Front squat and belt

[TT Eric]

Did 315lbs x 5! Holding 5 plates between the legs with the belt and 2 plates in my hands, flat on my chest.

This is such a back saver, usually when I was squatting with a bar most of my attention was going toward my core / trying to avoid getting injured, now I can focus on the working muscles and on my form. I must say it's really nice to progress without setbacks. In the last 5 years the longest I went without back injuries was 4 weeks... Granted, I also stopped doing other exercises that was causing back injuries, like rowing BB or DB, DB presses, etc... but leg day was always the most risky for me.

Eric

[TT Eric]

I thought I would also update this. For the last year I have squatted with the spud belt, usually with 6 or 7 plates, depending if I want to do more reps or not.

One unexpected thing, one day I felt like trying back the front squats and surprisingly my front squat improved after almost one year off of it. First time I tried 225lbs it went well, second time I tried 275lbs (my new front squat PR).

So now since I train my legs 3 times a week, I think I'll try to do front squats once a week, squat with the spud belt once a week and 3rd training with a machine like hack-squat of do some split squats + GHR.

Using the spud belt was a great idea IMO, even some guys at the gym are moving to this exercise after seeing me and talked to me.

One thing I've noticed though, it's really easy to push with the toes instead of the heel since there is no weight on the shoulders, but it's not a good idea since it put a lot of pressure on the knees. Always keep in mind to push with the heels like any other leg exercise.

Eric