or hips with my hands to keep the focus entirely on my legs and avoid adding unnecessary strain on my upper body.

The truth is, if barbell squats weren’t treated as the “gold standard” for leg training, I think a lot more people would enjoy and stick to leg workouts. For hypertrophy, it just doesn’t make sense to use an exercise that taxes so many muscles when the goal is to isolate and grow specific ones.

If you’re still grinding through barbell squats but struggling to stay consistent or feeling like your progress is limited by the strain, give belt squats or hack squats a try. Leg training doesn’t have to be this exhausting uphill battle—it can be effective, targeted, and, most importantly, sustainable.